General: potato questions
Subject: potato questions
Newsgroups: rec.food.cooking
From: braun_chris at mindspring.com (Chris Braun)
Date: Thu, 06 Mar 1997 01:24:50 GMT
--------
Tonight DH must have been hungry -- he made about 3 times as much mashed potatoes as we could eat. Any ideas for what to do with leftover mashed potatoes? (I was inspired to ask because I was so impressed by everyone's creativity in suggesting ways to use much more obscure things like pickle juice!)
Also, while I was thinking about posting this question, I thought I'd ask another question I have about potatoes: what's the best way to store them? Ours always seem to go bad awfully fast.
Thanks in advance for any advice,
From: rain at hothouse.iglou.com (Rain)
Date: Wed, 5 Mar 1997 01:40:00 GMT
--------
CB->Also, while I was thinking about posting this question, I thought I'd
CB->ask another question I have about potatoes: what's the best way to
CB->store them? Ours always seem to go bad awfully fast.
Mine do best in a hanging basket. The air can circulate around them, and they seem to stay good longer. But it's very important to sort them before storing and occasionally thereafter, and take out any with bad spots; the rot spreads fast.
From: nancy-dooley at uiowa.edu (Nancy Dooley)
Date: Thu, 06 Mar 1997 21:38:06 GMT
--------
> Mine do best in a hanging basket. The air can circulate around them,
> and they seem to stay good longer. But it's very important to sort
I have the best luck storing them in a cupboard that is dark and cool (kinda remembering mom storing them in the "cellar," on the farm).
From: Brawny at knox.mindspring.com (Brawny)
Date: Thu, 06 Mar 1997 01:59:10 GMT
--------
Chris Braun wrote:
>Tonight DH must have been hungry -- he made about 3 times as much
>mashed potatoes as we could eat. Any ideas for what to do with
>leftover mashed potatoes?
They will heat up very well in the microwave oven....
but my favorite is to take leftover mashed potates...add one egg and chopped onion and they pan saute them in butter until brown. Wonderful with a dollop of sour cream on top after they have browned.
>Also, while I was thinking about posting this question, I thought I'd
>ask another question I have about potatoes: what's the best way to
>store them? Ours always seem to go bad awfully fast.
Store your potatoes in a cool dark place..... AWAY FROM ONIONS!! They should keep for quite a while.
From: whelanj at aecl.ca (Judith Whelan)
Date: Thu, 6 Mar 1997 20:26:11 GMT
--------
>Store your potatoes in a cool dark place..... AWAY FROM ONIONS!! They
>should keep for quite a while.
Why away from onions? Last longer?
From: Brawny at remove.knox.mindspring.com (Brawny)
Date: Fri, 07 Mar 1997 12:00:14 GMT
--------
Judith Whelan wrote:
>Why away from onions? Last longer?
Judy...I heard that on the FOODTV channel. I tried it and it does work!
From: nancy-dooley at uiowa.edu (Nancy Dooley)
Date: Fri, 07 Mar 1997 16:35:48 GMT
--------
Judith Whelan wrote:
>Why away from onions? Last longer?
Don't know the answer, but they seem to egg each other on in terms of which can spoil the fastest.
From: phos8516 at uriacc.uri.edu (maxine in ri)
Date: Sat, 15 Mar 1997 13:03:09 GMT
--------
>Any ideas for what to do with leftover mashed potatoes?
Another use would be Shepherd's Pie. Put a layer of ground protein in a baking dish, add a layer of frozen veggies, and top with a "frosting" of mashed potatoes. Bake at 350 until protein is cooked.
>what's the best way to store them?
Dark is very important. The green spots that form are from light, and are toxic.
From: Judy or Andrew (critterz at concentric.net)
Date: Thu, 06 Mar 1997 06:48:41 -0600
--------
Chris Braun wrote:
> Any ideas for what to do with leftover mashed potatoes?
Mashed potatoe pancakes
From: nancy-dooley at uiowa.edu (Nancy Dooley)
Date: Thu, 06 Mar 1997 17:39:54 GMT
--------
There are recipes for kolaches made with mashed potatoes; spud-nut donuts; other bread doughs with mashed potatoes. However, I love potato pancakes: mix one beaten egg (add a little flour if you need to), onion, parsley, garlic - mix and make into little thick pancakes - fry slowly in hot butter until browned on both sides.
From: pdavis at pipeline.com (Pamela Davis)
Date: Mon, 10 Mar 1997 22:12:10 GMT
--------
Nancy Dooley wrote:
>There are recipes for kolaches made with mashed potatoes; spud-nut
>donuts; other bread doughs with mashed potatoes. However, I love
>potato pancakes: mix one beaten egg (add a little flour if you need
>to), onion, parsley, garlic - mix and make into little thick pancakes
>- fry slowly in hot butter until browned on both sides.
They fry even better if you dip them in flour just before plopping them in the pan. Mashed potatoes also make great fritters when mixed with leftover tidbit and some green onion.
From: Martin & Deborah (logan at blarg.net)
Date: 10 Mar 1997 22:46:01 GMT
--------
How are fritters made? The potato pancakes are a good idea. We eat them more than I realized.
From: pdavis at pipeline.com (Pamela Davis)
Date: Wed, 12 Mar 1997 19:51:25 GMT
--------
Martin & Deborah wrote:
>How are fritters made? The potato pancakes are a good idea. We eat them
>more than I realized.
You can literally put anything you want in the mashed potatoes so long as there is enough potato to make it all stick together. I always use chopped green onion because it is a nice texture contrast then whatever I've got left. Leftover rice bound together with egg is also a nice fritter. Face it. Most anything tastes good when fried and crispy.
From: rain at hothouse.iglou.com (Rain)
Date: Fri, 7 Mar 1997 03:37:21 GMT
--------
> > Mine do best in a hanging basket. The air can circulate around them
> > and they seem to stay good longer. But it's very important to sort
>
> I have the best luck storing them in a cupboard that is dark and cool
> (kinda remembering mom storing them in the "cellar," on the farm).
In my experience, they sprout and get rubbery faster that way than out in the light and air, presumably because it's more like being underground. But whatever works for you, go fo it; it's probably less humid in Iowa than here, too. (And not just when we're in the middle of a major flood, as now.)
From: mtzeng at ucs.indiana.edu (Mimi W. Tzeng)
Date: 9 Mar 1997 19:31:20 GMT
--------
Well, I've been saving up some real basic potato questions also and this looks like a good place to butt in ;)
What happens if you freeze a whole potato? I have a small apartment which is uniformly 70 degrees throughout and I've been storing them in the fridge, which does make them last longer than a week before sprouting, but now they are looking really bizarre. Which brings me to the next question:
If the potato looks like it is wrinkling up from shrinking (especially around wounds), and the wrinkly areas are squishy, and the insides start feeling more springy instead of firm, but the inside is still a nice uniform creamy-white color - is there anything wrong with eating it? (I'm thinking about red potatoes here more than the Idaho type. The Idaho ones just seem to become more squishy and squeezable all around).
What does a rotting potato LOOK like?
How far can a potato sprout before it is no longer safe to eat?
From: kate (kate at wwa.com)
Date: 10 Mar 1997 04:30:32 GMT
--------
I have read that storing the potato in the fridge is a big "No No". The starches from the potato convert to sugar below 45 degrees and the potatoes blacken quickly. Potatoes in my experience can last several weeks if stored in a dark, cool (NOT cold) place. Potatoes should also, in my experience and based upon what I read, NOT be stored in close proximity to onions. The two interact with each other and make bad things happen ;-). I have also read that some people, including Julia Child, quarter peeled potatoes before boiling in the preparation of mashed potatoes. I disagree with the latter but I guess that's what makes cooking and storing interesting ;-).
From: Kate Connally (connally at physast1.phyast.pitt.edu)
Date: Mon, 10 Mar 1997 13:38:37 -0800
--------
kate wrote:
> I have read that storing the potato in the fridge is a big "No No". The
> starches from the potato convert to sugar below 45 degrees and the potatoes
> blacken quickly. Potatoes in my experience can last several weeks if
> stored in a dark, cool (NOT cold) place.
Yet another old wives tale. I've been storing my potatoes in the vegetable bin of the fridge for many years. They last a lot longer than if left out and they don't do any of the things listed above. They taste exactly like the ones I eat the day I bring them home from the store.
> I have also read that some people, including Julia Child, quarter peeled
> potatoes before boiling in the preparation of mashed potatoes. I disagree
> with the latter but I guess that's what makes cooking and storing
> interesting ;-).
Well, I don't see what's to "disagree" with. It's only a matter of how fast they cook. If you want to cook them whole and wait longer that's fine but I always cut mine up in quarters or eighths because they cook faster, that's all.
From: mtzeng at ucs.indiana.edu (Mimi W. Tzeng)
Date: 10 Mar 1997 22:59:36 GMT
--------
kate wrote:
: I have read that storing the potato in the fridge is a big "No No". The
: starches from the potato convert to sugar below 45 degrees and the potatoes
: blacken quickly. Potatoes in my experience can last several weeks if
: stored in a dark, cool (NOT cold) place.
You know, I've read that same thing too - but so far I haven't had a problem with them being in the fridge (at least not with them turning black or tasting like sugar). And they definitely have lasted a lot longer than if I put them anywhere else in the apartment - there aren't any cool places in my apartment. ;)
Besides, it doesn't make much sense - surely potatoes left to go through the rest of their life cycles spend plenty of time in the ground frozen, below 45 degrees, etc., without turning black. But I wanted to hear what others have to say about storing whole potatoes in the freezer before trying it myself.
: Potatoes should also, in my
: experience and based upon what I read, NOT be stored in close proximity to
: onions. The two interact with each other and make bad things happen ;-).
I've heard that one too, but I buy my onions prechopped and frozen so I don't have that problem. ;)
From: Edwin Pawlowski (esp at snet.net)
Date: 11 Mar 1997 03:36:04 GMT
--------
kate wrote...
> I have also read that some people, including Julia Child, quarter peeled
> potatoes before boiling in the preparation of mashed potatoes. I disagree
> with the latter but I guess that's what makes cooking and storing
> interesting ;-).
I thought the whole world did them that way. What do you do?
Making potato salad, we boil them with skins on and peel after cooled to room temperature. Don't want to do that with mashed.
From: weeden at leland.Stanford.EDU (Kimberly Ann Weeden)
Date: 10 Mar 1997 16:56:48 -0800
--------
Mimi W. Tzeng wrote:
>If the potato looks like it is wrinkling up from shrinking (especially
>around wounds), and the wrinkly areas are squishy, and the insides start
>feeling more springy instead of firm, but the inside is still a nice
>uniform creamy-white color - is there anything wrong with eating it?
Nope. (But I would use them for mashed potatoes rather than a dish in which the texture matters.) Just wash them well, peel, and prepare as normal.
>What does a rotting potato LOOK like?
Signs of rot include: leaking clear-ish or opaque white liquid; white fuzz on the outside of the potato; and/or a black spot
in the center.
>How far can a potato sprout before it is no longer safe to eat?
If you have to water it every day to keep the leaves from wilting... Seriously, though, I've never heard that there is a sprout point-of-no-return. In my family home, potatoes that made it through the winter (which, in Alaska, was from August to May) became the next year's crop. The maximum sprouting time was thus 8 months.
Now that I live on my own, I try to avoid having 500 pounds of potatoes around at once....
From: pattee at CUBoulder.Colorado.EDU (Donna Pattee)
Date: 13 Mar 1997 09:56:25 -0700
--------
>What does a rotting potato LOOK like?
When potatoes start to rot, you'll know immediately from the smell. No way will you find it pleasant - real distinctive.
From: aasimon (aasimon at phoenix.net)
Date: Mon, 17 Mar 1997 16:38:04 -0600
--------
Chris Braun wrote:
> Any ideas for what to do with leftover mashed potatoes?
1. Divide it up into balls of about 2 tbs each and freeze in foil. Toss these into soups as thickener. Works even better if you whip a little butter into the taters before you freeze them, and the extra oil makes peeling the foil of even easier.
2. Use them as faux potatoes duchesse. Thin a bit with a little milk, put into cake decorating bag with ornate tip, pipe around pork roast, meat loaf, etc. Brush top gently or spray with a little oil. Brown slightly under broiler. Serve.
From: andspud at primenet.com (The Weekly Spud)
Date: 17 Mar 1997 18:59:02 -0700
--------
Hope you don't think this is an ad...it's not!
I love taters too and have created a web page that I update weekly with potatoe recipes. There's also access to all the old recipes too. This is my own personnal page..no ads..no money..just SPUDS! Here's the address (URL):
http://www.primenet.com/~andspud/recipe.htm [dead link. archive.org missed this week]
Here's this week's:
Irish Mashed Potatoes (Colcannon)
2 cups - Green cabbage, shredded
2 cups - Mashed potatoes
1/4 cup - Green onions, sliced
1/8 tsp - Pepper
Butter or margarine
Parsley
Heat 1/2-inch water to boiling.
Stir in cabbage, cover and heat to boiling.
Cook 5 minutes, drain.
Prepare mashed potatoes, fold in cabbage, onions and pepper.
Dot with butter, sprinkle with parsley.
Serves 4.
From: JohnS (ebenor2 at tpi.net)
Date: Fri, 21 Mar 1997 17:42:02 -0800
--------
Chris Braun wrote:
> Any ideas for what to do with leftover mashed potatoes?
Simple to fry them up as you would hash browns for breakfast.
Also, make gnocchi.
From: kris at doit.pgh.net (Kris Dow)
Date: 19 Mar 1997 23:31:55 -0500
--------
Chris Braun wrote:
>Any ideas for what to do with leftover mashed potatoes?
You could try making Lefse, which is a sort of Scandanavian potato tortilla-looking type of thing. (I have a couple recipies around someplace, if you're interested.) Eaten warm with butter and sugar and cinnamon, they're quite nice. It's a bit of a different flavour. :)
From: rain at hothouse.iglou.com (Rain)
Date: Sat, 22 Mar 1997 18:23:16 GMT
--------
> Any ideas for what to do with leftover mashed potatoes?
Or heat them up mixed together with leftover cabbage or kale and some chopped onion and grated cheese for a great one-dish meal similar to colcannon.
Or spread 'em on top of leftover stew or mixed veggies in sauce and bake for a quick shepherd's-pie sorta thing.
Or stretch meatloaf, burgers or stuffed-pepper filling with them. For that matter, mix 'em with chopped canned tomato, minced onion, grated or cottage cheese, garlic and herbs and make great meatless stuffed peppers with them. You can do this to supplement the cheese in _chiles rellenos_, too, if you want a lower-fat dish.
Or add stock, milk and seasonings for quick potato soup.
Or use them in baking; several people have given recipes here for potato doughnuts or bread.
From: mjfriedm at e4e.oac.uci.edu (Marni J Friedman)
Date: 25 Mar 1997 05:57:39 GMT
--------
Mashed potatoes freeze well in tupperware-type containers. It is a wonderful feeling to come home hungry and find a forgotten stash of mash lurking in the freezer.
By the way, it is nice to be back in circulation. After nine months in my residency, I've managed to figure out the basics of this complicated newsreader. I'm working on getting my home computer on line. Although healing the sick, etc., is time-consuming, I have been cooking like a fiend. Having won a breadmaker, I've now plowed through 2 jars of yeast and 20 or 30 pounds of flour.
From: Heather Davis (heatherd at morgan.ucs.mun.ca)
Date: Sun, 30 Mar 1997 23:40:25 -0330
--------
I have a potato question...what are the grey spots on the potatoes after you've boiled them? They look just fine to me when they go into the boiling water but when they've been coming out they've got grey patches on them....do I want to know this is??
From: lea at sirius.com (Lea)
Date: Tue, 01 Apr 1997 18:46:24 GMT
--------
You got me!!! Ive never heard of this. Are you adding anything to the water? Do you have well water?
The only thing I can think of is that there is some chemical reaction going on because Ive never noticed this and I cook a lot of potatoes. I don't put salt in the water, maybe thats it.
stumped on this---
From: mtzeng at ucs.indiana.edu (Mimi W. Tzeng)
Date: 2 Apr 1997 03:16:15 GMT
--------
Lea wrote:
: The only thing I can think of is that there is some chemical reaction
: going on because Ive never noticed this and I cook a lot of potatoes.
: I don't put salt in the water, maybe thats it.
I do use salt with mine, and I've never noticed gray spots on my potatoes either. (Well, unless they were there before I started cooking them...).
From: Heather Davis (heatherd at morgan.ucs.mun.ca)
Date: Wed, 2 Apr 1997 22:54:11 -0330
--------
Lea wrote:
> You got me!!! Ive never heard of this. Are you adding anything to
> the water? Do you have well water?
Nope, I just add salt to the water and that's it....<hang my head in shame> gee looks bad that I can't even boil up some potatoes without them looking funny...
From: Deborah Zemek (dzemek at es.com)
Date: Thu, 03 Apr 1997 10:52:32 -0700
--------
Heather Davis wrote:
> Nope, I just add salt to the water and that's it....<hang my head in
> shame> gee looks bad that I can't even boil up some potatoes without them
> looking funny...
Sometimes...when I boil my potatoes with the cover on...there's this grayish foam that boils up...I presume from the potato starch, but I could be wrong...it sticks to the potatoes sometimes - maybe that's it? Are you starting the potatoes out in cold water? Or do you add the potatoes after the water boils?
Now, I have also noticed that sometimes potatoes develop grayish spots when I boil them and then put them in the fridge to cool for potato salad...I don't think it's harmful or anything...it's just something potatoes do...it would be interesting to know why...
debz
From: aasimon (aasimon at phoenix.net)
Date: Thu, 03 Apr 1997 15:54:17 -0600
--------
Deborah Zemek wrote:
> Sometimes...when I boil my potatoes with the cover on...there's this
> grayish foam that boils up...I presume from the potato starch, but
> I could be wrong...it sticks to the potatoes sometimes -
Not from the potato starch, that''s pure white. Although the grey scum would correlate with the loss of starch into the water, which *does* foam, just usually white.
Try this. She's using iodized salt in the water, and something (excess chlorine? I don't remember my chemistry here...) is displacing the iodide to form a small amount of free iodine, which would react with the starch dissolved in the water to form a grey foam. Possible test: Use water from the hot water tap and let it cool before using it to cook the potatoes, or add excess water and boil a few minutes (to allow the chlorine to evaporate), *before* adding salt, then proceeding normally. Another: Boil potatoes in distilled water from the market, remove them with a slotted spoon and than adding a droplet of medicinal tincture of iodine, bringing back to a boil and comparing the appearance of the foam to what she's been getting.
> Now, I have also noticed that sometimes potatoes develop grayish
> spots when I boil them and then put them in the fridge to cool
Spots I think are a separate problem.
> for potato salad...I don't think it's harmful or anything...it's
> just something potatoes do...it would be interesting to know why...
More likely: Potatoes in her area are coming in bruised or with incipient (I believe the disease is called) blackheart. Occasionally I get potatoes that look fine on the outside, but when they're peeled there are pale grey areas or area of frank black spoilage.
From: Bobbie Best (tailgate at earthlink.net)
Date: Sat, 05 Apr 1997 17:06:20 -0500
--------
aasimon wrote:
> Possible test: Use water from
> the hot water tap and let it cool before using it to cook the potatoes, or add
> excess water and boil a few minutes (to allow the chlorine to evaporate),
> *before* adding salt, then proceeding normally.
I thought it was a bad idea to ingest water from the hot water tap. Dan#1 would always yell at us not to use the hot water tap for our coffee cause there were nasties (I can't remember but I think they were some kinds of trace metals and such). Just curious.
> grey areas or area of frank black spoilage.
You mean the spoilage is honest and sincere? ;)
From: sue at interport.net (Curly Sue)
Date: Sat, 05 Apr 1997 06:15:39 GMT
--------
Bobbie Best wrote:
>I thought it was a bad idea to ingest water from the hot water tap.
>Dan#1 would always yell at us not to use the hot water tap for our
>coffee cause there were nasties (I can't remember but I think they
>were some kinds of trace metals and such). Just curious.
Consider this--- in most houses (in the US anyway) hot water is heated and is held in a tank, which never, ever gets cleaned! Stuff accumulates. And heated water, sitting there, waiting to be used, can pick up that stuff. Yech.
Even for cold water, it's recommended that the water be run until it's cold to flush out things like lead (Pb) before using it to drink.
From: Heather Davis (heatherd at morgan.ucs.mun.ca)
Date: Fri, 4 Apr 1997 11:38:01 -0330
--------
Deborah Zemek wrote:
> it? Are you starting the potatoes out in cold water? Or do you
> add the potatoes after the water boils?
I add the spuds to boiling water...I haven't really noticed any chlorine odour (I also use filtered water).
I also peeled and cut them up into quarters so I didn't observe any initial grey spots either...hmmm..
From: Mary Elizabeth ("beth(at)orph(dot)org" at remove.this)
Date: Sun, 06 Apr 1997 11:17:00 -0400
--------
Heather Davis wrote:
> I have a potato question...what are the grey spots on the potatoes after
> you've boiled them? They look just fine to me when they go into the
> boiling water but when they've been coming out they've got grey patches on
> them....do I want to know this is??
Goodness, this gave me a flashback! I hardly ever boil potatoes any more, and when I do it's usually small new potatoes, not the big "potato salad for the whole crowd" sort (you know, big ones peeled and cut up), but now you mention it, I do remember this happening...my impression is that I observed this mainly in my grandmothers' kitchens, and both lived in areas of extremely hard water, strongly flavored but widely differing in taste. Perhaps this had some effect?
From: Beth R. Jarvis (jarvi013 at gold.tc.umn.edu)
Date: Sun, 6 Apr 97 00:36:15 CDT
--------
Bobbie Best wrote:
>I thought it was a bad idea to ingest water from the hot water tap.
>Dan#1 would always yell at us not to use the hot water tap for our
>coffee cause there were nasties (I can't remember but I think they
>were some kinds of trace metals and such). Just curious.
Hi Bobbie and all,
I know this has been addressed before, but, hot water should NOT be used in cooking where there is a possibility that lead from lead pipes or lead solder is present in the water. Lead solder was used well into the 1970's. It is carried more easily in hot water than cold. For cooking, always use cold water. If the tap has not been used for 6 hrs or so, let it run until the water is cold.
I always cook spuds in water taken from the cold tap. Yes there's chlorine and fluoride in the water but that does not affect the
potatoes.
Beth Jarvis Hart
From: robert.goodman at accbbs.com (Robert Goodman)
Date: 7 Apr 97 17:16:00 GMT
--------
> I know this has been addressed before, but, hot water should NOT be
> used in cooking where there is a possibility that lead from lead
> pipes or lead solder is present in the water. Lead solder was used
> well into the 1970's. It is carried more easily in hot water than
> cold.
I used to follow this rule. Then a few months ago in a news group I read someone's results from actually testing. The cold water had MORE Pb than the hot! Okay, only one observation, but sure makes you wonder. He pointed out that cold water holds more CO2, hence has a lower pH, hence might dissolve lead faster for that reason. This should be studied more thoroughly.
Also, lead toxicity has been overblown. Sure, it's poisonous, but how much? Pb is now suspected to be an essential nutrient, too. So avoid high lead concentrations, but don't be a nut about it.
Robert Goodman
Ph.D. biochemist