REC: Sauteed Potatoes in Small Cubes

Subject: REC: Sauteed Potatoes in Small Cubes
Newsgroups: rec.food.cooking

From: Felice Friese (friese at comcast.net)
Date: Sun, 4 Nov 2007 15:37:38 -0500
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OK, Pommes de Terre Miettes, s'il vous plait.This is my take on an old NYT recipe: It's a three-step process, but not a long one, and they really are good. Had them this morning with applesauce and Tillamook cheddar spears.

2 pounds Idaho or russet potatoes (or Yukon Golds)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons butter or (gasp) bacon fat
salt and white pepper to taste
2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley

Step 1. Cut potatoes into 3/8-inch cubes and drop in cold water. Drain, add to a saucepan, cover with water and bring to a boil. Drain immediately and dry in a towel.
Step 2. In a nonstick skillet large enough to hold the potatoes in one layer, cook them in hot oil over high heat, shaking and stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes or until they are lightly browned.
Step 3. Drain the potatoes in a colander and return them to the skillet. Add butter (or bacon fat), salt and pepper. Toss over high heat for about 5 minutes or until crisp. Serve with parsley sprinkled over.

From: Sheldon (PENMART01 at aol.com)
Date: Sun, 04 Nov 2007 13:27:12 -0800
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How many times are you going to sterilize and wash a potato... lotta labor for nothing. I do sauted diced spuds probably once a week... just toss 4 big diced taters into my big stainless steel pan with like an ounce of olive oil and an ounce of butter. Brown over low heat for like 45 minutes, flipping occasionally with a spatula... when nicely browned make a nice heap in the middle of the pan and pour in like six well beaten eggs. Keep the heat low, when about 3/4 set flip to the other side... use a spatula to flip in sections if need be, can save a mess. An excellent meal for two... and there are infinite versions on this theme, add onion, peppers, any kind of meat, whatever herbs, 'shrooms... even rice, pasta, beans.. whatever. If you wanna et the spuds au jus go right ahead... pass the Heinz. And my way has no foo foo name.

From: Felice Friese (friese at comcast.net)
Date: Sun, 4 Nov 2007 19:29:38 -0500
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Sheldon wrote:
> How many times are you going to sterilize and wash a potato ...

Sterilize? Who said sterilize? I'm just giving the cut-up potatoes a quick parboil. And eggs? This is a recipe for fried potatoes, Sheldon, not a potato omelet.

From: Bob Terwilliger (virtualgoth at die_spammer.biz)
Date: Sun, 4 Nov 2007 17:25:15 -0800
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Felice wrote:
> Sterilize? Who said sterilize? I'm just giving the cut-up potatoes a quick
> parboil. And eggs? This is a recipe for fried potatoes, Sheldon, not a
> potato omelet.

Please excuse Sheldon. He's old and incontinent.

From: cybercat (cyberpurrs at yahoo.com)
Date: Mon, 5 Nov 2007 06:54:45 -0500
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Bob Terwilliger wrote:
> Please excuse Sheldon. He's old and incontinent.

I guess his brains are leaking out of his ass. lol

From: Wayne Boatwright (wayneboatwright at cox.net)
Date: Mon, 05 Nov 2007 12:24:15 GMT
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Oh pshaw, cybercat meant to say...
> I guess his brains are leaking out of his ass. lol

Again?

From: Little.Malice at g33mail.com (Little Malice)
Date: Tue, 06 Nov 2007 00:59:54 GMT
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One time on Usenet, Bob Terwilliger said:
> Please excuse Sheldon. He's old and incontinent.

For a second there, I thought you said "incoherant"...

From: Felice Friese (friese at comcast.net)
Date: Mon, 5 Nov 2007 20:01:00 -0500
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Little Malice wrote:
> For a second there, I thought you said "incoherant"...

That, too, at times.

From: blake murphy (blakepm at verizon.net)
Date: Tue, 06 Nov 2007 19:32:38 GMT
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Felice Friese wrote:
>That, too, at times.

thank god we only see evidence of his incoherence here.

From: Little.Malice at g33mail.com (Little Malice)
Date: Tue, 06 Nov 2007 20:25:18 GMT
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One time on Usenet, blake murphy said:
> thank god we only see evidence of his incoherence here.

Heh! Good point -- thankfully Usenet's a digital medium...

From: Wayne Boatwright (wayneboatwright at cox.net)
Date: Tue, 06 Nov 2007 04:21:39 GMT
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Oh pshaw, Little Malice meant to say...
> For a second there, I thought you said "incoherant"...

For him, one is about the same as the other.

From: Sheldon (PENMART01 at aol.com)
Date: Sun, 04 Nov 2007 17:42:21 -0800
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Felice Friese wrote:
> This is a recipe for fried potatoes, Sheldon,

Fried potatoes is not a recipe, it's perhaps a step for a recipe, perhaps.

From: aem (aem_again at yahoo.com)
Date: Sun, 04 Nov 2007 13:45:22 -0800
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Felice Friese wrote:

> Step 1. Cut potatoes into 3/8-inch cubes and drop in cold water. Drain, add
> to a saucepan, cover with water and bring to a boil. Drain immediately and
> dry in a towel.

You can stop here and hold the potatoes for finishing later.

> Step 2. In a nonstick skillet large enough to hold the potatoes in one
> layer, cook them in hot oil over high heat, shaking and stirring
> occasionally, for 5 minutes or until they are lightly browned. [snip]

Or, you can stop here. An advantage to this method is ease in bringing the whole meal together at the same time. -aem

From: Little.Malice at g33mail.com (Little Malice)
Date: Tue, 06 Nov 2007 01:10:02 GMT
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One time on Usenet, Felice Friese said:
> Step 1. Cut potatoes into 3/8-inch cubes and drop in cold water. Drain, add
> to a saucepan, cover with water and bring to a boil. Drain immediately and
> dry in a towel.
> Step 2. In a nonstick skillet large enough to hold the potatoes in one
> layer, cook them in hot oil over high heat, shaking and stirring
> occasionally, for 5 minutes or until they are lightly browned.
> Step 3. Drain the potatoes in a colander and return them to the skillet. Add
> butter (or bacon fat), salt and pepper. Toss over high heat for about 5
> minutes or until crisp. Serve with parsley sprinkled over.

This method reminds me of "boiled and fried potatoes", something DH's enjoyed as a kid. But I'm lazy! Does one need to boil them if they're going to be fried twice? Or would skipping that step leave the spuds too raw? DH made double-cooked french fries lastnight and they were crunchy but creamy on the inside, so maybe that extra time being boiled is worth it...

From: Arri London (biotech at ic.ac.uk)
Date: Mon, 05 Nov 2007 18:48:05 -0700
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Little Malice wrote:
> This method reminds me of "boiled and fried potatoes", something
> DH's enjoyed as a kid. But I'm lazy! Does one need to boil them
> if they're going to be fried twice? Or would skipping that step
> leave the spuds too raw? DH made double-cooked french fries last
> night and they were crunchy but creamy on the inside, so maybe
> that extra time being boiled is worth it...

Have made fried potatoes from raw potatoes without any pre-cooking. Works just fine but they must be thinly sliced or small cubes.

From: "(RJ)" (baranick at localnet.com)
Date: Tue, 06 Nov 2007 16:58:42 -0700
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I put a bit of margarine in a large teflon pan. Dump in a layer of Ore-Ida frozen "Irish Potatoes" Cook on medium heat, flip 'em occasionally until browned. I serve them with breakfast. No ones ever complained.

From: Felice Friese (friese at comcast.net)
Date: Mon, 5 Nov 2007 22:32:44 -0500
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Little Malice wrote:
> This method reminds me of "boiled and fried potatoes", something
> DH's enjoyed as a kid. But I'm lazy! Does one need to boil them
> if they're going to be fried twice? Or would skipping that step
> leave the spuds too raw? DH made double-cooked french fries last
> night and they were crunchy but creamy on the inside, so maybe
> that extra time being boiled is worth it...

I find that parboiling avoids the problem of frying alone and having them overcooked on the outside and undercooked on the inside. BTW, it's the second frying, in this recipe, that adds the flavor, whether it's butter or bacon fat.

That said, I don't do fried pots this way all the time. Sometimes I just cut 'em and toss 'em in the skillet.

From: Ms P (ms_peacock at wbsnet.org)
Date: Mon, 5 Nov 2007 22:21:29 -0600
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Felice Friese wrote:
> I find that parboiling avoids the problem of frying alone and having them
> overcooked on the outside and undercooked on the inside.

Turn the heat down and you won't have that problem.

> BTW, it's the
> second frying, in this recipe, that adds the flavor, whether it's butter
> or bacon fat.
>
> That said, I don't do fried pots this way all the time. Sometimes I just
> cut 'em and toss 'em in the skillet.

I never parboil or precook fried potatoes. Slice or dice and fry until crispy and cooked.

From: Little.Malice at g33mail.com (Little Malice)
Date: Tue, 06 Nov 2007 20:26:17 GMT
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One time on Usenet, Felice Friese said:
> I find that parboiling avoids the problem of frying alone and having them
> overcooked on the outside and undercooked on the inside. BTW, it's the
> second frying, in this recipe, that adds the flavor, whether it's butter or
> bacon fat.
>
> That said, I don't do fried pots this way all the time. Sometimes I just cut
> 'em and toss 'em in the skillet.

Well, one way or the other, I'll be trying these. Thanks, Felice... :-)

From: Becca (becca at hal-pc.org)
Date: Wed, 07 Nov 2007 12:12:42 -0600
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Felice Friese wrote:
> I find that parboiling avoids the problem of frying alone and having them
> overcooked on the outside and undercooked on the inside. BTW, it's the
> second frying, in this recipe, that adds the flavor, whether it's butter or
> bacon fat.

Felice, I agree with you. I prefer to use the microwave instead of parboiling, simply because it is faster and easier. It only takes a couple of minutes for each potato.

From: Felice (friese at comcast.net)
Date: Wed, 7 Nov 2007 14:02:57 -0500
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Becca wrote:
> Felice, I agree with you. I prefer to use the microwave instead of
> parboiling, simply because it is faster and easier. It only takes a
> couple of minutes for each potato.

Never thought of the micro! What's your technique?

From: Amarantha (kyliejohnson at NOSPAMhotmail.com)
Date: 07 Nov 2007 21:41:37 GMT
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Felice wrote:
> Never thought of the micro! What's your technique?

Dunno about Becca, but I prick my potatoes all over with a fork or pointy knife, sit them directly on the microwave turntable and give them about 45 seconds per side per spud (iirc).

I've also been known to pre-chop them and cook with a few drops of water inna microwave dish, checking until I think they feel tender enough for whatever purpose I intend.

From: Becca (becca at hal-pc.org)
Date: Thu, 08 Nov 2007 14:30:54 -0600
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Felice wrote:
> Never thought of the micro! What's your technique?

If I am cooking 2 russet potatoes, I will prick them, then nuke them for 1-2 minutes on each side. It depends on the size of the potato. I cube them, or slice them, after they were nuked. They fry really fast.

From: Sheldon (PENMART01 at aol.com)
Date: Wed, 07 Nov 2007 11:29:07 -0800
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> I find that parboiling avoids the problem of frying alone and having them
> overcooked on the outside and undercooked on the inside. BTW, it's the
> second frying, in this recipe, that adds the flavor, whether it's butter or
> bacon fat.
>
> That said, I don't do fried pots this way all the time. Sometimes I just cut
> 'em and toss 'em in the skillet.

Back paddling, eh... that's how you *always* do 'em.

FRIED POTATOES IS NOT A RECIPE[period]

Next some imbecile is going to say boiling rice is a recipe, boiling pasta is a recipe, frying bacon is a recipe, boiling water is a recipe... NOT!