Preparing Potatoes

Roasting, frying, and hash.

When preparing potatoes for fries, roasting, and frying. It is essential to cut them at least a day ahead of time and put them in a container full of cold water. When you soak potatoes in this way, the water helps to draw out excess starch from the potatoes, and this ultimately helps them to crisp up more when cooked. Doing this can help reduce prep time; I often cut up a pound and keep it in the fridge until needed. I've done this with fries, large quartered for roasting, and small dice for the Sunday hash. This works with sweet potatoes, too. When ready to use, I drain and wash them off under cold water, then proceed as needed for the desired recipe.

Boiling and Mashing

I would not recommend doing this if boiling for mashed potatoes. For mashed potatoes, washing (and peeling if desired) dice to medium size and bringing to a boil in salted water is best. When making mashed potatoes, putting them into the pot with cold water and salt before turning on the stovetop is essential. This allows them to come up to temperature along with the water and yields a more evenly cooked potato at a quicker cooking time. Keeping a lid on the pot helps water to boil faster, although you may want to remove the lid once it reaches a boil.

One can easily make mashed potatoes in a mixer with the paddle attachment; be cautious not to overbeat them; the result isn't that pleasant to eat as they take on a rubbery texture & strange mouthfeel. I always set my KitchenAid to the lowest setting and let it stir for a few minutes after adding the cream, butter, salt, and pepper. Then adjust the seasoning to taste, transfer to a container & cover with tin foil until serving time. While talking about mashed potatoes, the milk component can be replaced with any nut milk, heavy cream, yogurt, and sour cream, to name a few.

Baking

For baking potatoes, I like to use a fork to poke holes all over the potatoes and lightly rub them with butter(butter alternative of choice) for baked potatoes. The fat helps the skin develop better; poking holes helps steam release while baking. Whenever I make baked potatoes, I save the leftover skins after dinner to make easy potato skins the next day, fill them with cheese, and then bake them until they melt.

Quick reference on which common types are ideal for what you are making.

• Baking: Russet

• Boiled: Red skin, new potatoes, white

• Fried: Russet, white

• Roasted: New potatoes, sweet potatoes, russet

• Mashed: White, yellow, red skin, sweet potatoes

• Soups/Stews: Yellow