Potatoes

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BAKED POTATOES

Baked Potato
MICROWAVE OVEN

     A baking potato may be "baked" quickly in the microwave. Besides producing a nearly instant baked potato, this is your quickest route to mashed potatoes.
     Be sure to make several small cuts on each side to prevent explosion. Bake at high a couple of minutes on each side. If not tender when pierced with a knife, bake a minute or two longer on each side. Smell provides a clue as to when the potato is done.
     Butter, or sour cream with chives, are traditional with baked potatoes.
     Also consider yogurt or garlic yogurt. Thick yogurt cream is a possibility, perhaps with toasted cumin stirred in.

Lime-Dill Butter
FOR BAKED POTATO

     Among its other uses, this excellent butter, containing lime juice, dill, and garlic, goes well on a baked potato. Click for recipe. 

Baked Potato Strips

     Here a potato is cut into strips, which are baked as entities entire of themselves. The strips are seasoned with rosemary traditionally, but various spice mixtures work well also.
     Quantity is limited by the size of the baking sheet. An 11 x 16 inch sheet will hold 1 ½ pounds of potatoes with room to spare.
     These may hold for an hour before serving. See note below.

     Cut each potato lengthwise so that cut surface is the largest area. Place cut surface down on cutting board and cut potatoes into ½ inch wide strips.
     Rinse gluten from potato strips to minimize sticking to the baking sheet. To do this, cover pieces with cold water in a pan, then drain in a colander.
     Cover them again. For best results, leave 30 minutes, if time allows. Drain in a colander.
     Cover with water for the third and final time, then drain.

     Spread oil on baking sheet and place in upper third of oven. Leave several minutes so that oil will thin.
     Remove baking sheet from oven. Place potatoes on the sheet, flat side down, in a single layer. Do not let pieces touch. Turn each piece over to oil the other side. This and once more is all the turning you will have to do.
     Place potatoes in oven. Move potatoes about the sheet as necessary to prevent sticking.
     After 30 minutes, turn flat pieces to other side, corner pieces to skin side down. Sprinkle with rosemary.
     Bake until done, by taste test, about 60 minutes overall.

To hold
     To hold up to an hour, turn off oven leaving the potatoes inside. Once the potatoes reach room temperature, they are still quite good, albeit without their delightful crispness.

Variation
     Do not rinse potatoes. Crust will be more interesting, but you will have to be quite diligent the first 20 minutes of baking to keep the potatoes from sticking. This is tedious in the oven.
     For crisper potatoes, bake at 425 degrees F. Time will be somewhat shorter.
     For variety, instead of strips, cut potatoes in chunks, say 3 to the ounce. These cook more uniformly, but lack the visual appeal of the strips.

Moist-Baked Potatoes with Port
     These potatoes look dramatic with a reddish top crust. At the same time, they are moist and succulent to the taste.
     The potatoes are first briefly sautéed, then infused with Port wine, then baked in a little liquid. In this recipe they are baked alone. Alternatively, they may be baked with a roast chicken, or roast pork.

     Cut the potatoes in half so as to form the largest cut area. Pat cut surfaces dry with a paper towel, but do not rinse them.
     Place olive oil in the pan and heat rapidly a couple of minutes. Add unrinsed potatoes, cut side down, in one layer.
     Turn down heat so that potatoes simmer steadily. Move potatoes about as necessary to prevent sticking.
     Simmer potatoes steadily on the one side until brown. This should take about 10 minutes for the smaller potatoes, 15 minutes for the larger. Do not turn the potatoes.
     Turn off heat and pour off excess oil. Let pan cool a couple of minutes. Pour Port into pan. Lift each potato up and set it down again to absorb the wine. Let steep 5 minutes. Keep potatoes well supplied with Port so that they will absorb the maximum. To stop further steeping, turn potatoes over. The Port-infused side should be a nearly uniform red.

     Place potatoes in the baking dish, cut side up. Place in oven for 10 minutes. This step shortens the time.
     Add enough water just to film the bottom of the dish, then add another like amount. You want a generous film of water.
     Bake until potatoes are tender. This will be about 45 minutes for 2 ounce potatoes, [.. 1 ¼ hr for 4 ounce.. go to higher temp?]

Variation
     Use balsamic vinegar instead of Port. (Or half Port, half balsamic vinegar.)
     Before sautéing potatoes, wash the cut side well under running water. They will then not stick to the pan, but will not brown as well, either.

     Scalloped potatoes are typically a rich concoction, sumptuous with heavy cream and butter. For mouth-watering experiences see, for example, the many versions in Patricia Wells, Bistro Cooking.
     The recipes below take a different tack. The first minimizes cream and butter. The second and third use no cream at all, substituting onions in the one, tomatoes in the other.

Scalloped Potatoes
LIGHT
     These are very tasty, using light cream and little butter. They may be prepared ahead of time. Leftovers are fine chilled and reheated.

     Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
     Cut boiling potatoes into 1/8 inch slices or slightly thicker. Select a baking dish of a size that stacked potatoes will be 1 or 1 ½ inches high.
     Butter the baking dish, and place potatoes in it. Season top layer with pepper. Pour cream over potatoes to a depth of 1/8 inch.
     Place dish in bottom third of oven. Baste with the bulb baster every 5 or 10 minutes at first, then at longer intervals.
     Bake until potatoes are tender when pierced with a knife. Taste to make sure. If potatoes are still hard, and cream has disappeared, add more cream (or milk). Baking will take about 60 minutes.
     Decorate with paprika and serve.

Variation
     Many feel no need for salt with this. If you use salt, sprinkle a little onto each layer as you place the potato slices.

Baker’s Wife’s Potatoes
SCALLOPED, NO CREAM

     These are the classic pommes boulanger. They are delicious scalloped potatoes, unusual in using no cream, relying for flavor on onions, a little butter, chicken stock, and dry white wine. The onions impart a delightful flavor as they become slightly browned in the baking.
     These may be made ahead of time, and are not bad next day.

     Melt the butter in the pan. Add chopped onions. Cover and simmer gently until onions are transparent and soft, about 5 minutes.
     Slice the potatoes 1/8 inch thick or a little less. Add them to the pan. Add stock, white wine, and thyme. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Stir thoroughly, separating slices, to coat individual slices with liquid.
     Bring rapidly to the simmer, cover, and cook at a steady simmer for 15 minutes. There is no need to stir again, but baste a couple of times.
     Without delaying more than 5 or 10 minutes, turn the potato mixture over into the unoiled shallow baking dish. Bake uncovered until potatoes are soft and golden, most of the liquid absorbed, and the onions slightly browned, perhaps 40 to 50 minutes. Baste from time to time with the bulb baster. If dish becomes dry before potatoes are cooked, add tablespoons of stock or water.
     Liquid will thicken with gluten from the potatoes.

Variations
     For a greater onion presence, double the onions and make sure that some rest on top of the potatoes. 
     Traditionally, a combination of leeks and onions are used.

Scalloped Potatoes with Tomatoes
NO CREAM

     Sautéed potatoes are sometimes parboiled, sometimes not. The following three recipes cover the spectrum.
     In the first recipe, the potatoes are completely cooked beforehand in water, then briefly sautéed at the last minute.
     Fondante Potatoes are a mirror image. These are boiled very briefly, then undergo a long gentle sauté.
     For Potatoes Cooked Like Mushrooms the potatoes are not parboiled at all.

Pan Fried Small Potatoes
     These potatoes are quite delectable, and convenient to prepare. They may be boiled long beforehand. In fact this is the preferred procedure. Just before serving, 5 minutes in butter completes the cooking.
     These may be refrigerated and reheated for breakfast next day.

Butter, 1/2 tablespoon
Salt and pepper
Sauté pan, uncovered, to hold the potatoes in a single layer
         (a 9 ½ inch pan will hold [.. 12 ounces.. ] comfortably)

     Boil the potatoes until just soft, as you would for potato salad. (Or steam them.) Set aside until needed.
     10 minutes before serving, heat butter in the pan. Cut potatoes in two. When butter bubbles, add potatoes cut side down. Sauté 5 or 10 minutes, nudging potatoes constantly with a spatula to prevent sticking. They will acquire a slight crust. Place them skin side down on a serving platter. Salt and pepper the crusted surfaces. Potatoes can be served immediately, but may also be held awhile.

Variation
     Larger potatoes, 3-ounce for example, may also be done this way. Boil the potatoes whole, then cut in 4 pieces just before sautéing. Sauté 5 minutes on each of the 2 cut sides. Turning these larger potatoes is somewhat tedious, so I usually don’t cook them this way.

Fondante Potatoes
BLANCHED, LONG-SAUTÉED

     These little gems were served in the old days by Victor Hirtzler, at the St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco, with fillet of turbot. Turbot seems to have gone under the radar, but these golden-crusted morsels should remain forever with other delicate partners, such as halibut or sole.
     The crust should be very delicate, not the thicker crust usual with sautéed potatoes.
     These take about 1 1/2 hours. They can hold several hours. Reheat leftovers for breakfast next day in a frying pan with a little moisture.

     Dice the unpeeled potatoes into bite-sized pieces the size of cherry tomatoes, about ¼ ounce each (see note on dicing below).
     Place potatoes in pan and cover by ¼ inch with cold water and a little salt. Heat rapidly uncovered until the water boils. The liquid should simmer at the edge, and bubbles boil up in the center. This should take about 10 minutes.
     Boil 1 minute, then drain immediately in a colander. (This is important. Further significant boiling at this point will make the potatoes soggy at the end.)
     Rinse with cold water. Potatoes may rest in the colander until the next step.

     Melt butter gently in large sauté pan. Place potatoes in one layer and toss so as to coat all sides. Simmer very gently uncovered until soft and coated golden yellow, about 1 hour ( 1 ¼ hour if using a 12 inch pan).
     Simmer should be audible only if you put your ear to the pan. Toss from time to time. First sign of a barely detectable yellow crust should appear in 20 to 30 minutes.
     Cook until surfaces are slightly crusted on most sides and potatoes tender when pierced with a fork. Test for doneness finally by taste.
     Moisten the cooked potatoes with a tablespoon of chicken stock. Add tablespoon by tablespoon, tossing so as to coat all surfaces with liquid. Then simmer gently a few minutes until potatoes are nearly dry and a somewhat sticky (glazed) crust has formed.

     Potatoes are often diced in bite-sized pieces, about the size of cherry tomatoes. (Pigeon eggs in some older aristocratic recipes.) For ¼ ounce dice, a 4-ounce potato, for example, will contain 16 pieces. Quarter the potato, then cut each quarter in 4 pieces.
     A 3 ounce potato will contain 12 pieces, and so on.

Potatoes Cooked Like Mushrooms
SAUTÉED

     Ada Boni (Italian Regional Cooking) provided a Neapolitan recipe for Eggplant Cooked Like Mushrooms. I tried this and liked it, but underwent 15 minutes of tedium browning the egg plant cubes which kept sticking to the pan. The method is easier with potatoes.
     These may be cooked an hour or two beforehand, and are not bad next day.

     Peel tomatoes, for somewhat better flavor in the final dish. (Cover bottom of a pan with water. Cover and bring to simmer. Add tomatoes and simmer covered until skin is loosened, 30 seconds to 2 minutes, depending on tomato.)
     In advance, cut up tomatoes and olives and measure capers. Set aside together in a bowl.
     Dice the unpeeled potatoes into bite-sized pieces, the size of cherry tomatoes, about ¼ ounce each.
     Rinse gluten from potatoes so that they will not stick in the pan. (Cover with cold water in a pan, then drain in a colander. Repeat twice more, three washes in all.)
     Heat the oil over medium heat. Stir in potatoes, tossing to coat with oil. Sauté potatoes uncovered, at a moderate sizzle. Toss from time to time until soft and achieving a crust on most sides, about 30 minutes, or somewhat longer. First crust should appear at about 15 minutes. Potatoes must be completely cooked at this point, as they will not undergo appreciable further cooking.
     Add reserved tomatoes, olives, and capers. Season with salt to taste. Gently cook another 5 or 10 minutes. Add water by tablespoons, only as necessary to moisten tomatoes and keep them from sticking.
     Stir in herbs and garlic. Correct for salt.

     Canned tomatoes work very well here, but the technique is slightly different.
     Plum tomatoes, in the pan, will gradually release their juice and moisten the potatoes. But canned tomatoes, when drained, will release no juice. Therefore canned tomatoes should be added with a little of their drained juice. Add more of the drained juice as needed to moisten the potatoes. Cooking time may be somewhat shorter, as you are not coaxing moisture out of the tomatoes.

     Instead of potatoes, peel an eggplant and cut it into 1 inch cubes. All pieces will not keep their shape unless peeled.
     Sauté eggplant in hot oil, uncovered, tossing from time to time until brown on all sides, about 15 minutes. This is quite tedious.
     Stir in tomatoes, olives, and capers, and cook another 10 or 15 minutes until eggplants are soft.

     Ada Boni did not tell us how to cook the mushrooms that the eggplant is cooked like. We are left to infer this, which I suppose would go something like the following.
     Instead of potatoes, sauté 1 pound of mushrooms gently 5 minutes, until soft, or nearly so. Stir in tomatoes, olives, and capers, and cook another 5 minutes or so to blend flavors.

Braised New Potatoes with Butter and Herbs
GOURMET GHETTO

     This recipe is based on Escoffier’s prescription for glazed carrots (see index).
     New potatoes are cooked in a flavored bath, the liquid being reduced to a buttery syrup, in which the finished potatoes are rolled.
     These may be prepared well ahead, then gently heated in the microwave. They survive refrigeration quite nicely.

     Add water to ¼ height of the potatoes. (The aim is to reduce liquid to a buttery syrup by the time that potatoes are done. This is easiest if you start with little water and add as necessary, for if you end with too much you will have to boil down the excess.)
     Bring quickly to simmer. Add onions, basil, butter, and sugar. Salt to taste. Simmer gently , turning potatoes over from time to time.
     Potatoes should be tender when pierced with a fork and taste done. This will take perhaps 30 minutes.
     Roll potatoes a minute or two in the buttery syrup, then remove to a serving dish. Decorate with parsley.

     Mashed potatoes are perhaps made most often from boiling potatoes, whether boiled or steamed.
     They may also be made from baking potatoes, baked or microwaved (see above).
     From either, a variety of liquids and additions are possible.

     A mixture of turnips and potatoes can be a welcome change.
     Certain restaurants have come to feature their own proprietary mashed potatoes. Some will tell you what their basic ingredients are.

New Roast Potatoes
BOILING POTATOES
     To roast boiling potatoes, turn oven to 400 degrees F. Leave potatoes whole if small, cut them into double bite size pieces if large. Place in a ceramic baking dish and toss with a little olive oil and thyme. Cover with aluminum foil. They will take about 45 minutes.