Potatoes

Last night I grilled a porterhouse steak on the grill and and served it with the customary green salad and baked potatoes, so I thought this would be a good time to rhapsodize about the potato while it is still fresh in my mind and stomach.

When I first started keeping my own kitchen, I made one of the cardinal errors of potato storage and put them into the refrigerator. They quickly turrned sweet (starch turning to sugar?) and I learned my lesson. Since then, I have been storing them in a cool dry place, and I keep an eye out for potato eyes and rot which can smell pretty bad.

If I peel or cut potatoes that I won't be using for a few minutes, I keep them submerged in water to prevent them from turning brown. When I'm ready to use them, I pour off the water.

I prepare potatoes only a few ways: boiled, mashed, scalloped, and baked. Except for mashed potatoes, I usually leave the skin on the potato (after a thorough scrubbing) which makes perfect sense -- less work and more fiber.

For my baked potato, I love a crunchy skin. After washing, I put the foil-less russet potato in my 400 degree toaster oven for about an hour and serve it with sliced onions and mushrooms sauteed in a little butter, cheese, and sour cream. Yes, it is a little decadent, but everything in moderation.

I peel and cut the potatoes into small pieces when I am boiling them to mash to reduce the time required to cook them. I drop the potato pieces into salted boiling water. When the potatoes are tender, I remove the pot from the heat and whip the potatoes in the pot with a hand mixer with a little milk. I draw the line at adding butter. You've got to know when to say when.

Another potato dish that I make is scolloped potatoes. I have lately been keeping the skin on before I slice the potatoes into coins. I also chop up some onion (put it in raw -- no need to saute -- I don't like the onions to disappear during baking) and sometimes add some meat like browned beef or pieces of Polish sausage to turn it into a main dish. I make a white sauce from a roux of 2T flour, 2T butter and a dash of salt, stirred over a medium heat. Let it bubble and then add a cup of milk. Stir constantly until it will thicken. I assemble the dish in layers with ground black pepper and then pour the sauce over the assembly. Bake for about 45 minutes at 350 degrees, stirring halfway through.

Your Thrifty Cook