Official "FORK THA POTATO" thread

[Ronin]

My dear Gram was native to this land and my Grandfather's kin immigrated to New Orleans in the 1800s from Ireland. William Joseph Tracy was the first of my family to come to the Irish Channel area near Magazine Street.

Some of the Tracy brood eventually settled permanently in the New Orleans and Baton Rouge area...many of our dead are buried there.

Others, including my Grandfather, settled in Gulfport and got into the newspaper and entertainment business. He met my Gram in the 1920s at The Strand theater where she seated guests and played in the orchestra.

Lots of cool stories about New Orleans, the Quarter, The River, The Swamp, The Bayou, The Cafe, The Cathedral, Bourbon St., Johnny's, Pat O's ...and plenty of the not unexpected underage drinking of Guinness and Tullamore Dew at Ryan's pub ensued over the decades.

Oh, and there's also the tale of the lovely make out session with the rather hot sister of the bride inside the solid oak confessional while the vows were exchanged mere feet away...did y'all know that there is actually a worn "cheat sheet" of penance taped right next to the slatted screen?

Sorry...unfortunately, these particular events would be completely off topic, so I'll just shut up about it already.

Anyway, this thread, as the title so aptly suggests...is about taters, you know, po-tay-toes.

More in particular and significant, it is about the marvelous ways in which we can cook them, create them and make them ready for the consumption of friend and kin.

Not to be mistaken, this is not a thread about one particular "best way" to do so.

Rather, it is a gathering of our personal heartfelt experiences with nightshade.

I'll start with a real quick way I like to enjoy potatoes when I'm grilling lamb, steaks or chicken:

The basic "twice baked" ~





















So, to recap:

Warsh em.
Fork em.
Foil em.
Bake em.
Slice em.
Scoop em.
Blend em.
Fill em.
Top em.
Bake em.
Serve em.
Eat em.

Cheers!

[S.Vashti]

Wash them.
Fork them.
Stick them in a 400 degree oven for an hour and a half.
Cut in half, run a knife several times through the now flakey innards of each half to create diamonds.
Serve with butter, salt and pepper. The butter runs down through the knife cuts to the skin.
Eat the crispy skin last with some more butter, salt and pepper.

Some folk like to mess around with extra stuff like cheese and vegetables and meats on top. I'm somewhat of a purist.

[Ronin]

Originally Posted by Chris Porter

Wash them.
Fork them.
Stick them in a 400 degree oven for an hour and a half.
Cut in half, run a knife several times through the now flakey innards of each half to create diamonds.
Serve with butter, salt and pepper. The butter runs down through the knife cuts to the skin.
Eat the crispy skin last with some more butter, salt and pepper.

Some folk like to mess around with extra stuff like cheese and vegetables and meats on top. I'm somewhat of a purist.

I wholeheartedly agree (though I do prefer a 375 oven at an hour 45 - with attention - depending upon size of the solanum...slow lovin' is best).

I'm also a fan of Occam.

In short:

"Sir, I don't disagree on any particular point."

That said, we must think of others and be willing to consider new concepts in the open marketplace of ideas.

Besides, I am craving some new insight from the currently known world.

[livius drusus]

I made a new kind of mashed potato a week or so ago, and it came out really tasteh. It's not purist in any way -- several non-potato vegetables are involved -- but it's appealing to both the palate and eye.

Okay so, first I brought a quarter cup of milk with a sliced carrot, a smushed garlic clove and a bay leaf to a simmer, then took it off the heat and just let it steep. While it was steeping, I brought water to a boil, chopped some kale and put it in the boiling water for six or so minutes. Since I wanted to use the delicious kale pot likker to cook the potatoes, I put a colander in the water before adding the kale so I could just lift it all out when it was blanched.

While it was draining in the sink, I put chunks of peeled Yukon Golds -- I have no idea how much, prolly like 5 or 6 largish potatoes -- in the boiling water until they were tender, about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, I chopped half a Vidalia onion and sauteed it in butter. Once it was soft, I added the kale and sauteed them together for a few minutes.

Finally I drained the taters, put them back in the pot, strained the milk through a sieve into the taters, added a knob of butter and mashed. Once it was all mashed, I stirred in the carrots from the milk and the kale/onion combo. I could have thrown in the garlic clove too, but I liked just the hint of garlic flavor instead of full-on garlic mashed potatoes.

It was so colorful and delicious. Definitely something I'd serve to guests.

[Ronin]

Originally Posted by liv

Meanwhile, I chopped half a Vidalia onion and sauteed it in butter.

Did you mince it?

I prefer sauteed Vidalia minced, but you should know that I'm not a hater otherwise.

Originally Posted by liv

I could have thrown in the garlic clove too, but I liked just the hint of garlic flavor instead of full-on garlic mashed potatoes.

After my own heart.

This sounds like it would be just fine served chilled as well...or even made into patties and lightly fried in olive oil.

It's on for this weekend along with some jalapeno (from homegrown) ciabatta bread that I'm going to try to bake.

Wish me skill...and stay tuned for the frame by frame.

[livius drusus]

I chopped the onion fairly coarsely, but minced would be fine, I'm sure. Just keep an eye on it to be sure it doesn't brown, keeping in mind that it'll have another couple of minutes on the heat once you mix the kale in.

I love the patty idea. None was left over so I can't confirm or deny its deliciousness chilled, but I bet it would be dandy. I've certainly enjoyed all the individual elements cooled.

Good luck this weekend. I can't wait to hear how yours comes out.

[mulebear]

I tried making Hasselback potatoes once, but they just were not worth the extra effort.

One of my favorite ways of making mashed potatoes is to use a little Alfredo Sauce in the mix. Yummy.

I'm also a big fan of Crash Potatoes. Crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside.

[wei yau]

Oh hey, I've done the mashed potatoes with kale before. Learned it as a recipe for colcannon. I really liked it and served it as part of a St. Patrick's Day dinner. The rest of the menu was broiled corned beef, soda bread and champ (I know, another potato dish, but the *Irish*).

Still, my preferred potato is the simply baked version with plenty of salt on the skin.