Mashed, hashed… and bashed into your countertop? Or do you just want them
all forked up? What secrets are hidden within your spuds?
“What we need is a few good taters.”
First things first : if you want to cook a great potato, you want to keep it fresh.
Once they're gone and past their best, there really isn't a lot you can do.
The key is in how you store them, so they don't start growing shoots before you've had
a chance to use them. The key may be a common fruit, according to a Lifehacker feature.
It's simple: Just an apple into the mix. It's an idea that didn't just spring out of nowhere,
and it's not an old wives' tale, either. Apples produce a gas called ethylene,
and when this comes into contact with potatoes, it actually stops them from
sprouting. While apples and potatoes may go well together because of this,
the other advantage is that keeping this fruit away from other, ethylene-sensitive fruits and
vegetables is a positive, too. Apples can cause this type of produce to become ripe too soon.
So, it's not just where you store your potatoes, but what else you put with them.
If you really want to make a special potato treat, twice-baked potatoes are delicious and
definitely worth the effort. To make this simple meal stand out,
you really want the carbs inside those crispy skins to be soft and fluffy.
That way, when you add some butter, it melts into every part of the potato.
Martha Stewart suggests a simple way to fluff up potatoes via an
Instagram post. After a 90-minute roast in the oven at 325 degrees Fahrenheit,
your potatoes are almost ready to eat. Once they come out of the oven, it's time to get
rough. Throw them straight down on the counter hard enough so the insides get smashed up. Then,
open each one with your fingers. Season, then add butter and either sour cream or creme fraiche.
A sprinkle of fresh green herbs, like dill or parsley, makes for a great finishing touch.
A baked potato makes for a great lunch or a side to an entrée, but they take a while
to cook in the oven. They're not super quick when they're cooked in the microwave either,
but if you're thinking that you can't speed up microwaving, then you're wrong.
A popular technique needs nothing more than paper towels and some water.
After washing your potato, stab it a few times on each side with a fork. Dampen a length of kitchen
towel and wrap this around the potato. Nuke it in the microwave for 4 minutes before turning it over
and continuing for another few minutes. You'll know when it's done when a fork can go into the
flesh easily. TikTok poster @harley.oseguera demonstrates another version of this, advising
a few deep stabs to the potato before cooking. The potato is wrapped in the paper towels before being
run under the tap, and the spud is cooked for 6 minutes without flipping. The takeaway is that
the towels, in one way or another, shorten the cooking time needed in your microwave.
How do you make mashed potatoes without the skins, but without peeling them?
@lorafied has a great tip posted on TikTok which went viral. It's a great time-saver,
and a great technique for all those cooks who hate the hassle of having
to peel potatoes to make soft, creamy mash. You don't need a masher, either!
“This means something. This is important.”
Wash your potatoes, but don't peel them, and boil them as you usually would in water.
Get a bowl that's big enough for your mash, and place a wire rack over the top.
Cut your cooked potatoes in half and lay them one at a time on top of the rack,
flesh face down. With the palm of your hand, press down on the skin.
The cooked potato is squashed through the rack into the bowl, leaving the skin behind!
However you like your fries, chances are you don't want them
swimming in grease when you bite into them. Since they're made from deep frying potatoes,
trying to remove any excess fat can be a challenge. Trust British domestic goddess
Nigella Lawson to come up with a surprising culinary hack for just such a problem.
Posting her take on Tuscan fries on Instagram, she reveals the secret is to use cold oil. Featured
in HELLO!, the idea is explained further. To try this method, add chipped spuds to cold
vegetable oil and heat this up to cook the fries, rather than starting hot. You don't need to peel,
and don't stir as you let them fry, until the point when they're nearly done.
Add unpeeled garlic cloves to the pan for around 5-10 minutes, and a minute before everything is
ready, throw in some fresh herbs. Before serving, sprinkle on some sea salt flakes.
A crispy exterior to your roasted potato
is everything, but everyone's eaten some that are too soft and chewy, or greasy.
One way to guarantee your potatoes come out of the oven perfectly is
by following a simple culinary trick posted on TikTok by @thatdudecancook.
And you only need one ingredient that's a kitchen staple, too: baking soda.
Peel and cut spuds into uniform sizes. Boil a pan of water and add a teaspoon of kosher salt and a
teaspoon of baking soda. Add the potatoes for around 20-25 minutes to par-boil them.
Add them to a bowl with some rosemary salt, and olive oil and mix together. The baking
soda breaks down the edges of the potatoes and fluffs them up a little. Roast in some
hot olive oil and toss them as they cook. Once done, sprinkle on some truffle salt and pepper.
Chef Not Required also recommends a similar method, while adding rosemary and garlic to the
roasting pan for the last 30 minutes. The site also suggests using floury, starchy potatoes.
Roasted potatoes don't have to be just a simple side;
they're an important part of a classic meal. And the key to their success is that they're crunchy.
One TikTok post by @scheckeats demonstrates how to guarantee that crispiness.
Cut Yukon Gold or red potatoes and put them in cold water with kosher salt before heating them
up to parboil them. The salt will penetrate the spuds and add to the flavor. Once the spuds are
fork-tender, drain them and "rough them up" with a wooden spoon so that they have a craggy texture.
This increased surface area lets the oil in and adds crunch. You can add the potatoes
to a hot baking tray and heated-up oil, but it's not necessary. While avocado oil is used,
you can also drizzle on duck fat instead. Add fresh rosemary with seasonings such as paprika,
old bay, and garlic powder. You can also add oregano, thyme, or sea salt and black pepper.
Bake at 450 degrees Fahrenheit until the potatoes look nearly done and are
nicely brown, turn off the oven, and leave the tray in there for another 10 minutes.
User @morganhipworth has some great ideas when it comes to making garlic
roast potatoes using a pan. Wash and boil peeled and cut spuds after drying on a lined tray.
Cook thinly sliced garlic in a pan of olive oil on low heat for 20 minutes before straining.
Heat the oil in a pan and add the cooked potatoes,
sautéing until they go nice and crisp. Add sea salt, rosemary, and the cooked cloves, and toss.
Meanwhile, @feelgoodfoodie also prescribes the pan-roasted potato method. Boil potatoes
that have been cut, but without peeling. When they're fork-tender, add to hot oil,
adding smoked paprika and garlic as they crisp up. Sprinkle fresh herbs on top for some greenery.
If you want to know how to make the crunchiest dish ever,
then potato squares are what you've been looking for.
Posted on TikTok by @monmackfood, the secret to this hack is in grating and freezing your
spuds! Grate peeled potatoes and fry them in some salted olive oil for 5 minutes.
Put them in a dish lined with plastic wrap, and freeze.
Chop your frozen block into squares, coat them in cornflower, and deep fry in vegetable oil.
After around 5-7 minutes, drain your crispy potatoes and add a sprinkle of salt.
Similar to this is 15-hour potatoes, as demonstrated on TikTok by @poppycooks.
Peel and thinly mandolin your potatoes, cover in beef drippings with salt,
and layer these into an ovenproof dish. Cook in the oven for 3 hours so the potatoes are tender.
Next, cover the dish and weigh the potato mix down with cans before leaving it in
the fridge for 10-12 hours. Cut the compact potato into uniform slices,
and deep fry. Sprinkle with salt and enjoy biting into the many crispy layers.