Potatoes – any way you like
On Thanksgiving weekend, my daughters were home from university and I wanted to try some new recipes. I was especially excited to try the I Love Potatoes Cookbook from the Potato Growers of Alberta.
Potatoes are a comfort food for me and I am not alone. Potatoes are the favorite vegetable of Canadians, topping 70 kilograms of the 133 kilograms of fresh vegetables eaten by the average Canadian annually.
This versatile vegetable can be prepared in many ways. The 66-page paperback cookbook contains recipes for every kind of potato dish, from cheesy potato snacks to a cajun potato bake, crusty potato logs, beef and potato stir fry and chocolate tweed cake. Symbols mark recipes low in fat or quick to prepare.
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I tested some of these recipes on the hearty appetites of young teenagers. The chocolate tweed cake did resemble tweed fabric in appearance and was tasty.
Chocolate tweed cake
1Ú2 cup butter or 125 mL
margarine
11Ú2 cups sugar 375 mL
1 cup mashed 250 mL
potato
3 eggs 3
11Ú3 cups flour 425 mL
2 teaspoons 10 mL
baking powder
1 teaspoon salt 5 mL
1Ú4 teaspoon 1 mL
ground cloves
1Ú2 teaspoon nutmeg 2 mL
1 teaspoon 5 mL
cinnamon
1Ú2 cup milk 125 mL
2 one ounce 2-23 g
squares semi-sweet chocolate, grated
icing sugar, or glaze
(optional)
Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add mashed potato. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine dry ingredients. Add alternately with liquid, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Stir in chocolate. Spoon batter into greased and floured bundt pan or tube pan.
Bake at 350 F (180 C) for one hour. Cool in pan 10 minutes. Remove from pan. When cooked, dust with icing sugar or drizzle with a glaze, if desired.
We also enjoyed an old-fashioned chocolate cake made with potatoes that I thought resembled a chocolate zucchini cake.
Tasty appetizer
This flavorful low-fat appetizer contains two of my favorite flavors – lemon and dill:
Lemon potato wedges
1Ú2 teaspoon dill 2 mL
weed
1 teaspoon finely 5 mL
grated lemon peel
3 tablespoons 45 mL
lemon juice
1 tablespoon 15 mL
melted butter or margarine
4 medium potatoes, 4
unpeeled
Combine dill weed, lemon peel, lemon juice and butter. Cut each potato lengthwise into eight wedges. Place potato wedges on baking sheet. Brush with dill mixture. Bake at 425 F (220 C) for 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Serves eight.
A serving has 97 calories; two g fat, two g protein, 20 g carbohydrate, two g fibre, 13 mg vitamin C, 21 mg sodium, 327 mg potassium and 14 percent of the calories are from fat.
Some of the recipes in the book (as above) have an analysis of the nutritive value listed.
Nutritional value
Potatoes are a fat-free vegetable, high in fibre, low in sodium, an excellent source of vitamin C and B6, and a good source of niacin, thiamin, iron, potassium and magnesium. One medium potato is 180 calories with 35 percent of the vitamin C requirement.
Types of potatoes
Different potato types have different cooking capabilities. One type of potato does not fit all cooking purposes. The main types of Alberta potatoes are:
- Baking (russet) potatoes are long, oblong and have brown skins. They are wonderful for mashed french fries, and baked potatoes.
- Red potatoes are round, with red skins and white flesh. They are best for boiled, roasted, or scalloped potatoes. They keep their shape well through cooking.
- Yellow potatoes are oblong with light yellow skins and yellow flesh. They make lovely boiled, roasted and scalloped potatoes and potato salad. They also go well in soups or stews since they hold their shape well.
Buying potatoes
Buy potatoes that are firm, fairly smooth and free from blemishes and green tinges. Grade #1 potatoes are consistent in size and have few blemishes. Grade #2 may be purchased on special and tend to have more blemishes and bruises, so there is more waste.
Storing potatoes
- Keep potatoes in the coldest part of your house or apartment (perhaps along an outside wall).
- Store potatoes at 45-50 F
(7-10 C).
- The fridge is not a good place to store potatoes.
- Keep your potatoes in the dark with paper or burlap bags because light can turn potatoes green which makes them bitter.
- Remember potatoes are a vegetable and can be bruised if dropped or handled roughly.
Preparing potatoes
- Scrub potatoes with a vegetable brush to remove dust and dirt.
- Peel potatoes thinly. Leave as much flesh as possible as the most nutritious part of the potato is the outer third.
- Remove blemishes, bruises and any green spots. Green spots are caused by a compound called solanin that forms when potatoes are exposed to light. It gives them a green tinge, is bitter to taste, and in large amounts can cause cancer.
Cooking potatoes
- Cut pieces the same size to cook evenly.
- Boil for 20 to 30 minutes. Cook until fork can cut through potato. Drain water and save for canned or homemade broth soups.
- Bake at 350 F (180 C) for 60 to 70 minutes.
- New potatoes are often smaller and have more sugar, so they take longer to cook.
- If potatoes burn while boiling them, transfer unburnt potatoes to another pot, add water and a 1Ú2 teaspoon (1 mL) lemon juice. Finish cooking.
I Love Potatoes Cookbook is available by writing to: Potato Growers of Alberta, Suite 6, 1323 – 44 Ave. N.E. , Calgary, Alta., T6E 6L5, 403-291-2430; fax: 403-291-2641, or e-mail: pga@potatonet.com. Cost is $12.
