Showing posts with label potatoes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label potatoes. Show all posts
One of my favorite vegetables (and I have never made any secret about this) is the humble potato. I cannot get enough of them. I enjoy them in any way shape or form.
Boiled, steamed, fried, baked, roasted, mashed, you name it. If there is a potato involved I am all in!
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I think the potato has to be one of the most versatile vegetables out there. They can form a basis, or a canvas as it were, for many other textures and flavors.
They are often used to make alcohol. (Vodka, Potcheen or Akvavit). You can use them to make candy. The starch is used in the food industry as a thickener or binder, and in the textile industry as an adhesive or the manufacture of paper and boards.
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Of course I love eating potatoes, in pretty much any way shape or form, but one of my favorite ways to enjoy them is baked. With their crisp jackets and fluffy interiors a well baked potato is truly a thing of beauty to me.
It is also a magnificent canvas upon which to write other flavors and when done right can serve as a full meal. Indeed the U.K. has no end of shops in which you can buy only baked potatoes (or jacket potatoes are they are lovingly referred to) with any number of toppings.
One of my first meals ever eaten in the U.K. was a jacket potato topped with cheese in the food court at Euston Station. You could get them topped with tuna mayonnaise, baked beans, cheese, etc.
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This Loaded Baked Potato recipe I am sharing with you today is one of my favorite ways to enjoy them, and it is really a meal in and of itself. Of course the heartier eater might enjoy it as a side.
This all depends on the size of your potato of course and whilst the ingredients I have given are for one baked potato, you can certainly multiply them to feed more people.
In fact, while the oven is on, why not bake a half dozen or so baked potatoes. You will find that baked and cooled they will come in very handy to do all sorts such as make salads, soups or even home fries!
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WHAT KIND OF POTATO IS BEST FOR BAKING
Of course you can bake any kind or size of potato but for the ultimate baked potato experience you want a potato that is a bit larger in size and that will bake up with a light and fluffy interior.
Russet potatoes are high in starch and low in moisture, which makes them nice and fluffy after baking. Their thick skin crisps up well, too.
When baking you want to choose medium-sized potatoes, each around the same size (about one-half pound) so they all finish baking at the same time.
If you live in the U.K. I recommend using a Maris Piper or a King Edward potato.
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HOW TO BAKE A POTATO
You want to begin with really clean potatoes. I scrub mine really well under running cold water with a vegetable brush. I love to eat the skins, its one of my favorite parts, so a clean skin is really important to me.
Once you have cleaned your potato you need to prick it all over with a fork, about six times should do it. Anyone who has had to clean up potato baked into their oven from an exploding potato knows full well the value of pricking them before baking!
It might not happen, but if it does, it creates a huge mess. Pricking them alleviates the problem!
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Some people like to use the air fryer to bake their potatoes and I highly recommend this method, especially in the summer months when you don't want to turn on the oven. 40 minutes (washed, dried and pricked) at 400*F/200*C does the trick quite nicely.
Some people like to rub the skins with oil and salt before baking and this certainly ensures a nice crisp skin.
You can also bake them in the microwave. I don't recommend baking really large potatoes in the microwave however as the ends will get chewy and over cooked before the centers are baked. Wash and prick as above. Wrap in paper toweling and then bake on high for about 3 to 4 minutes. I don't recommend doing any more than two at a time.
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Aside from the air fryer, my favorite method is to bake them in the oven. I wash, dry, prick and rub them with a bit of oil and salt and then place them into a hot oven (400*F/200*C/ gas mark 6) placing them directly onto the rack of the oven.
This helps the hot air of the oven to circulate around them completely, and gives you a really nice crisp skin.
Another favorite way to enjoy a baked potato is when you are camping. Wrap in foil and then toss them into the coals to bake. Or even the coals in your fireplace or wood stove will do. Delicious!
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HOW TO TOP A BAKED POTATO
Baked potatoes are a fabulous canvas for most flavors. I have enjoyed many a baked potato topped with hot chili and cheese. Bake beans and cheese are another favorite.
Sour cream, chives and crisp bacon bits are another favorite.
Some people love them topped with tuna mayonnaise. (Personally that has never really appealed to me.)
Today I have loaded my baked potato up with broccoli and cheese and bacon!! This is a delicious combination, but you could use any vegetable you want. Broccoli goes especially well with cheese and bacon and potatoes for that matter!!
Today I used a nice strong white cheddar for my potato. I adore cheddar on a baked potato. You can use whatever cheese you wish. Comte is especially nice if you can get it.
I also chose to use blanched/steamed broccoli. Broccoli is really nice on a baked potato.
Note - don't skim on the cheese, especially if this is going to be your whole meal. You want to taste the cheese, which is also why you don't want to use a really bland and almost flavorless cheese.
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If you make sure your vegetables are crispy tender and not cooked to death this can be a real taste treat. I like my broccoli crispy tender and bright green.
Cauliflower would also be nice or a combination of both.
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I always have cooked bacon in the freezer. I tend to cook my bacon a pound at a time and then I freeze it so that I always have cooked bacon ready to drag out and use whenever I need a bit of bacon.
This was lovely on top of the broccoli and the cheese. It added a nice hint of smoky salty moreish meaty yumminess.
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Garnished with a dollop of lactose free (Gay Lea) sour cream and some minced scallions/spring onions, this made for a fabulously hearty and filling meal for myself. In fact I couldn't finish the whole thing.
I think its true that your appetite wanes as you get older. There was a day when I could have easily finished this and a steak besides! Having said that, this was just right!
Loaded Baked Potato
Yield: 1
Prep time: 5 MinCook time: 1 H & 10 MTotal time: 1 H & 15 M
These are simply delicious and I find them to be a meal in and of itself. You can multiply the amounts to bake and feed as many people as you wish.
Ingredients
- 1 medium to large russet potato, well scrubbed
- 1 strip of streaky bacon, cooked until crisp
- 1 tsp olive oil
- coarse sea salt
- 1/4 pound fresh broccoli, broken into florets and blanched
- 1/3 cup (1/5 oz/42g) grated strong cheddar cheese
To serve:
- sour cream
- finely chopped spring onion, or fresh chives
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400*F/200*C.
- Prick your potato about six times with a fork, rub with oil and then rub with coarse salt. Place into the oven right on the center oven rack. Bake for about 1 hour, until the potato yields slightly to the touch.
- Leave the oven on. Let the potato cool slightly so that you can comfortably touch it.
- Cut the potato down the center, taking care not to cut all the way through. Make two perpendicular cuts near each end of the potato. This helps you to be able to open it up easier.
- Place the potato into a small baking dish and open it up. Top with half the cheese. Place the blanched broccoli on top of the cheese. Sprinkle the remaining cheese over top of the broccoli and then crumble the bacon and sprinkle it over top of the top layer of cheese.
- Return to the oven and bake for a further 5 to 10 minutes so that the cheese is well melted and everything is heated through.
- Serve with sour cream for spooning on top and chopped onion/chives to sprinkle on top.
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I make no secret of the fact that my favorite vegetable is the humble potato. I think if I had to spend the rest of my life eating only one thing it would be potatoes. I could live without meat, but don't take away my potatoes.
They are such an incredibly versatile vegetables. Aside from being a great source of fiber, you can enjoy them baked, mashed, fried, boiled, and in a multitude of dishes.
I can remember watching my mother peel potatoes when I was a child and begging my mother for a piece of the raw potato. She would never let me have any.
She said eating raw potato would give me worms. I don't think that's actually true, but its still not a wise thing to do, eating raw potatoes. They contain a toxic compound named solanine which can make you very ill.
If I had to pick a favorite way of preparing and eating potatoes I could not pick one. Each has their own benefits and beautiful properties.
Baby boiled potatoes, rolled in butter, salt pepper and herbs. Fabulously tasty. Even larger boiled potatoes, boiled in the skins and then dabbed with butter, parsley, salt and pepper. So delicious.
A big pile of fluffy mash . . . with butter and milk, salt and pepper. Is there anything more comforting. Sour cream or cream cheese are also great additions. Mom always used to add some finely grated onion. Delicious!
What would a steak be without a wonderful, crisp skinned baked jacket potato on the side. In the UK they have restaurants that serve nothing but jacket potatoes and you can get them topped with everything from beans, to tuna mayonnaise to baked beans.
Remove the insides, mash with a few bits, stuff them back in and re-bake and you have another incredibly delicious option!!!
Fried potatoes are another favorite. Either cut into chips and deep fat fried in oil, or grated, shaped into patties and fried in butter as potato pancakes.
Hash brown patties. Crispy roasted potatoes. Potato Chips/crisps. There is no end to the enjoyment.
And then there is potato salad. Mixed with mayonnaise, or sour cream or both, or with an herb vinaigrette, they all go down a real treat with me.
One of my very favorite ways to enjoy them is as pan fries. You can use leftover cold potatoes and those are excellent, or you can boil them and then cook them the way I am sharing today.
Peeled and chunked potatoes are parboiled in some salted water and then fried to golden brown in a pan with some garlic and sage.
Excellent served as a side dish with just about anything. Add a couple of eggs, frying them in the pan with the potatoes, and you have a complete meal!
Quite simply delicious. Tear the yolk open and dip the potatoes into it. Oh my, my, my . . . what a delicious option.
WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE CRISPY FRIED POTATOES
Simple ingredients, simply prepared.
- 1 lb. 2 oz (500g) potatoes, peeled and cut into approximately 1 inch chunks
- 2 TBS olive oil
- A large knob of butter (about 20g)
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled but left whole and smashed
- 3 sage sprigs
- salt and black pepper to taste
- parsley to scatter over top
Just about any kind of potato will work prepared this way. Today I used red potatoes. They were small to medium in size. The smaller ones I cut in half and the larger ones I quartered.
Its not always possible to get fresh sage leaves. In that case you can use about 1/2 tsp of crumbled dried sage.
HOW TO MAKE CRISPY FRIED POTATOES
If you follow my instructions exactly you will be rewarded with perfectly cooked, crispy edged, golden brown potatoes which are beautifully flavored with sage and garlic.
Boil the potato chunks in salted boiling water until just tender, about 8 minutes. Drain very well then throw immediately into a 12 inch non-stick skillet that you have been heating the butter, oil, garlic and sage in.
I put this pan on just when the potatoes are about ready and heat it until the butter starts to foam and sizzle.
Start them off on high heat and cook until they start to look golden brown, then lower the heat slightly and continue to cook them until they get really crusty, tossing them about carefully from time to time.
This will take about 10 to 15 minutes depending. Try not to rush the process.
Be very careful not to mush them, although mushing them a little bit is good as it gives you more crispy edges and bits to enjoy.
Try not to let the garlic or the sage burn. If it looks as if they are getting too done, lift them onto the top of the potatoes.
Sprinkle with a bit of salt, some pepper, the parsley flakes and serve immediately.
If you like you can actually turn this simple dish into a whole meal by adding a couple of eggs. The potatoes are fabulous dipped into the yolks.
Once you have the potatoes all golden and crispy, move the potatoes over in the pan , making two big spaces for the eggs. Drop another bit of butter into the empty spot and crack in two eggs.
Sprinkle a bit of sea salt over all and continue to cook over medium low heat, until the egg whites set and the yolk is as done as you like it.
These are really delicious. I could eat them every day, but restrain myself from doing so. I leave them as a rare treat, and enjoy them even more for doing so!!
Crispy Fried Potatoes
Yield: 2
Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 20 MinTotal time: 30 Min
Simple and satisfying. Crisp edged, golden brown, filled with flavor. Its the simple things in life which bring us the most pleasure.
Ingredients
- 1 lb. 2 oz (500g) potatoes, peeled and cut into approximately 1 inch chunks
- 2 TBS olive oil
- A large knob of butter (about 20g)
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled but left whole and smashed
- 3 sage sprigs
- salt and black pepper to taste
- parsley to scatter over top
Instructions
- Boil the potato chunks in salted boiling water until just tender, about 8 minutes. Drain very well then throw immediately into a 12 inch non-stick skillet that you have been heating the butter, oil, garlic and sage in. (I put this pan on just when the potatoes are about ready and heat it until the butter starts to foam and sizzle.)
- Start them off on high heat and cook until they start to look golden brown, then lower the heat slightly and continue to cook them until they get really crusty, tossing them about carefully from time to time.
- Be very careful not to mush them, although mushing them a little bit is good as it gives you more crispy edges and bits to enjoy. Try not to let the garlic or the sage burn. If it looks as if they are getting too done, lift them onto the top of the potatoes.
- Sprinkle with a bit of salt, some pepper, the parsley flakes and serve immediately.
Notes
Optionally you can cook two eggs with the potatoes. Once you have the potatoes all golden and crispy, move the potatoes over in the pan , making two big spaces for the eggs. Drop another bit of butter into the empty spot and crack in two eggs. Sprinkle a bit of sea salt over all and continue to cook over medium low heat, until the egg whites set and the yolk is as done as you like it.
So, I am finally coming to terms with loving my Air Fryer. Last week I was air frying sweet potatoes and this week it is regular potatoes. Bake Potatoes, or Jacket Potatoes as they are also known in the UK.
I can see where this machine is really going to come in handy this summer when the really hot temperatures hit. It will go a long ways towards helping to keep my kitchen cool. I love that it is the ideal size for cooking for an individual or a couple.
That also will help to keep the electricity bill in check. It costs a lot less to run an air fryer than it does to heat up a whole oven.
Potatoes cook beautifully in the air fryer. If you want a perfect baked potato you want to start off with the right kind of potato for the best results.
In my opinion that is a potato with a nice floury interior. Here in North America that is a russet potato. In the UK , a King Edward is ideal. You really don't want a waxy, new type of potato.
The skin is my favorite part of the baked potato so make sure you scrub your potatoes really well. A vegetable brush and running cold water does the perfect job.
Once you have them scrubbed however, make sure you dry them off really well. Otherwise they will steam in the air fryer and you are not wanting that to happen. You want a crisp skin, not a steamed skin.
Also prick them all over with a fork so that they don't explode all over your air fryer when they are cooking. This also applies to the oven if you are using the oven. I have had to clean up this kind of a mess in the past and trust me when I say its not fun. It gets everywhere!!
You could also rub them with a bit of oil or butter and some salt and pepper if you wanted to. If I was just having baked potatoes on their own that is what I would do, but today I was going to do something special with them, so I left them plain.
When I was a child my mother used to make us stuffed baked potatoes from time to time, or twice baked potatoes as they are also known. We absolutely loved them!
She would bake the potatoes and then scoop out the flesh, leaving the skins intact. This scooped out flesh would be mashed together with milk and butter and some grated onion and seasoning.
This mixture would then be stuffed back into the baked potatoes and she would bake them again for a while longer until they got a bit crispy on top. They were fabulous and made for a real treat for us!
We didn't have anything like this very often so when we did we felt as if all our Christmas's had come at once!
My own children also loved it when I made twice baked potatoes. Of course I added cheese to theirs and sometimes sour cream.
Its like having a restaurant baked potato with all of the toppings stuffed inside instead of piled on top. Yummiliciously tasty! What's not to like about that!
WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE AIR FRYER TWICE BAKED POTATOES
Just think baked potato and what you would want to spoon on top of yours if you were having one. Its simple really.
- 2 russet baking potatoes (In the UK use something like a King Edward)
- 1 TBS butter
- 1 TBS cream cheese
- 2 TBS grated cheese (cheddar or your favorite kind of cheese)
- 2 TBS sour cream
- 2 TBS grated onion, or one spring onion chopped
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- salt and black pepper to taste
Of course you can add different things if you want. Crispy bits of bacon are always nice. You can also add chopped cooked broccoli or cauliflower which is also nice.
If you want you can sprinkle additional cheese on top for every more cheesiness. Today I kept it pretty basic. Also do note, this recipe is for two hearty eaters or four light eaters.
HOW TO MAKE AIR FRYER TWICE BAKED POTATOES
Start by scrubbing your potatoes really well, then pat them dry with some paper towels. Prick them all over with a
fork.
Pop them into the basket of your air fryer and then bake them for 40
minutes at 400*F/200*C. Flip them over halfway through the bake time.
When they are done they will yield lightly to pressure.
Remove the potatoes from the air fryer and cut them in half lengthwise.
Scrape out any flesh from each half into a bowl, leaving a shell about 1/4
inch thick throughout.
Mash the potato flesh with all of the remaining ingredients, mixing
everything well together. Pile the flesh back into the potatoes roughly.
I like
to leave a lot of texture, so I make sure they have a pretty rustic look. Don't mash them down into the skins. Leave them light and a bit airy.
Serve immediately, and enjoy, enjoy, enjoy!!!
I could make a whole meal of these and nothing else! Yes, I love them that much! I love all of the crispy potato bits, and the crisp skin.
But then again, the potato is my favorite vegetable so there is not much about a potato that I do not like!
Air Fryer Twice Baked Potatoes
Yield: 2
Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 45 MinTotal time: 55 Min
Crisp skinned baked potatoes, stuffed with a fabulously tasty filling, and then baked again. In the air fryer. Perfectly delicious.
Ingredients
- 2 russet baking potatoes (In the UK use something like a King Edward)
- 1 TBS butter
- 1 TBS cream cheese
- 2 TBS grated cheese (cheddar or your favorite kind of cheese)
- 2 TBS sour cream
- 2 TBS grated onion, or one spring onion chopped
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Scrub your potatoes really well, then pat dry. Prick them all over with a fork. Pop them into the basket of your air fryer and then bake them for 40 minutes at 400*F/200*C. Flip them over halfway through the bake time. When they are done they will yield lightly to pressure.
- Remove the potatoes from the air fryer and cut them in half lengthwise. Scrape out any flesh from each half into a bowl, leaving a shell about 1/4 inch thick throughout.
- Mash the potato flesh with all of the remaining ingredients, mixing everything well together. Pile the flesh back into the potatoes roughly. I like to leave a lot of texture.
- Pop the potato halves back into the air fryer basket and return to the air fryer. Cook for a further 5 minutes at 400*F/200*C or until heated through and you have crisp golden bits across the surface.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
You can add chopped crisp bacon bits to the potato filling if you wish and sprinkle additional cheese on top prior to returning to the air fryer. Its a matter of choice.
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