2014 Cooking Club Week 26: Potato side dishes

The humble spud, backbone of a myriad of dinners! There are of course as many ways to serve potatoes as there are readers of this forum, and everyone has their own tastes. Here are some of my favourites; all tried and tested to produce delicious results – and no soggy, watery mash in sight! Your choice of potato variety is up to you, but Roosters are a good all rounder. The likes of Maris Piper etc can make great dishes, but can be relatively expensive. Avoid generic ‘white potatoes’ (often on offer in plastic bags in supermarkets) if they’re going anywhere near water – they’ll just turn to mush.

Creamy Mashed Potatoes
A Rachel Allen recipe. No pics I’m afraid due to 5 pic limit! Can be made a while in advance - use extra milk.

Ingredients (serves 4)
2lb floury potatoes
50g butter
200ml boiling milk
Salt and pepper

1. Clean potatoes but do not peel. Cover with cold water in a large saucepan and add some salt.
2. Bring to the boil and cook for 10 minutes. Then pour out all but about 4cm of the water. Keep cooking on a very low heat. Do not pierce the potatoes while cooking.
3. Check potatoes about 20 minutes later by testing with a skewer. If soft, drain them.
4. Pell potatoes whilst still hot. Use a tea towel to avoid burns. Mash immediately. Add butter and mash some more. When all the lumps are gone, add boiling milk and mash to your preferred texture. You may not need all the milk. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Mega garlic rustic mashed potatoes

Another mash recipe, but far removed from the super creamy version above – this is much more rough’n’ready, with the potatoes lobbed in skins and all! Oodles of flavour come from a shedload of raw garlic – be warned, this is most definitely for garlic fiends! If you wish to soften the blow somewhat, you could use roasted garlic.

Ingredients (serves 4)
2 lbs red potatoes, unpeeled, quartered, black spots etc removed.
150g butter
50g grated parmesan/romano cheese
2tbsp minced garlic
1tsp salt
1tsp dried oregano

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil and add the potatoes. Cook until tender but still firm, about 25 minutes. Drain.
2. Add half the butter and roughly mash.
3. Add the rest of the ingredients and quickly mash until combined. Do not overmash or it will get sticky - a few lumps are ok.

Creamy & cheesy gratin potatoes

Teletext Pear gave us a yummy gratin recipe in the Cooking Club last year, but this recipe is quite different. In fact, making the sauce is a cooking lesson in itself – first making a roux, then a white sauce, before finally turning it into a cheese sauce. These potatoes are really rich – the amounts may not seem much, but the recipe should feed 4 unless they’re complete savages! If you got the small Le Creuset dishes for a knockdown price last year from the Bargain Alerts thread, they are an ideal size for this recipe (~1 litre) and look great on the table!

Ingredients (serves 4)
4 medium potatoes
2 small onions
4 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
0.5 tsp salt
1.5 cups milk
1.5 cups grated Cheddar
1. Thinly slice the potatoes and onions.
2. Gently fry the onions with a clove of crushed garlic until slightly softened, about 3 minutes.
3. Generously butter a small casserole dish. Arrange one third of the potato slices in a single layer. Top with sliced onions and a clove of crushed garlic.
4. Repeat for two more layers.
5. Over a medium heat, melt the butter. Mix in the flour and salt and whisk constantly for one minute.
6. Slowly stir in the milk and simmer until thickened.
7. Add in 1 cup grated Cheddar and stir until melted.
8. Pour mix over potatoes and top with some more grated Cheddar.
9. Cover with foil and bake at 130°C for 90 minutes. Remove foil and increase temperature to 180°C for the last 10 - 15 minutes.

Twice baked potatoes

These are lovely and creamy; for some extra tang, use Greek style yoghurt instead of sour cream. The first step can be done the day before, and the ramekins just put in the oven when needed.

Ingredients (serves 4)
2 lbs potatoes
125g pancetta (approx.)
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 cup sour cream
0.5 cup milk
4 tbsp butter
0.5 tsp salt
0.5 tsp pepper
1 cup grated Cheddar, split into two

1. Clean potatoes but do not peel.
2. Bake in preheated oven at 160C for 1 hour. Cool for 10 minutes.
3. Meanwhile fry shallot and pancetta for a few minutes until nicely browned.
4. Slice potatoes in two lengthwise and scoop flesh into a large bowl or pot.
5. To the potatoes add the other ingredients except half a cup of Cheddar. Mix and mash well.
6. Spoon the mixture into ramekins (or use the skins from earlier if you wish). Top with the remaining cheese.
7. Bake at 180C for 15 minutes.

Hasselback potatoes

These look great on a plate but are actually really easy to make, just calling for some careful knife work.

Ingredients (serves 2)
4 medium potatoes
Butter, olive oil, salt, pepper
1. Clean but do not peel the potatoes.
2. Cut a thin slice from the bottom of each potato so that it can sit securely. Set between two wooden skewers.
3. Carefully slice down through each potato every 2 – 4 mm. The skewers will stop you cutting all the way through.
4. Melt 1 tbsp butter with a dash of oil. Brush onto potatoes liberally, getting down between each slice.
5. Season with salt and pepper. Place in a roasting dish and cover with foil.
6. Roast at 160C for 45 – 70 minutes depending on the size of your spuds. Brush with oil 2 – 3 times during roasting. Remove foil for final 20 minutes.

Proper chips

Sick of oven chips? These are the real deal! Dead easy to make. You can freeze the chips after the first fry, only needing to finish them off when you wish. If you’re feeding a few, each of the steps is best carried out in small batches – trying to cook a load of chips together will result in the cooking liquid taking too long to get back up to temperature. Recipe from Kenny McGovern’s The Takeaway Secret.

Ingredients
200 – 250g potatoes per person
Vegetable oil (approx. 1 litre)
1. Peel the potatoes and slice into 1cm thick chips. Wash with cold water for 1 – 2 minutes.
2. Fill a large pot with water and bring to the boil. Add chips and simmer for 3 – 4 minutes.
3. Remove chips from water and drain. Allow to cool.
4. Heat the vegetable oil (may take as much as 10 minutes to get to temp). Add chips in batches and fry for a few minutes until the chips just start to soften. Remove before they take on any colour.
5. Drain excess oil. Allow to cool. If you wish, freeze or keep in refrigerator.
6. Heat oil to medium – high. Add chips in batches and fry for 5 minutes or so, until chips have turned golden and crisp.
7. Remove from pot, drain excess oil and serve.