What to do with his nutritious wonder, potatoes

What more could you ask for in a potato? Baked, mashed and roasted. It is sautéed into gratin, steamed and boiled, and fried into chips. Potatoes make dumplings, gnocchi, salads and pancakes. When dried and flaked or ground into powder, it thickens and binds together and can be made into disposable forks, straws, bags, and more.

Prost, potatoes.

Give back and eat more, just because it tastes good and is good for you. I was surprised to learn that potatoes have more potassium than bananas and pack more protein than most other vegetables, with the exception of dried beans.

These nutrients, combined with their innate humility, will be used during Lent (until Easter, April 9 this year for most Christians) and Ramadan (March 22-April 23, 2023 for Muslims). ), it is the best food for the fasting period.

But keep in mind that potatoes are healthiest in their raw form. Not processed packaged frozen French fries or potato chips or many other forms of remade potatoes.

That’s right, potatoes are amazing because they come out of the ground.

It is the world’s fourth largest food crop, after wheat, rice and maize (maize), but is the most nutritious of these four. grown, and their only major drawback is that they cannot be kept together each year, except in a dry form like those. (As a historical note, a method of preserving potatoes that was developed more than 2,000 years ago in the dry, frigid high mountains of South America.)

Plain potatoes are simple and straightforward, but their name is not. Confusion with “batata” resulted in the Spanish “patata” (and English “potato”).

Initially, the Italians thought it was a ground truffle and called it ‘tarataflo’, hence the German ‘kartfel’. Today, Italians call it “patata”, as do Spaniards. have understood? By the way, the nickname “Spud” comes from the Irish and British potato-digging spades.

When the potato landed in Europe (well, “underground”), Protestant religious fundamentalists condemned it because the Bible doesn’t mention it as a plant. Around the same time, in Ireland, Rome did not intend to throw a slander on his favorite food of the Catholic Irish, so they sprinkled the seeds with holy water and sowed them every Good Friday.

I asked RJ Harvey, Culinary Director of . Potato USA (here in Denver) describes the common “starchy” and “waxy” branching of potatoes, with preference for one or the other depending on the cooking method. (For example, “starchy” Russet for baking or “waxy” Yukon Gold for stewing.) Harvey said the division was “obsolete” given the proliferation of modern potato crop varieties. .

“The difference in potatoes is the moisture content,” he said. According to Harvey, we’re “Russet, Blue, Fingering, Petite, Red, Yellow and White.” .

For information on using and cooking, storing, and obtaining nutrients from potatoes, visit potatogoodness.com, especially[栄養]tab (in the dropdown[ジャガイモの栄養]Please click ).

Here’s RJ Harvey’s Bokti recipe to get you looking forward to St. Patrick’s Day in March and is Ireland’s answer to the Jewish or deli latke, Gaelic for potato pancakes. The Cod and Potato Bake recipe has fish, which is Lenten’s staple food.

Irish Boxty

By Chef RJ Harvey of Potatogoodness.com. Saab 8. The plural form of “boxty” may appear as “boxties”. Harvey’s recipe spells the plural as “boxty.”

material

2 pounds of peeled yellow potatoes

3/4 cup fermented buttermilk

1 large egg

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 tablespoon baking soda

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

4 ounces unsalted butter (1 stick or 8 tablespoons)

1 cup sour cream, optional

direction

Heat the oven to 200 degrees. Take half of the peeled potatoes and put them in a pan with cold water. Bring the pot to a boil and reduce the heat to low. Cook 20 to 25 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Drain and mash using a ricer, food mill, or potato masher. Allow the potatoes to cool slightly.

Grate the remaining raw potatoes on the fine side of a grater. Place the grated potatoes on a clean cloth and squeeze out as much moisture as possible. Grate as soon as possible to avoid discoloring the potatoes.

In a large bowl, combine mashed and grated potatoes, buttermilk, eggs, flour, baking soda, salt, and pepper to a thick pancake consistency. In a large nonstick skillet or griddle, melt a little butter and place a scoop of batter in the desired size box.

Cook bokti over medium heat for about 3-4 minutes or until golden brown. Carefully flip over and bake for an additional 3-4 minutes. Repeat this until all the bokti is cooked, then place the finished bokti in the warm oven while you prepare the rest.

Arrange on a plate and serve with butter, sour cream, smoked salmon, eggs, grilled tomatoes and salted cod.

Oven-baked cod and potatoes

Marczyk Fine Foods by Bill St. John and Chef Jamey Fader. It will be 6 to 8 servings. In this day and age of cooking fish at 10 minutes per inch, cooking time seems like too long, but what we’re really doing here is potatoes, cream, leeks and onions, cheese, cod, everything. It’s about melting and melting. It’s like a flavorful potato pudding with gills.

material

1 cup leeks cleaned, white and light green parts only

1 cup white onion, diced

kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

6 medium Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced ​​to see through

2 medium balls of fresh mozzarella cheese

1 cup heavy whipping cream

8 thick slices of bacon

6 or more evenly-thick white cod steaks, each about 1 inch thick, enough to cover the surface area of ​​the baking dish you are using in one layer

direction

Coat the inside of a large, oven-safe, shallow 4-quart (or larger) baking dish with olive oil, cooking spray, butter, or shortening.

Cover the bottom of the baking dish with a thin layer of sliced ​​potatoes, a layer of leeks and onions, and a layer of mozzarella, repeating these layers until all the potatoes, leeks, and onions are used up, and finally done. layer of cheese. (But keep 1/4 of the total cheese for the last addition; see below.) Sprinkle a little salt and black pepper as you make the layers.

Arrange the cod steaks on top and sprinkle the bacon pieces evenly over the surface of the dish. Pour the cream over everything so that it penetrates in layers. He bakes in a 375 degree oven for an hour until the bacon starts to crisp.

Remove from the oven, top with the reserved cheese, and bake for an additional 30 minutes, until the top layer of cheese is melted and golden brown. Remove from the oven again, place a piece of heavy aluminum foil on the baking dish, and bake for an additional 90 minutes or until the potatoes are completely tender.

To serve, remove from oven, open lid, let stand for 15 minutes, then divide into servings.

Access to Bill St. John: [email protected]