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Operation Potato

2010 April 28
by Rachel Turiel

On Monday we were given approximately seventy pounds of local potatoes from some friends.

a small sampling of the goods

And we’re determined to eat every last one of them, even if we begin to take on a pasty formless shape with little “eyes” sprouting on our dirty skin. It’ll be like a grand experiment, the anti-Atkins diet. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Monday night we ate baked potatoes with garden chives and Audrey’s homemade butter. Last night we had home fries with green chilies and more garden chives. Dan promised latkas (potato pancakes) this weekend (I’ve heard chives go well with these).

Right now Col’s practicing his knife skills on the rottener potatoes.

Cutting on the rug? Where is this child's Mama? Oh, blogging. Tsk, tsk.

Rose, too young to operate a knife, selected the cherry pitter and is using all her two year old power to make sense of it all.

But, we need help, friends. What would you do with 70 pounds of potatoes? Or even a manageable 5? What are your favorite potato dishes? Recipe links?



36 Responses leave one →
  1. April 28, 2010

    mashed potato with butter, garlic and hoseradish
    top with chives

  2. Ami permalink
    April 28, 2010

    Mmmm scalloped potatoes! SO delish! You can make mashed potato tops on shepherd’s pies. Baked potato chips are yummy – you thinly slice them, boil them a little and then put them in the oven with a drizzle of olive oil and some salt until they are crunchy! Yum – have fun! Plus you can always plant them…. :)

  3. Anonymous permalink
    April 28, 2010

    I recently grilled potatoes – nice change up on the baked version. Wash, poke a few holes in the potatoes, microwave for about 5-7 mins. Slice them in half length-wise, brush with olive oil, s&p, grill face down for about 5-10 mins. YUMMY!

    • Peggy permalink
      April 28, 2010

      sorry- always forget to add my name….grilled potato suggestion is from me :-)
      ~Peggy

  4. Ellen permalink
    April 28, 2010

    Mash with cooked cauliflower, garlic, and olive oil. And the kids can handle the masher with no chance of injury. (the cauliflower gives it a nice rich flavor). I like the horseradish idea too.

  5. April 28, 2010

    That’s a whole lotta french fries. Here are some potato things I make on a regular basis:

    Gratin potatoes with kale (Joy of Cooking)
    Creamy potato herb soup (Moosewood Daily Special)
    Potato Gnocchi (Romagnoli’s, via my blog)
    Potato fritatta (fry potatoes, add eggs & cheese, broil)
    Mashed potatoes

    You could try potatoes as substitues in baked goods (e.g. potato bread, etc.)

    Hope someone else is giving you 35 pounds of butter!

  6. Kathy permalink
    April 28, 2010

    cowboy potatoes! my father-in-law from West Texas made this years ago! a decadent fried dish from back in the days of frying with crisco…
    thin sliced potatoes, lots of sliced onion, fry in the big iron skillet til the whole mess is the consistency you like, soft or crispy. YUMMM! I know there is a better oil to use, what do you use?

  7. April 28, 2010

    Came here via your amazing comment at BEAW and would like to say, POTATO BREAD! (and you can freeze it for later use!)

    Good luck with all of those potatoes :)

  8. April 28, 2010

    The other day I finally made a recipe I’d been meaning to make forever from the January issue of Vegetarian Times: Indian Samosa Cassarole. It calls for five medium potatoes. It was fairly easy and super delicious (reheats well as leftovers, too).

    http://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipes/11149?section=

  9. April 28, 2010

    Also, not terribly low-cal but very yummy are homemade potato chips (slice as thin as possible and fry for several minute then salt). It’s especially fun to use a mix of beets, sweet potatoes and regular potatoes.

  10. April 28, 2010

    I don’t know if you’re into home canning or not but, potatoes can well. Easiest mashed potatoes in the world, just reheat, add butter & sour cream – or whatever you usually add, and mash. I like to add dill to mine but chives work, too! The Blue Book of Preserving by Ball has good instructions for canning.

  11. April 28, 2010

    Holy potatoes! That would last us a year. I read your post just before yoga, and all I can think of between downward dogs is potatoes and what I’ve made with them. Very relaxing. Thanks :)

    Here’s what I did come up with though:

    – Potato leek soup
    – Potato and cauliflower curry (aloo gobi)
    – Oven fried potatoes
    – Potato salad (this particular one is my favorite: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/super-tuscan-burgers-and-potato-salad-with-capers-and-celery-recipe/index.html)

    Happy potatoes!

  12. April 28, 2010

    Throw some in the crock pot with coconut milk, curry powder, garlic, ginger, and some other veggies (meat, too, if you’re not vegetarian). With four or six hours you’ll have a delicious curry soup. We like to eat it with brown rice!

  13. April 28, 2010

    70 pounds~what a challenge!
    I’d make soups and freeze them.

  14. April 28, 2010

    Perhaps some potato print art? I must say that I love how your kids help with the cooking at your house. Totally adorable little chefs.

  15. April 28, 2010

    Pierogies! (http://mackvilleroad.blogspot.com/2008/04/pierogi-post.html) You could make a whole ton and freeze them. In fact, with that many you could make TWO tons and freeze them! And they would be extra good with chives on top of the sour cream…

  16. April 28, 2010

    You’ve got your “eye” out for recipes, huh? (Sorry, couldn’t resist.) Maybe look here?

    http://www.idahopotato.com/recipes

  17. amy permalink
    April 28, 2010

    Sliced thin, layers of them with layers of butter, swiss cheese, salt (plenty) and pepper, topped with a pouring of that cream off your jugs of cow milk. cook till all brown and bubbly, yum. Perfect for this last round of winter we are about to take on.

  18. emily permalink
    April 29, 2010

    I’ll add my voice to the scalloped potatoes, and potatoes in pureed/mashed soups (cream of squash soup, aspergras soup, this will use up more than in the stews and bean soups). We really like to sautee potatoes (often sweet potatoes) with our chard (chard! did you see?). They make all greens even better, in my humble opinion. oh! and breakfast potaoes (potato cakes, hash browns, whatever) with runny fried eggs on top. yum. and lots of black pepper (can you tell I’m holding nothing more than a half empty cup of tea?).

    em.

  19. April 29, 2010

    hash browns! you could do ‘country style” cubed and tossed with onions, garlic, bell peppers or shred them on the grater and do them that way.
    We love to wrap our tatters in tin foil and throw them on the grill/bbq with what ever else we are grilling. so good.

    I say make a giant batch of some of those soups and freeze them for later enjoyment!

    that is a TON of tatters! good luck.

  20. April 29, 2010

    ps. if nothing else you will be like the character on Forest Gump, only instead of shrimp you will be listing all the things you can do with potatoes! hee hee.

  21. April 29, 2010

    i knew i’d love the post just from the title! i love making spanish tortilla. potatoes + eggs + olive oil + whatever seasonings you want to put in it. it’s basically an omelette, but heavier on the potatoes than the eggs. delish!

  22. Judy permalink
    April 29, 2010

    Faux Fries on the grill: cut 4-5 potatoes into shapes of fries. Soak for about an hour. Drain & spin in a salad spinner. In a bowl, drizzle 1 T oil. Meanwhile, heat 2T of oil on a griddle or cast iron skillet on a hot grill. Add the potatoes. (You could cover with foil for 10 min to lessen splatters.) cook for 30 min or so or until as browned as desired. Turn with a spatula once or twice. Sprinkle w salt & pepper & serve. We never have any left over.

  23. April 29, 2010

    potatoes, carrots, onions and garlic. cook. puree. soupy-potato-y-goodness.

  24. Melissa permalink
    April 30, 2010

    I hope you share the results of your potato eating– so many of these recipes sound so good!

    And yay, I am waiting for my *first* bread attempt to come out of the oven as I type. My expectations are low, okay, they are totally not but it smells good at least.

    Thanks for the inspiration–I used your link to that Disney blog and it was super easy. Avi was a big help during the dough-making part, too.

    Happy weekend!

  25. May 1, 2010

    70 pounds?!?!?! If only my Miss Molly would eat potatoes. I make a gratin kind of dish with sliced potatoes, sliced onions, a little garlic, herbs and chicken broth instead of cream. Obviously, it is not the rich, thick, classic gratin, but really tasty.

  26. May 2, 2010

    Potato and gruyere cheese quesadillas w/chipotle/honey, mmmmm.

  27. May 3, 2010

    My Mom’s twice baked are great and freeze well
    bake up a batch,
    split pots in half, scoop out into bowl w/o damaging skins
    add: butter and milk or cream
    mash (do not whip) in salt/pepper/oregano to taste
    refill potato skins with mixture
    top and lightly press in your choice of melty cheese. (mom uses cheddar, I prefer pepper jack)
    put side by side on cookie sheet, cover and freeze
    when frozen firm, wrap individually in saran and put in large ziplocks in freezer
    Take out 1 or 10. Goes great with steak, venison, chicken, etc.
    Makes a good breakfast. Heat in oven or toaster oven approx 20-45 minutes depending on thaw.

    I also mash potatoes regular or white into various soups, chili or gravies as thickener – better than flour.
    Add pesto or garlic and mushrooms.

    My fav from our time in England is ‘Bubble & Squeak’. You can use left over mashed potatoes or make fresh.
    Saute thinly sliced cabbage in oil (I use butter or bacon fat)
    Add Salt and pepper to taste (I use lots of black pepper and some cayenne – I like it spicy)
    When cabbage is al dente, add mashed potatoes
    Mix thoroughly and when you mash it with spatula it sort of bubbles and squeaks.
    You can finish cooking or keep warm in oven, and it is just as good next day.

    I could go on but I won’t. Enjoy.
    Perle

  28. May 3, 2010

    Hehehe! I just loved the picture and caption beneath about cutting on the rug! Too cute! Isn’t reality funny sometimes?

  29. May 4, 2010

    I meant to share these when I first saw your post but I never got back online!

    This one would be great with the chard (instead of kale):
    http://www.recipezaar.com/recipe/Terras-Colcannon-Courtesy-of-Spiral-Path-Farms-Csa-214387

    And this one was just good but really more like potato chips (oh well):

    http://www.recipezaar.com/recipe/Kittencals-Potato-Kugel-69020

    Hope you are feeling much, much better!

  30. May 6, 2010

    Our favorite is to cut them up, toss them with olive oil, salt, pepper and herbs. Favorite herbs are rosemary & italian seasoning. Roast them at 400 degrees. Good with anything Dan can bring home from the side of the road :)

  31. Molly permalink
    May 6, 2010

    printmaking: Cut them in half and carve something into the flat part. Let the kids stick it on a layer of paint and print on some brown bags or newspaper or something.

  32. Rachel Kohnen permalink
    May 13, 2010

    Veggie Cobbler is to me what pies are to you. The inspiration came from here – http://familyfun.go.com/recipes/veggie-cobbler-784971/
    but I randomly insert any all vegetables that I find rolling around in my fridge or getting burnt in my freezer (and always use real stocks in lieu of bouillion).
    My first go round – discovered I had just a smidgen of cornmeal so I substituted spelt flour. Still tasty!

    Curious – how many pounds are you down to?

  33. April 18, 2012

    Lost in Westminster, Colorado.

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