potato
Also known as: Fingerling or new potatoes, Red Potatoes, Yukon Potatoes, new potatoes, potatoes [2 large russets = 4 cups], small red potatoes
A starchy root vegetable, sold in many varieties (russet, red, Yukon Gold, fingerling, etc.) that differ in starchiness and texture; boiled, roasted, fried, mashed, or baked.
Buying guidance
Yukon Gold or another yellow-fleshed, thin-skinned potato is the most versatile choice: starchy enough to mash into a creamy thickener, waxy enough that unmashed pieces don't vanish entirely. Choose firm potatoes with no sprouts and no green tinge -- green skin means solanine, and should be cut away generously or the potato discarded.
Substitutions
- Russet or baking potatoes -- higher starch; they thicken beautifully but disintegrate, which is ideal in a stew and wrong in a salad.
- Red or new potatoes -- waxy; they hold their shape and resist mashing.
- Sweet potato -- a different and noticeably sweeter dish, not a like-for-like swap.
Tips & common mistakes
Overworking potatoes once they're cooked and mashed -- with an electric mixer, a food processor, or too much vigorous stirring -- ruptures their starch cells and turns them gluey and pasty instead of light and fluffy. Mash by hand with a masher or ricer and stop as soon as they're smooth.
Storage
Keep whole raw potatoes out of the refrigerator -- cold temperatures convert some of their starch to sugar, which makes them taste sweeter than intended and turns fried or roasted potatoes darker and less crisp. A cool, dark cupboard keeps them longer without that effect.
More specific
Used in 15 recipes
- Baked Rosemary Chicken and Potatoes
- Chowder
- Cream of Potato with Kielbasa
- Creamy Potato Soup
- Crispy Roasted Potatoes
- Dr. Taylor's Brunswick Stew
- Heindiggity's Famous Clam Chowder
- Lentil Soup
- Mashed Happiness
- Mashed Potato Cakes
- Modern Virginia-Style Brunswick Stew
- Paul's Red Bliss Garlic Potatoes
- Roasted Potatoes
- Snowy Potatoes
- Tarragon Potatoes