Mason Faith - Posh potatoes: over 70 recipes, from wondrous waffles to fabulous fries

Publishing Director: Sarah Lavelle Series Designer: Gemma Hayden Designer: Katherine Keeble Food Stylist and Recipe Writer: Rebecca Woods Photographer: Faith Mason Props Stylist: Alexander Breeze Production Controller: Katie Jarvis Production Director: Vincent Smith Published in 2019 by Quadrille, an imprint of Hardie Grant Publishing Quadrille 5254 Southwark Street London SE1 1UN quadrille.com All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publishers and copyright holders. The moral rights of the author have been asserted. Cataloguing in Publication Data: a catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Text, design and photography Quadrille Publishing Limited 2019 eISBN: 978 1 78713 358 7 CONTENTS POSH POTATOES INTRODUCTION Ah, potatoes, the true gold of the new world. Their inherent brilliantness makes you wonder why the conquistadors bothered about the other, shinier stuff.

So wonderful are they, that you can find potato in food cultures the world over, and given these international makeovers, the humble spud can be a lot fancier than you might think. Sure, theres a time and a place when a simple baked potato topped with a lump of melting butter is all you could ever wish for, but its time to embrace their somewhat posher incarnations, too. But one potato is certainly not the same as the next; they all have their own different characters pick the right one for the job and you cant go too far wrong. A couple of simple things to remember: look for floury ones for mashing and roasting, when light and fluffy is the aim; for salads, boiled or steamed potatoes, or when you need them to hold their own a bit more (say, in a stew), go for a waxy variety. And never overlook the wonderful sweet potato as yet another option. And a final word of endorsement while they get a pretty bad rap healthwise, they are actually a decent source of vitamins and minerals, as well as being rich in fibre, if you eat the skins.

Okay, perhaps dauphinoise isnt an everyday dinner but they have more going for them than just their flavour, their versatility, their economy, their availability, their ease of cooking and their status as a Class A comfort food. Super spuds dont always have to be the supporting artist they can be the star too. BASIC MASHED POTATO Lovely as they are, or use them as a base for many of the other recipes in this book, such as for . SERVES 4 TAKES 25 minutes 1kg (2lb 4oz) floury potatoes, peeled and quartered (cut any really large ones down a bit more so they are all about the same size) 50g (1oz/3 tbsp) butter, softened and diced 3 tbsp whole milk sea salt and freshly ground black pepper Put the potatoes in a pan and cover generously with cold water. Add a good few pinches of salt to the water. Set the pan over a high heat and bring the water to the boil.

Once boiling, turn the heat down to medium, pop a lid on the pan and leave the potatoes to simmer for 15 minutes or so, until they are tender and the point of a sharp knife can be easily inserted. Drain the potatoes and return them to the hot pan. Add the butter and milk and mash until smooth with a potato masher. (Never attempt to do this in a food processor you will end up with something akin to wallpaper paste.) Season well with salt and pepper and serve hot. BAKED POTATOES The simplest, but possibly most satisfying, way to enjoy potatoes perhaps because of the lack of effort required. SERVES as many as you like TAKES 1 hours as many baking potatoes as you need 1 per person sea salt and freshly ground black pepper butter, to serve Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas 4. SERVES as many as you like TAKES 1 hours as many baking potatoes as you need 1 per person sea salt and freshly ground black pepper butter, to serve Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas 4.

Put the potatoes in the oven and bake for about 11 hours, depending on their size, or until tender throughout when pierced with a knife. And thats it. Well, you could speed things up by starting them off in a microwave, and then crisping up the skin in the oven, if youre in a hurry. But the skins are nicer when cooked in the oven from the get-go. Simply slice the potatoes into quarters, not cutting all the way through, let a good dollop of butter melt into the middle of each, and serve. Or try one of the filling suggestions below Classic baked beans, with cheese melted on top Leeks in cheese sauce (with or without bacon) Tuna mayonnaise add spring onions (scallions), peppers, corn, or whatever veggies you fancy to up the healthy stakes Garlic mushrooms and blue cheese Go retro with prawns and Marie Rose sauce (or sweet potato and bean chilli) and sour cream CLASSIC ROAST POTATOES Sunday lunch wouldnt be complete without these.

But you can dispense with all those fancy duck or goose fat versions for the crispiest roasties, you cant beat plain old sunflower oil. SERVES 4 TAKES 50 minutes 1kg (2lb 4oz) floury potatoes (such as Maris Piper, King Edward, or even baking potatoes) sunflower oil, for roasting Peel the potatoes and chop them into large chunks. Put them in a pan of cold, salted water and bring to the boil. Once boiling, parboil the potatoes for 8 minutes or so, until softening around the edges but still a little firm in the middle. Meanwhile preheat the oven to 200C/400F/ gas 6. Pour enough oil into a large baking tray to thinly cover the bottom.

Put the tray in the oven to heat up for a few minutes. The trick to crispy roasties is getting the tray and the oil really hot so they dont have a chance to go soggy. Once cooked, drain the potatoes in a colander and leave them to steam dry for a minute or so. Tip the potatoes back into the saucepan and pop the lid on. Using oven gloves as the pan will still be quite hot, hold the lid on the pan and shake it up and down firmly a few times to rough up the potatoes a little. Dont go too mad or theyll begin to break up.