sue@burdvax.UUCP (Sue Mardinly) (07/15/85)
I have tried in the past to mash potatoes with the peels on, and have always wound up with thick glop with brown, chewy peels. I have tried using the blender with and without milk, but that never got the peels to be of a texture, consistency or size that was appetizing. I had a little better success with the food processor, but the end product was still rather thick. I tried once with a potatoe masher, but the peels got stuck inside and made further mashing impossible. WHAT AM I DOING WRONG? I'd appreciate any advice all those people who don't peel can give. Sue SDC, a Burroughs Co. (psuvax1!burdvax!sue)
macrakis@harvard.ARPA (Stavros Macrakis) (07/16/85)
> potatoes [mashed] with the peels on ... always wound up with thick > glop with brown, chewy peels. ... blender... food processor... > potatoe [sic] masher ... (psuvax1!burdvax!sue) I've always preferred my mashed potatoes peeled. Classically, this involves peeling them as they emerge boiling-hot from the pot, mashing with a potato masher or ricing with a ricer, blending in a bit of butter (if you'd use margarine, you might as well skip the rest of this article), milk, cream (optional), salt, white pepper (white for aesthetic reasons only; I prefer black), and nutmeg, and serving immediately. Henckel's has a cute little trident for holding potatoes during peeling (the Germans eat many boiled potatoes!), if you can't manage otherwise. There are several types of potatoes on the market, but in general I prefer the large Maine or P.E.I.'s, with the California's in second place (the Oakes Ames Library of Economic Botany is closed for the summer, so I can't cite the correct names...); I've never much liked Idaho's. I was once pleasantly surprised when served unpeeled mashed potatoes (I suppose in fact that they're mashed unpeeled potatoes, but no matter) -- the trick was to use the small red thin-skinned variety ("new potatoes") and mash them with a perforated masher (vide infra). But this does require scrubbing the potatoes quite carefully before boiling. I have never had any luck with mashing potatoes in the food processor -- the result is a combination of gluey overbeaten potatoes and lumps. I wouldn't dream of trying in a blender, which requires that its contents be very liquid to function at all; the Braun `mini-pimer' is somewhat better than the blender because you can move it around, but not much. For slightly lumpy results, I like perforated mashers best (the metal gizmos with a flat bottom with holes in it). Buy a solid one, as you must put some force into it. `Potato mashers' (the ones that look like a woodworker's mallet) I find less effective. This lumpy style goes very well with plain grilled pork chops or heavy stews. For more even, finer, potatoes which you might want to serve with, say, roast veal (either /nature/ or /gratinee/), ricers and food mills work well. You might have some luck with unpeeled potatoes in a food mill, but of course most of the peel will stay behind (that's the point of a food mill, after all); you will need to unclog it and empty it of the dross from time to time. In any case, it is critical not to beat the potatoes too much, as they turn gluey. It is also critical to serve them very hot and fresh from the kitchen (on a heated platter). They don't reheat well. Yours for better eating, -s PS Please don't tell me about the vitamin content of the peels -- I really couldn't care less.
nemo@rochester.UUCP (Wolfe) (07/16/85)
> I have tried in the past to mash potatoes with the peels on, and have > always wound up with thick glop with brown, chewy peels. I have tried > using the blender with and without milk, but that never got the peels > to be of a texture, consistency or size that was appetizing. I had a > little better success with the food processor, but the end product was > still rather thick. I tried once with a potatoe masher, but the peels > got stuck inside and made further mashing impossible. > > WHAT AM I DOING WRONG? Maybe you're using baking potatoes? I don't have the texture problems when using regular white potatoes (thin skinned), washed and boiled for about 1/2 hour (until fork-tender). These are then eighthed and mashed with a hand masher (not a ricer, but the kind with no moving parts, just a handle attatched to a disk with 1/4" square holes in it). Salt and pepper and butter are added to taste, and a little milk. Mash some more. If a lumpy, "farm-style" texture is not to your liking (I like it but wife does not), use a mixer for the final whipping. Add milk as needed to acheive the right consistency. The potatoes must be cooked ling enough or else they get kind of glossy and elastic - this also happens regardless of whether you have peels on or not. When mashing, I do get the peels clogging up the masher's holes. Just use a table knife and scape them off into the bowl and continue. Pretty soon they are too fine to cause much of a problem. You can also score the outside of the cooked potatoes with a 1/4" diamond pattern and the problem will never surface. Good luck! Nemo -- Internet: nemo@rochester.arpa UUCP: {decvax, allegra, seismo, cmcl2}!rochester!nemo Phone: [USA] (716) 275-5766 work, 232-4690 home USMail: 104 Tremont Circle; Rochester, NY 14608 School: Department of Computer Science; University of Rochester; Rochester, NY 14627
root@bu-cs.UUCP (Barry Shein) (07/17/85)
Ok, not to claim *any* authority or even a terribly reliable source I turned on my local talk radio driving in to work the other day and there was a show called 'Food hour' on, the entire hour seemed dedicated to potatoes and had some 'potato experts' on the call line (what does that mean?? I think they were farmers, which I guess is good enough credentials for me, if not a little vested.) Someone called raving about the poison solanine (sp. ? this was radio and I don't have a Merck handy.) The farmer calmed him down and assured him that this was only contained in the peels when the peels were green or greenish in color. She also assured him that this is caused by the potatoes being stored in direct light at the grocer or at home and is why most farmers prefer to pack in light tight paper bags. Ok peel eaters (including myself!) is this cause for concern? What is solanine? How poisonous? How green is green? Is it really the peels only? Is this destined to become the great solanine coverup? What disturbed me was the farmer seemed to agree with the guy. I anxiously await your replies. -Barry Shein, Boston University
smithson@calma.uucp (Brian Smithson) (07/18/85)
> > > I have tried in the past to mash potatoes with the peels on, and have > always wound up with thick glop with brown, chewy peels. I have tried > using the blender with and without milk, but that never got the peels > to be of a texture, consistency or size that was appetizing. I had a > little better success with the food processor, but the end product was > still rather thick. I tried once with a potatoe masher, but the peels > got stuck inside and made further mashing impossible. > > WHAT AM I DOING WRONG? > > I'd appreciate any advice all those people who don't peel can give. > > Sue > > SDC, a Burroughs Co. > (psuvax1!burdvax!sue) It doesn't look like you've gotten any response on how to make mashed potatoes with the peels included. My response is no different -- we use a KitchenAid mixer to do the mashing and a Dazey Stripper to do the peeling (shameful, lazy, gadget-happy, high-tech couple...), but when we're in the mood to really cook, we coarsely peel with a cleaver and use the thick peels to make potato-peel broth. This broth is excellent as a base for any number of soups, especially if you're a veg. Oh -- just read the last line of your message: "...any advice all those WHO DON'T PEEL can give". Never mind... -- -Brian Smithson Calma Company ucbvax!calma!smithson calma!smithson@ucbvax.ARPA "Calma is a wholly-owned subsidiary of General Electric" "UNIX is a trademark of AT&T Bell Laboratories" "Your's is my heart alone" "Coke, nonetheless, isn't it"
js2j@mhuxt.UUCP (sonntag) (07/18/85)
> Someone called raving about the poison solanine (sp. ? this was radio > and I don't have a Merck handy.) The farmer calmed him down and > assured him that this was only contained in the peels when the > peels were green or greenish in color. She also assured him that > this is caused by the potatoes being stored in direct light at > the grocer or at home and is why most farmers prefer to pack in > light tight paper bags. > > Ok peel eaters (including myself!) is this cause for concern? What > is solanine? How poisonous? How green is green? Is it really the > peels only? Is this destined to become the great solanine coverup? > -Barry Shein, Boston University I recall digging potatoes from our garden a few times as a lad. Since they come out of the ground covered with dirt (suprise!), we would spread them out on the ground and spray them with a garden hose. Since we were planning on storing them in the root cellar for a few months, we'd let them dry in the sun for 15 minutes or so before burlap-bagging them, to avoid giving fungi a head start or something, I guess. Anyway, we once forgot a batch and left them lie in the sun all afternoon. By the end of the afternoon, they had all turned bright green on one side, and our mother yelled at us and we had to throw them out. I guess they were solanine poisoned? Occasionally we'd get a potato with one corner which had been 'sunburned', but we'd keep them anyway - presumably that corner would be sliced off during peeling. -- Jeff Sonntag ihnp4!mhuxt!js2j "Well I've been burned before, and I know the score, so you won't hear me complain. Are you willing to risk it all, or is your love in vain?"-Dylan
slb@drutx.UUCP (Sue Brezden) (07/19/85)
> Someone called raving about the poison solanine (sp. ? this was radio > and I don't have a Merck handy.) The farmer calmed him down and > assured him that this was only contained in the peels when the > peels were green or greenish in color. > > Ok peel eaters (including myself!) is this cause for concern? What > is solanine? How poisonous? How green is green? Is it really the > peels only? Is this destined to become the great solanine coverup? > -Barry Shein, Boston University I would like to know the answer here, also. I have been told not to eat green potatoes but never why. I think Joy of Cooking mentions it. My assumption was that they would taste bad. However, I have been quite poor in my time, being a single parent for awhile, and there were times when throwing away food of any sort was unthinkable. I found no difference in green potatoes--either in taste or how my body reacted to them. Ever since, I haven't concerned myself with whether they were green. Have I set myself up for problems later by eating these? Or do you have to eat a LOT of potatoes to get the effect? -- Sue Brezden Real World: Room 1B17 Net World: ihnp4!drutx!slb AT&T Information Systems 11900 North Pecos Westminster, Co. 80234 (303)538-3829 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Your god may be dead, but mine aren't. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
prastein@uiucuxa.Uiuc.ARPA (07/19/85)
I always boil, not bake, my potatoes that I mash, and I cut them in
half before putting them in the water. An old roommate told me
about this after I served a particularly gloppy, sticky, gummy, though
tasty mess 'o mashed potatoes one night. The theory is that if you
cut them in half, some of that extra starch cooks out into the water
and lessens the amount gumming your mash in the end. After I started
cutting them in half, I never had gummy mashed potatoes again.
My father says it's just a matter of using the right potatoes.
Russets are for mashing, Idahos for baking. I, personally, have never
consciously made this comparison, so I don't know.barrys@tekecs.UUCP (Barry Steel) (07/22/85)
According to Webster's Ninth NewCollegiate Dictionary... solanine : a bitter poisonous crystalline alkaloid from several plants (as some potatoes or tomatoes) of the nightshade family. I wonder WHICH potatoes? Obviously they haven't gotten me yet...
lewish@acf2.UUCP (Henry M. Lewis) (08/04/85)
> I have tried in the past to mash potatoes with the peels on . . .
Back to the point: I boil cut-up, unpeeled potatoes, then rice them in a
device known as a Mouli-Legume. This is akin to a Foley Food Mill, but is
much sturdier, larger, and easier to use. Some of the peel appears in the
resulting puree as specks--the rest is left behind in the Mouli. When it
begins to clog the works, I back up the Mouli's reamer, remove the peels, and
discard them. (One could, I guess, throw them instead into the pureed
potatoes.)
--Hank Lewis