So it's the start of a new year and people are busy putting those New Year's resolutions into practice. But how long will they last? It's so easy to let those pledges to do more exercise or take up new and outlandish hobbies slip.
So here's a New Year's resolution that I know you can keep - to eat more potatoes!
But even this simple pledge can seem a little daunting if you're new to potatoes. With thousands of varieties to choose from, and so many forms in which they can be enjoyed, entering the world of potatoes can seem quite bewildering.
Here's a little help getting started with potatoes...
So, before we get into complex recipes and fancy serving suggestions, let alone tips on how to grow the things, you'll probably be asking yourself "which potatoes should I buy?" Walk into any supermarket and the choice can be overwhelming. So many varieties and each with their own characteristics, pros and cons that ideally suit them to a particular meal.
Each potato will have its own subtly different appearance, texture, flavour, growing season...
Some make the crispest chips, while others the creamiest mash...
So, what about a spud for every day use? What do you go for? Here's my tip:
Forget worrying about specific varieties; when I do my weekly supermarket shop, that dash around the shop to pick up a few essentials when I've got no specific meals planned out for the days to come, I grab these:
Beautiful aren't they?
These four potatoes came from one of those little packs of four "baking potatoes" that you can get in every supermarket these days. The varieties used to fill these packets varies greatly, as do the sizes of potatoes that you'll get. It's a great place to start and here's why:
First, it's not too many potatoes. You can buy huge bags of potatoes, but unless you've got a huge family and have planned meals for the coming days to use them all, you'll end up having to throw potatoes away and nobody wants that. Four baking potatoes is fine however, you'll manage.
Second, it's the versatility. You can think of this little pack of four baking potatoes as "four portions of potatoes". Four baking potatoes, along with some toppings of course, is four meals! This is also four portions of chips, four portions of saute potatoes, four portions of rosti, four portions of mash...you get the idea.
So what's it not good for? Boiled potatoes. For good, flavoursome boiled potatoes you'll want to buy better quality, smaller potatoes specifically for that meal - we'll come onto that later.
But for most of your every day potato use, grab one of these packets next time you're in the supermarket and that's your next four portions of potatoes sorted!
Happy New Year!
