Best, Fast, Easy- Boiled Potatoes

History

A European peasant food eaten for millenia…wait, what?  Not European?  Not millenia?  You’re joshin’ me.  You’re serious.  

I am serious.  Potatoes are another Columbian Exchange food.  They didn’t exist outside of the Americas, most predominantly in the Andes, before 500ish years ago.  Europeans were skeptical of the potato.  It is a nightshade, a family of plants that are often poisonous.  They were thought to cause gas and leprosy.  They were ugly.  But they are calorie dense, nutritious and grow anywhere.  One thing to know about people, is that they don’t like to starve.  And, coincidently, people tended to starve in Europe.  So, after being force fed to Prussians during a famine and a bit of a PR coup by the French nobility, Europeans were eating potatoes.  Potatoes, in turn, fueled Europe’s rise to prominence.  Potatoes put a stop to the consistent famines that were endemic throughout Europe.   Potatoes led to a population boom. 


Thoughts

For me the best way to guarantee a great potato is to boil it.  It is an extra step but it reduces roasting time and helps ensure a fluffy interior.  So all potatoes, for me, are boiled.  Here’s how to boil a potato.  


Alright great!  So I use boiled potatoes for all of the following recipes with slight tweaks to the boiling time and process.  I find that the extra step actually makes most potato preparations more consistent.  Plus some things just need a precooked potato.   For each preparation and preference, a different type of potato can give the best results.  

Ingredients

  • Red, yellow or new potatoes work best here.  

Instructions

  1. Wash and scrub your desired amount of potatoes.

  2. Put those potatoes in a pot.

  3. Cover potatoes with cold water.

  4. Put put over medium-high heat and bring to a boil.

  5. Boil for 5 minutes. 

  6. Turn off heat

  7. Cover and let sit for 15 minutes.   

  8. Potatoes should be fork tender.