how do you cook your potatoes and yams?

[Faith in DC]

Whenever I bake potatoes in the crockpot I do not prick them and I do not add water.

[TKDTigger]

Gweithgar, I agree with Toadfood: those crock pot red potatoes sound really yummy. Can you tell us how you cook them?

Thanks!

[Denise]

I microwave sweet potatoes and like them firm and a bit crunchy - eating them often I can tell how long to nuke by size and usually not more than 3 or 4 mins

[StarchBeet]

I like to wash, then slice sweet potatoes in round medallions and bake until brown on outside, flipping sometimes.

I found target sold shredded potatoes, no oil (?) listed, with the best price. I'll brown those in a skillet and toss various things with them. Sometimes mushrooms and onions sometimes just kale, sometimes the works.

I like to cook white or red potatoes in soups and then blend them up for creamy soups.

Did anyone see the show about the Inca's and Peruvians that grow many many different varieties of potatoes (sometimes a niche is just a matter of a hill that's 10 feet difference, or shady and grows one particular variety optimally), then the show highlighted the USA where McDonalds commands the potato industry and they have the farmers growing only one variety? It could be Irish disaster easily. The Peruvians do the wise thing. There was also a small farmer in the USA that grows about 10 varieties of organic potatoes and he said he'd never go back to mono culture.

I think the acrylamides are only a worry if your potatoes have eyes or are green. But the selection of potatoes came about from trials and testing as far back as the Inca empire. I love the National Geographic article on potatoes, too. I can't seem to locate the link to that great article but they do have pictures of varieties: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/ ... variety#/7

[kittyadventures]

potatoe...YUMMMMMMMMMM!

I cook them pretty much every way and I love them al the different ways
i Microwave. I bake i boil i steam them and I have my own way of frying them in a dry pan on low.
sweet potatoes take less time to bake especially if you want them less mushy.

[Rob]

We prepare virtually all of our potatoes (Sweet Potatoes, Yukons, Russets, Reds, Fingerlings) in the crock pot. We wash them and then put them in the crock pot (not peeled), without any water or anything thing else, and cook them on HIGH for 2-2.5 hours. It is so simple and the flavor is wonderful.

We'll have some for dinner and put the rest in the refrigerator for snacks, breakfast potatoes or soup.

For mashed potatoes we'll include a peeled onion or peeled garlic clove at the beginning and when the potatoes are completely cooked, we'll mash them right in the crockpot along with a little soy milk and sometimes some fresh horseradish. Yum!

[StarchBeet]

Thanks to Rob and Faith for that tip on baking potatoes in the crockpot. I had no idea you could do that without water.

[Basel]

I used to boil but thought about all of the good stuff being poured off with the water. Now I slice the potatoes (1/2 white and 1/2 sweet) thinly, place them in a covered casserole dish and microwave them. This steams them and they done in 8-10 minutes.

[RoniMa]

Sweet potatoes and red potatoes and the varieties of white potatoes all turn out perfect cooked in a crock pot for 2 1/2 to 3 hours on high with very little water on the bottom of the pot. Potatoes were the food I missed most on a raw vegan diet and was delighted when I discovered McDougall and began cooking those potatoes (almost every night for dinner).

[Vanilla Orchid]

I make a huge pot of mashed potatoes, and I like to add peas to them. I also like to make leek and potato soup where I just cut up some peeled potatoes, and some sliced leeks, and boil them in water to cover, then when the potatoes are soft, I sort of break them up with a spoon, add a little oat milk, some fresh dill, some ground caraway, some freshly gound pepper and some salt (one of the few dishes I find really does need salt).

I keep yams and potatoes at work and nuke them because it's easy and handy, but when I cook them at home I usually prefer to bake them in the oven, if I have other things cooking there--otherwise I use the toaster oven, because they just come out a little nicer than in the microwave.

Sometimes I make a tofu scramble for breakfast on a weekend, and then I do partially cook some potatoes in the microwave, then cut them up and add them to whatever else I'm adding to the tofu scramble, and finish cooking them there.

I also add potatoes and yams to many soup and stew-like dishes that are boiled or simmered on top of the stove.

Potatoes and yams mashed separately or together as toppings for casserole-type dishes.

I use a lot of potatoes and yams.

[Knut]

My standard is to quarter red and new potatoes, rinse them in water and toss them in a bowl with rosemary, garlic, and once in a while a pinch of sea salt. Then toss them on a cookie sheet and roast @ 350 for 30 min. If I'm in a hurry I'll nuke them for 5-6 min. then roast for 5 min.

Haven't come around to liking yams yet....

[kittyadventures]

Perfect potatoes. This works for any potato sweet or regular

peal and chop into medium sized chunks put in a covered pot with water just to the top of the potatoes .
bring to a boil turn off burner. pour off water and leave setting in covered pot for twelve minutes this makes perfect potatoes everytime.. they are ready to either mash or add a bit of herbs to them.

another one of my favorites is a potato hash.
heat a skillet on medium. while it is heating, peal and chop into 1 inch cubes a small sweet potato and a russet or yukon gold potato, a stalk of celery, some red or green bell pepper (about /4 cup), and half of a yellow or white onion.
Now turn the heat on the skillet down to low, put in all of the chopped ingredients and 3 or 4 turns of the pepper grinder and a teaspoon of parsley flakes. (If you like an italian flavor you can add a teaspoon of basil flakes or rosmary) Cover and let sit for about 3 minutes stir and cover and let sit for 3 more minutes, continue to do this until they are cooked to your preference. This is a very very yummy dish. IF you are using a cast Iron Skillet it can be turned off when the potatoes are about half way cooked as they hold their heat for a long time).

[Riva]

I bake 4-8 Garnet yams in a 400 degree oven for 1.5 hours.
The insides are as soft as can be and the outside is wonderful with the sweetness oozed over a bit. I eat the whole thing except that little hard stem at the end. SO GOOD!
Riva

[djunamod]

Thanks for some great tips on making sweet potatoes, as I want to eat more of these but haven't really figured out a way to make them tasty yet.

I'm eating potatoes 2x a day now and I make mashed potatoes and baked chopped potatoes.

In the morning, I cut a potato into chunks and then boil the pieces until they are soft. Then, I mash them up with a little dijon mustard and cayenne pepper for mashed potatoes.

In the evening, I microwave a potato for only 2-3 minutes (or 4, if it's a big one) just to get it softened a bit but not really cooked. Then, I chop it into chunks and put it on a small baking sheet lined with parchment paper. I bake the chunks in my toaster oven at 400 degrees for 40-50 minutes. They turn out crisp on the outside and soft on the inside, like french fries. Some pieces do get a bit dried out but I'm weird in that I like them that way .

Sometimes I add some spice mix (like Italian seasonings or Mrs. Dash) to the potatoes before I bake them and have them as is. Other times, I dip the non-seasoned potato chunks into ketchup or BBQ sauce or a combination of both.

Djuna

[kittyadventures]

Thought i would add a little tip on how to get spices to stick to your potatoes if you are going to throw them in teh oven, Since we don't oil the potatoes if you put a little bit of veggie broth or water on your potatoes and then sprinkle them with your herbs before you put them in the oven it works great and also adds a bit of moisture to the oven, which is very helpful for those of us in the west where humidity runs in the teens to twentys usually.