Every Way To Cook A Potato

Baked, mashed, roasted, fried, and gratin. Master these five dishes, and you've mastered the potato. Our first method is the humble baked potato. To make these, I'll add some salt and warm water to a bowl and stir to combine. Then we top it off with more water, poke each potato a few times with a fork so it doesn't explode while it cooks, and then dump them one by one into the salt water brine to make sure they're fully coated. For each method, by the way, we're using a specific type of potato, and here we've got russet potatoes. These are great for baked potatoes because they have the highest starch content and lowest moisture, which is what gives us that nice light and fluffy baked potato. This salt brine is also a great trick because it gives a fully even coat of salt across the potato so that as it cooks and the water dries off, you get a nice salt crust. Now, into the oven we go at 450 Fahrenheit for one hour, at which point we'll brush it all over with neutral oil and then return them to the oven to bake for another 15 minutes or until they look like this. Now, here's where we have to move fast. If we leave them closed like this to cool down, all that steam is gonna turn the potato inside very gummy. So, right away we wanna cut them straight down the middle to let that steam escape. This is a trick that I wish I learned so long ago because I love baked potatoes. And now I feel like I've ruined so many over time by not cutting them open right away like this. Finish off your baked potato by fluffing it up a bit with a fork, then adding on a few knobs of butter, a nice little pinch of salt, and if you wanna fully load it up, a nice sprinkle of cheese, sour cream, bacon, and chives. There really aren't that many foods out there that can beat this. I guess except for the other four potato methods that we're about to cook together. Our next method is the creamy and beautifully silky mashed potato. For this, I'm starting with Yukon Gold Potatoes. They make for the perfect mashed potatoes because they're buttery in flavor and have that nice light yellow color. I know some people like leaving the skin on, whether it's for texture or laziness, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with doing that, but this gives you a more luxurious mashed potato. You can use the skins to make some amazing potato chips, so promise me you won't throw these away. We're now gonna cut the potatoes down into one-inch chunks, something that looks remotely like this. The more even you can get these, the better, because that'll mean things cook more evenly. And then we'll toss these into a colander and rinse until the water runs clear. With mashed potatoes especially, we wanna rinse off as much starch as possible because that's what makes things gummy and gluey. And gummy and gluey is the number one enemy to good mashed potatoes. To cook them, we'll add our potatoes to a pot and cover them up with cold water and salt, then cover and bring to a gentle simmer. We start with cold water here because it allows the potatoes and water to heat up together, which gives even cooking from outside in. You'll wanna cook these until you can slide a knife in and out without much resistance. Once finished, drain these in that exact same colander over the sink, then back in the pot over medium heat for about 30 more seconds to get rid of any excess moisture. This step is also great because when we get water out, it means we can put butter back in. To finish off our mashed potatoes, we'll use what's called a potato ricer instead of a masher. A masher overworks the potato and turns it into glue. And that's the reason you never make mashed potatoes in a blender, because it makes it extremely gluey. The potato ricer, on the other hand, is gentle. In one swift motion, it turns your potato light and fluffy. Quickly, while those potatoes are still hot, I'm gonna warm up some cream on the side. And while that comes up to temp, I'm gonna add quite a few cubes of room temperature butter to my potatoes and begin folding that in. Make sure it's not super cold butter for this step. Once that cream is nice and warm, I'll add some in. Just remember, the more you mix, the more gluey it becomes, and you'll probably find that your mashed potatoes can use a good amount of extra salt. And just like that, you'll be left with the easiest, silkiest mashed potatoes you've ever had. These are so smooth and creamy, they look almost like frosting. But they taste a lot better. Our next method, and my personal favorite, is crispy roast potatoes. For this method, we're using russet potatoes for their high starch and low moisture content. And we start by peeling them completely, as I don't like any skin at all for these ones, and then chopping them all up into nice two-inch chunks. For crispy roast potatoes, it's actually okay if you have totally different sized chunks, because some will get more crispy, some will get a little more soft, fluffy, tender. And then into a pot we go, along with cold water, salt, and a pinch of baking soda. You'll notice two things here. First, I didn't rinse the potatoes this time. I'm okay with all that extra starch, because that's how we get those really crispy potatoes. And then second, the baking soda. That baking soda will break down the surface of each potato and give you an extra crispy crust. Once it comes to a simmer, cook for about 10 more minutes, ideally taking them as far as you dare without them completely falling apart in the pot. That is one of the keys to the best crispy roast potatoes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer these to a wire rack lined baking sheet and space them out evenly. Then place them in the fridge overnight. The next day, you'll notice these white spots and all kinds of cracks in the potatoes. And that's the whole point of letting them steam dry in the fridge. All that oil will get inside those little cracks and make them extra golden brown. To finally get to roasting these, I'll prepare a baking sheet with a mix of neutral oil and beef tallow and into the oven that goes. And while that preheats, I'll add my potatoes to a bowl and toss them with a light dusting of potato starch. This is gonna make our roast potatoes even crispier. It's the same way I like to season my chicken with chicken powder. We're using two versions of the same ingredient to make everything better. Once that oil is hot and smoking, and by the way, I recommend you do this in the oven very carefully instead of pulling it out like I am just to show you it up close, carefully lay down all your potatoes away from you, spacing them all out evenly and let them continue cooking in the oven at 425 degrees Fahrenheit, leaving them alone for 25 minutes to develop a crust, at which point we'll carefully flip them to another side to develop even more crust and continue cooking for another 25 minutes. To finalize the crisping process, drain off all the oil, but actually don't do it that way because if a potato falls in, you'll be splashed with some very, very hot oil. So instead, just take the extra few seconds to take them off quickly, then pour off your oil. Be careful with that pull, it's going to be very hot. And then toss these in the oven just one more time for a few more minutes until they look completely golden brown. And finally, we've got our crispy roast potatoes, listen. While they're still nice and hot, I'll toss them with some minced garlic, chopped thyme and sea salt. Just don't be too rough when you toss them, they have a bit of a delicate crust. And just like that, you've got the crispiest roast potatoes you've ever had. I mean, listen to these and the crunch. They're the perfect hybrid between a light and fluffy baked potato and the crispy golden outside of a French fry. That is what makes these so good. I'm sure we've all heard of the next method, French fries. For these, we'll want to use russet potatoes. And I happen to make fries so often that I actually have one of these fancy fry cutter machines that cuts them into fries within just seconds. But since I'm sure most of you don't have one, you can also use some slow and steady knife work to get very close to that same result. Once cut, toss these into a colander and rinse until the water runs clear. We want to remove as much of that excess surface starch as possible. Add these to a pot and cover them up with water, salt, and a splash of vinegar. Adding vinegar to the fry water holds the potatoes together while we boil the starch off their surface. And once boiling, cook for about 10 more minutes or until they're tender but still hold their shape. Transfer these now to a wire rack lined baking sheet and arrange them in a single layer. Then once cooled, place them in the freezer for an hour or preferably overnight. When they're properly frozen, they will look and sound like this, which means we're ready to fry. We'll fry in two stages. First, to seal up the outside and second, to crisp them up. The first fry is at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. And I always start with just a couple fries to make sure nothing overflows. Frozen fries are gonna have moisture and moisture and hot oil are not friends. So if you ever start to see it even beginning to bubble like this, I would be very careful and immediately take some of those fries out. If it overflows, turn off your heat immediately so the oil doesn't catch fire. We're really not looking to get too much color yet. That comes in the second fry. For this first fry, we cook for only a minute after which we'll toss them off to the side and space them out evenly on our tray. And then once our oil comes up to 400 degrees Fahrenheit, we'll carefully add our fries back in. You should be able to go all at once now for that second stage of frying until they're golden brown and crispy. This step has no timer. We all know what a good French fry looks like, so just go until they look good. Now, for my favorite part of all, oh, the sound. I'm not done yet. And quickly, I feel like I say quickly a lot with these potato recipes, but hit them with some salt. That hot oil is like glue, but it only lasts for a few seconds. Listen to the crunch. Listen to how they sound against each other. And look at how incredibly beautiful they are. How could you possibly not want to make your own French fries after seeing this? Our final method is perhaps the most French thing you can possibly do to a potato, and it's called potato gratin. We'll start by making an infused cream by adding some cream to a pot along with milk, minced garlic, chopped thyme, a bit of fresh ground nutmeg, a few generous pinches of salt, and a couple dashes of white pepper. I'm just gonna set this off to the side and let it slowly infuse over low heat, and then we'll slice some Yukon gold potatoes nice and thin using a mandolin. We're using Yukon golds here because they're creamy and have great structure. If you don't have a mandolin, don't worry. I made this a few weeks ago for my family with very limited cooking equipment, and it only took a few extra minutes to slice these thin with my knife. Once your potatoes are all thinly sliced, grab an oven-safe baking dish and paint the whole thing with softened butter, then add in your first layer of potatoes. We're not rinsing off any of the starch this time because it'll thicken that infused cream to turn it into more of a sauce as it cooks. Just a simple, flat, even layer like this, then a small coating of that infused cream, then another layer of potato. By the way, that infused cream, the smell of it is so incredibly fragrant, it fills your entire kitchen. It shouldn't smell that good for how easy it is to make. Then add another layer of cream, and now we bring in the cheese. This is Gruyere, a very famous cheese from Switzerland with a beautifully nutty flavor. And then just repeat that exact same process one or two more times. This depends on how tall or wide your pan is. Potatoes all the way around, then a little layer of cream, a second layer of potatoes, slightly overlapping each other like we've been doing. And after two more of those back-to-back layers of potato and cream, we add yet another layer of Gruyere cheese. Now, if you wanna just finish off with the rest of your potatoes you have here, you can do that, but if you wanna be fancy like the French often are, you can cut your potatoes into fancy little rings like this and layer it all the way around like fish scales. Again, this is completely unnecessary, but since it is sort of a fancy French dish, sometimes it's nice to put on that extra fancy finishing touch. To finish it off before baking, we'll add one last layer of that cream and then cover it with a fitted piece of parchment paper, cover it up with foil and toss it into the oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for about 35 to 45 minutes, or until a knife passes through the potatoes without resistance. As a final step, top it off with your remaining Gruyere cheese as well as some Parmesan cheese, and then continue cooking for another 15 minutes or so until the top is golden brown and bubbling. That looks, sounds, and smells unbelievably delicious. As you can probably tell, it's gonna be a while before I can actually take a bite of this, so I'm just gonna let you look at it. But don't even think about touching it. I'll be back for that later.