Cooking Class: Grilled Potatoes

Cooking Class
Real Cooking Made Simple
By Chef Kurt Michael Friese


Potatoes

On a recent trip out of state, a student I met asked me “Iowa, huh?  Isn’t that where they grow potatoes?”  He was serious.  I weep for the future.

While the potato grows far more prolifically with our neighbors 3 states to the west, there are some who grow it here, and is has been an important part of the diet in Iowa since the first settlers arrived.  The spud’s prominence on the plate was probably solidified by the Depression, which had profound and lasting effects on the way Americans eat.  Potatoes after all are cheap, plentiful, filling and easy to cook – everything a Depression-era family sought in a food.

Unfortunately, that early 20th-century “quantity IS quality” ideal still holds sway over many American households, even in these times of plenty.  This may explain the popularity of many low-carbohydrate extremists in the diet & health section of your neighborhood bookstore today.  It is a curious twist of fate though, that the stuff our parents wanted in the 1930s - namely meat – is now the center of the diet for people who are trying to lose weight.  I haven’t done all that thorough a researching of this, but I don’t think that obesity was too big a problem during the potato-laden Depression.

According to the World Catalogue of Potato Varieties 2003 [Ed. by W. Hamester and Uwe Hils], there are over 3,200 varieties of potato cultivated in over 100 countries.  Sadly, that number is constantly dwindling, and 95% of the potato consumption worldwide is of 4 varieties.  Sure you might like McDonald’s French fries, but what if that was the only potato there was?  Your happy meal would get pretty dull pretty fast.

The real beauty of the potato is in its variety and versatility.  It can be prepared using any of the basic techniques we have discussed here in this column: baked, boiled, poached, fried sautéed, grilled, you name it.  While tossing your Idaho in the microwave for 4 minutes might be the easiest way to prepare potatoes, the myriad other methods are tastier, and some are almost as simple.

Here is a little trick that works perfectly every time.  Not only that, but it works with any root vegetable – carrot, beets, turnips, parsnips, yams rutabaga, the list goes on.

Simply cut the potato (or other root vegetable) down to pieces that are 2” across or smaller.  Many varieties, such as fingerlings, are small enough to be left whole.  Place them in a large enough pot, with enough water to cover by 1”.  Add 1 to 2 tablespoons each of butter, salt, and (optional but tasty) sugar.  Bring this to a boil, then immediately remove from heat and let stand, covered, for 1 hour.  They end result is perfectly tender, “al dente,” every time.  You can serve them as they are, or store them up to 3 days in their own liquid.

With the warmer winters we've been having, everyone here likes to fire up their back yard grills.  To make potato “kabobs” (as pictured here), simply prepare baby red potatoes, or fingerlings, in the method just described.  Place 4-5 of them on each skewer.  If you use wooden skewers, be sure to soak them in water for an hour to retard burning.  Lightly coat your kabobs with olive oil, salt and pepper.  Add an herb if you like, such as dill or rosemary.  Grill them over medium heat to preferred crispiness and serve immediately.  Kids love these, by the way.