The three greatest potato dishes of all time

[Fat Guy]

They can be from a restaurant, from the home kitchen, from a market, even from an airplane. What are the three best potato dishes you've ever had?

Mine:

1 - The chicken-fat-infused roasted potatoes from the bottom of the rotisserie, at just about any outdoor market in France.

2 - David Bouley's pureed potatoes, at restaurant Bouley in New York City, similar to the legendary Robuchon potatoes but with some subtle differences.

3 - Belgian-style frites, anywhere they're properly made.

(Honorable mention: Munchos)

[Pierogi]

#1 would be...WELL made French fries......very crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside. NOT overly greasy. Satly and hot and crisp and slightly, just everso slightly oily. Not too thin, not too thick. *YUM........sigh*

#2 would be...mashed potatoes. Any form, any ilk, well, ok, full fat versions only need apply. Made with no butter or cream....pass. Use the potato boiling water for liquid.....WAY pass. With bleu cheese is probably my number 1 favy-fav, followed closely by roasted garlic. Slightly lumpy, not too smooth. Cream, butter S&P, heaven. (Sour cream or creme fraiche is sure a good alternative to the cream or 1/2&1/2.......)

#3......a blast from the past. My mother's potato cakes made from leftover mashers, that I simply CANNOT replicate. I saw her make them a million times, and I can't do it. It's a mom thing I guess. I don't believe she used flour, or milk, or made a batter out of the leftover mashers, I think she just formed the cakes and browned them slowly in butter, but...........they remain lost to the ages to me.

Honorable mention, Pommes Anna and Brabant potatoes. Both crispy & oh-so-buttery.......

[petite tête de chou]

1) Baked russet. Hands down winner. Earthy, simple, comforting. I prefer just a bit of butter and salt to keep it uncomplicated. *Sometimes* I'll rub the skins with bacon fat.

2) Boiled, mashed russets. Ah yes, I love my russets. Butter, cream (or not), salt/pepper and sometimes roasted garlic or sour cream.

3) Not sure about a third. Maybe french fries or boiled, brand-spanking new potatoes.

I often find that most potato dishes are so loaded with butter, bacon, cheese, gravy, vegetables, chili or the kitchen sink that I can't even taste the potato..and that's the best part.

[Peter Green]

1) Belgian frites - as noted above, anywere in Belgium and they'll be good. (McD's was right up there before they dropped the beef fat out of the equation).

2) Roasted potatoes British school style - lots of pig fat in the equation, crisp on the outside and soft in the middle.

3) Pesto mash, with lots of cream to smooth out the finish.

[The Old Foodie]

This is tough, seeing as most of us in my family havent yet met the potato we didnt like.

1. A big baked potato, skin slightly crackly with salt, a dollop of good butter in the middle.

2. Tiny new potatoes (preferrably just dug up) - boiled and tossed with good butter and perhaps, if I'm in the mood, with a little fresh mint.

3. All other potato dishes. Or is that cheating? I havent made Janson's Temptation in a while (grated potato, onion, anchovies, cream - baked in the oven) That will be my 3rd choice for at least the next half hour.

Janet

[Gifted Gourmet]

#1 Yukon gold fingerlings roasted in duck fat

#2 my Hanukkah latkes made with caramelized onions and fried in schmaltz

#3 toss up between my leek and potato soup in the winter or a rich Shabbat potato kugel made with, of course, schmaltz

[Marco_Polo]

1. My wife Kim's roasties to go with English roast Sunday supper (not lunch in this household). The potatoes are either Maris Piper or King Edwards, peeled, cut into just the right size chunks - not too big, not too small - blanched in boiling water, then added to a pan with hot olive oil**, tossed around to coat, seasoned with Maldon sea salt, freshly ground pepper, maybe a sprinkling of chopped fresh rosemary, and put in a hot (200 degree C) oven for around 45-50 minutes. The potatoes should emerge from the oven crunchy on the outside (but not leathery), and steamingly, gorgeously soft on the inside. No matter how many potatoes she makes, there are never quite enough. If by rare chance there happen to be a few leftovers, they are fantastic the next day for breakfast, simply picked up with the fingers and eaten fridge cold.

2. Pan-fried potatoes cooked in duck fat - crispy, oily, salty - ideally to accompany some some pan-fried confit de canard - crispy skin, oleaginous texture, deliciously salted-cured meat falling off the bone. A forkful of duck, a bite of crunchy fried potatoes, and on the side a simple green salad, yes, dressed with a tart, vinegary dressing (2:1 not my normal 3:1 or 4:1!).

3. Perfect mash potatoes, the ultimate comfort food. Sometimes I use a ricer, which definitely gives the lightest results, but mostly we just bash, add massive quantities of butter (I think it's impossible to use TOO much butter), moisten with milk, season with plenty of salt and freshly ground black pepper. What could be better? I can eat this just on its own, with nothing else, a huge plateful. But with some good English sausages, browned and plump and cooked just right so that when you prick with a fork, the juices spurt out and soak into the mash, it's damn near the perfect meal.

**I know that purists will say that you shouldn't roast potatoes in EVOO. But we do and the results are superlative, I assure you.

Edited June 22, 2007 by Marco_Polo (log)

[sanrensho]

1. Perfect korokke (potato croquettes): Crispy and still warm from the fryer.

2. New potatoes, dressed in an emulsion of olive oil, anchovies, rosemary and pepper

3. Roasted sweet potatoes (ishiyaki imo) from a street vendor in Japan

[Peter Green]

It's such a shame to be limited to three........

There's also fresh fingerling potatoes from the market, boiled skin-on, and served with a melted camembert and just dipped in.......

[porkpa]

(1)Pommes Souffle from Galatoires in New Orleans.

(2)My own potato Latkes. I think they without peer.

(3)The french fries made at Mon Ami Gabi. You either love them or hate them. I absolutely love them.

[GTO]

I'm surprised Gnocchi haven't been mentioned yet. A great celebration of potatoes - Treat them well, or you'll get a bad result.

[christine007]

"Good" french fries.

A huge baked potato with butter,salt and pepper. Salad on the side.

My potato gratin, simple yet luxorious. thin, thin sliced potatos, milk, butter, flour, salt and pepper and a few tablespoons of finely grated onion.

Cooked long and slow in a covered dish. Yum.

[baroness]

#3......a blast from the past.  My mother's potato cakes made from leftover mashers, that I simply CANNOT replicate. I saw her make them a million times, and I can't do it.  It's a mom thing I guess.  I don't believe she used flour, or milk, or made a batter out of the leftover mashers, I think she just formed the cakes and browned them slowly in butter, but...........they remain lost to the ages to me.

←

My Mom made these, too! She chilled the leftover potatoes well, added a beaten egg, made the patties (aka 'tato flatties) about 1/2-3/4" thick and fried them slowly in butter.

[Marigene]

If I had to choose only three, these would be my choices.

1. Mashed with lots of butter, cream salt and pepper

2. Red creamers with peas

3. Extra crispy homefries

[miladyinsanity]

Since I have to choose only three:

1. Mashed Potatoes

2. Fried potatoes--i'm going to cheat and include French fries in here

3. Chunks in soup or stews, boiled just right

[AzianBrewer]

It's such a shame to be limited to three........

←

Word up!

1 - French Fries

2- Mashed Potato w/ Sour Cream & Chives

3- Pan Fried Potato in Duck Fat!

[rlibkind]

Think of potatoes like you do of corn: the sooner to boiling water the better.

At least it's true for waxy "new" potatoes, whether red or white.

That revelation came to me last year when I purchased potatoes from my favorite vendor at a local farmers market who had dug the potatoes just that morning. Simply boiled then adorned with some butter, salt and pepper, they were the best potatoes I've ever eaten.

But Jannson's Temptation is second best!

[mhjoseph]

Potatonik (see "Secrets of a Jewish Baker", George Greenstein for recipe)

[cmling]

1) Rösti (a Swiss version of hash browns, but with a difference!)

2) The gratin I ate at the Auberge du Cheval Blanc in Lembach in Alsace.

3) Mashed potatoes, if excellently prepared (something that happens all too rarely in my life). Can be very, very disappointing otherwise.

Edited June 22, 2007 by cmling (log)

[hjshorter]

Three off the top of my head: my pommes souffle; my gratin with cream, goat cheese, a whisper of garlic, and fresh thyme; and Busboy's pommes persillade.

[Busboy]

I am flattered by Heather's shout out for my pommes. To the other suggestions already out there, I would Pommes Anna, only baked with a layer of black truffle in the center. Very nice.

[Porthos]

1) Vichyssoise

2) Red Potota Salad with Cream & Mayo Dressing

3) Potatoes that have been roasting in the pan with a pork roast

[Dana]

1) Boursin Potatoes I made for Christmas yearly - red potatoes baked in a combination of cream and boursin cheese

2) Pan fried with onions

3) Mashed potatoes at K-Pauls' in New Orleans.

Has anyone mentioned tater tots???

[C. sapidus]

. . . and now for something completely different:

1) Papas chirrionas, from The Art of Mexican Cooking by Diana Kennedy

2) Potato rendang, from Cradle of Flavor by James Oseland

3) Dum aloo (whole potatoes in spicy yogurt gravy), from Classic Indian Cooking by Julie Sahni

[shellfishfiend]

1) A baked potato-baked until the skin is just beginning to get crisp. With lots of s and p and a touch of hot sauce.

2) Really young new potatoes just steamed until done or maybe boiled with some very young, tender green beans. I like to add a little lemon juice to new potatoes.

3) The new potatoes or red potatoes that get boiled with the crawfish. They soak up all that wonderful spice and make your lips burn just a little when you eat them.