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POTATO PRIMER  

Potato Board
 www.healthypotato.com/

QUESTION: My recipe for mashed potatoes instructs to "boil until tender and peeled". It doesn't say to peel and then boil until tender. What do I do?

ANSWER: Potatoes can be boiled with the skins and then peeled when tender. A potato ricer will rice the insides and leave the peels. (Make sure you clean out the peels with a fork after every potato pressing). Or, simply cut the potato in half, then scoop the pulp from the skin with a serving spoon.

The best potatoes to use when making mashed potatoes are those that contain medium to high amounts of starch. When cooked, they break up easily andreadily absorb other ingredients, such as milk, cream and butter.

Russet: This is the most popular all-purpose baking potato. It's high in starch and has brown skin with a white interior. Russets produce light and fluffy mashed potatoes.

Yukon Gold: This European yellow-fleshed potato is available from mid-summer into fall. It's very creamy when cooked. Try The Best Ever Mashed Potato Recipe

Round White: This is another all-purpose potato. It has white to off-white flesh and tan skin. It holds its shape when cooked but also has a creamy texture, making it a good choice for a variety of dishes. One variety to look for is Katahdin.

Long White: These large potatoes have smooth, off-white skins with white insides. They're available in spring and summer. When cooked, they are creamy.

QUESTION: Is it a Sweet Potato and or a Yam?

Sweet potatoes: are the root of a vine in the morning glory family. Popular in the American South, they come in either paler-skinned yellow or dark-skinned orange tubers. Both varieties are elongated with ends that taper to a point. The darker-skinned variety, often called a "yam" in error, has a thick, dark orange skin. The insides have an orange, sweet flesh with a moist texture. Sweet potatoes (yams) are readily found in the grocery store.

The true yam is the tuber of a tropical vine and is not related to the sweet potato. It is rarely found in US markets, but is a popular vegetable in Latin American and Caribbean markets. There are 150 varieties available worldwide.