Archive for October, 2010


Potassium and Idaho® Potatoes

Friday, October 29th, 2010

Q. I heard that Idaho® potatoes have more potassium than a banana. Can that possibly be true?

A.Potassium and Idaho Potatoes-Consumer and Foodservice_10.25.10 Potatoes are amazingly healthy. In fact, potatoes are quite nutrient dense. A medium potato with the skin left on contains 45 percent of the daily value for vitamin C; as much or more potassium (620 mg) than a banana, spinach or broccoli; has 10 percent of the daily value of B6; and even trace amounts of thiamin, riboflavin, folate, magnesium, phosphorus, iron and zinc.

Here are the technical details about the potato: A medium (5.3 oz) potato contains 110 calories, 26 grams of carbohydrate, 3 grams of protein and 0 grams of fat. The predominant form of carbohydrate in potatoes is starch (a complex carbohydrate). In fact, simple sugars (i.e., disaccharides and monosaccharides) comprise only .25-3% of the dry matter in potatoes (and thus, the calorie content). Therefore, simple sugars account for 2.75-3.3 calories of a medium potato (110 multiplied by .025 and .03), which is only about 1/5 of a teaspoon (16 calories per teaspoon of sugar).

Posted in Consumer, Foodservice, Nutrition, Q & A

Mashed or Smashed Idaho® Potatoes for Thanksgiving?

Wednesday, October 27th, 2010

Q. Should I mash or smash Idaho® potatoes for Thanksgiving?

A. With Idaho® russet potatoes, we recommend peeling and then cutting into big chunks before boiling. This way the potato will be more evenly cooked and probably fits your families’ idea of a traditional mashed potato recipe.

Here is a link: http://www.idahopotato.com/recipes/cat_id-14/id-112
Mashed or Smashed Idaho Potatoes for Thanksgiving-Consumer_10.25.10

Here is another recipe for fat free mashed potatoes: http://www.idahopotato.com/recipes/cat_id-14/id-72
Mashed or Smashed Idaho Potatoes for Thanksgiving-Consumer_10.25.10

However, much of the nutrients are right under the skin, so an interesting way to make skin on mashed is to baked the potatoes and then cut into chunks and smash them. If you want to surprise your guests try this method. It takes an hour at 400 degrees F to bake the potatoes as a general guideline.

Another version of smashed is to boil Idaho® fingerling potatoes (or small reds), drain and keep warm in the oven. Just before serving, smash them with the skin intact. The red skin will usually not stay a bright red, just add some white wine vinegar or concentrated lemon juice to the water when you boil. You can also do this in the microwave if you want to keep the skins color, just pierce the skin slightly (to keep the potato from bursting from the heat) and zap it!

Posted in Consumer, Cooking Potatoes, Q & A, Recipes

How to Make the Perfect Baked Potato

Monday, October 25th, 2010

Q. Is it OK to bake my Idaho® potatoes in foil?

A. No.  If the best way to bake a potato so it has a crispy outer skin and a fluffy interior is to place a potato directly on the oven rack, then using foil is a compromise that yields a steamed potato and a wet outer skin.  Don’t do it!

While I recommend serving a baked Idaho® potato to the customer within 15 minutes from the time it is baked, wrapping a baked potato in foil after it has been baked will allow you to hold it for up to 45 minutes.  The best method for holding a baked potato is in a warming drawer. The second best is a heat-proof cabinet, where foil wrapped potatoes can be held for 45 minutes, but with an interior temperature loss of about 20°F.  Least effective is the use of heat lamps.

The Ultimate Baked Potato

For the best-tasting baked potatoes, start with Idaho® potatoes.  The Idaho® potato has a high solids content so that during baking, the starch grains swell and separate, resulting in a characteristically light, fluffy texture.  A potato with smaller grains, such as a round red or white will stay firm and waxy and is more watery.

Always wash potatoes before baking, being careful not to break the skin.  Then, pierce the skin with a fork to prevent the potato from bursting in the oven.  Again, we recommend that you NEVER bake an Idaho® potato in foil.

Idaho® potatoes should be baked in a 375°F convection oven for 50-55 minutes, or a 425°F conventional oven for 55-60 minutes.  An Idaho® potato is perfectly baked when it reaches an internal temp of 210 degrees F.

Posted in Consumer, Cooking Potatoes, Foodservice, Q & A, Recipes

Global Idaho® Potato Flavors

Wednesday, October 13th, 2010

Q. How can I experiment with global flavors for potatoes?

A. One solution is to put it into small plates, appetizers and sides. Right now customers are not as experimental with an entrée or more expensive selection. Here are some great tips from a fellow blogger; I love the idea of mini muffin shepherd’s pie: http://loveandhomemaderecipes.com/2010/09/make-ahead-mini-lunches/

These corn and potato mini pancakes with salsa from our website are extra tasty: view recipe »

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Or, try serving a trio of mini tastes with mashed potatoes: view recipe »

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And, try spinach and wild mushroom potato rosti: view recipe »

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Or, these delicious potato and smoked shrimp mini pies: view recipe »

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And, spicy empanadas are a real crowd pleaser: view recipe »

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Finally use these tips to make your potatoes global: view recipes and tips »

EasyIdahoPotatoToppings

Posted in Foodservice, Q & A, Recipes

Fabulous Brunch Ideas

Monday, October 11th, 2010

Q. Any ideas on how to knock people over with a fabulous brunch?

A. I’d start with this biscuit recipe with a surprise inside: view recipe »

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Or, serve this fix ahead quiche with an Idaho Potato hashbrown crust: view recipe »

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This Spanish omelet would be easy to prep ahead and then heat up, leaving time to socialize with your friends: view recipe »

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And with fresh tomatoes winding down, here is an interesting hashbrown side dish for your eggs: view recipe »

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Finally, try these fruit and potato breakfast squares: view recipe »

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Send me your favorite Idaho potato recipe for breakfast or brunch. Enjoy.

Posted in Consumer, Cooking Potatoes, Q & A, Recipes

Is it OK to Snack on Raw Idaho Potatoes?

Friday, October 8th, 2010

Q. As a child, I would often sneak raw cut up Idaho potatoes from my mom’s stew fixin’s.  I have never heard anyone else say they like them!  Is it safe to eat raw potatoes?  I’m trying to eat healthier and am thinking I could eat them as snacks and with hummus and other types of dips?  Can I eat the skins?  Also, years ago there was a product out to make potato pancakes from a box. I can’t find it anymore and would like to know how I could make them with dehydrated potato flakes?

A. Raw potatoes are safe to eat, just a little hard to digest in quantity. The skin is loaded with nutrients, so be sure to eat that too. My favorite thing to eat while my mom was cooking was some of the raw cookie dough.

One of my favorite ways to fix potatoes and eat healthy at the same time is to bake or microwave them and add a fresh tomato salsa topping, such as the ones available in the refrigerated section of the grocery store. It gives a little kick to the more neutral flavor of the potato and I never miss the butter when fixed this way. Another tasty baked potato: cut in half, bake and then top with a creamy horseradish. This added zip is very flavorful and you don’t need very much to make it a great lunch or snack. You can also cut up a potato into wedges, add to a plastic bag such as a freezer bag with some dried spices and a teaspoon of vegetable oil, toss together enough to coat the potatoes and then pour out of the bag onto a non-stick oven pan and oven roast the potatoes for about 1/2 hour at 400 degrees F, sometimes shorter. This is hearty and filling too.

For the potato pancakes, check the center aisles of the grocery store and use the instant mashed potatoes for potato pancakes, we have several recipes for these and latkes, just start here: http://www.idahopotato.com/recipes/cat_id-16.

You can also do this with frozen or dehydrated hashbrowns. You may find the potato pancake mixture you used to buy in a different section of the store, I usually see it displayed in the ethnic food aisle.

Posted in Consumer, Cooking Potatoes, Food Safety, Q & A, Recipes

Dinner Meal and Side Dish Ideas

Wednesday, October 6th, 2010

Q. I don’t want to shop tonight, any suggestions for a dinner meal or side dish?

A. First, check out your freezer, refrigerator and pantry.  At lot of times I have found that I have French fries, hashbrowns or Tater Tots already in the freezer.  I have mashed potatoes or scalloped potatoes in the pantry. Fries can go with cold sandwich fixin’s or something hot like a protein based meat and cheese sandwich or wrap.  Hashbrowns can make a nice side if you’re serving breakfast.  Or, if you have eggs in the refrigerator combine them for a frittata using canned mushrooms or olives, eggs and potatoes. Tater Tots are a great side with eggs, but can also become the basis for a filling casserole with canned chicken or tuna and perhaps a canned soup sauce such as cream of chicken, cream of celery or cream of mushroom.

The pantry, more than likely, has a box of scalloped potatoes or mashed potatoes. An easy meal to keep on hand is a ham steak; just chop it up and add to scalloped or Au Gratin potatoes. Mashed potatoes make a tasty topping to a casserole or a flavorful side dish when you fold in shredded cheese, mustard or oven roast garlic.

This recipe for rosti potatoes could easily be made with canned or glass jars of artichoke hearts and canned roasted red peppers, so add these to your shopping list to keep in the pantry in the future: http://www.idahopotato.com/recipes/id-606/

How about a potato vegetable casserole: http://www.idahopotato.com/recipes/cat_id-11/id-363

Here is a recipe for chicken casserole if you have some leftover chicken:  http://www.idahopotato.com/recipes/cat_id-12/id-135

That reminds me… ever made homemade chicken pot pie?  It’s easy if you buy a grocery store oven roasted chicken and use the torn pieces of chicken with your favorite canned or frozen vegetables and some chunks of boiled potatoes. Get creative with what is already around or plan ahead to always have Idaho potatoes, fresh in the five or ten pound bag, frozen, dry or refrigerated value added in stock to make meals interesting.

Posted in Consumer, Q & A, Recipes

How to Insure Customers are Receiving Hot, Delicious French Fries

Monday, October 4th, 2010

Q. Because of the cost of running a business and making a profit I just terminated a program I had for a mystery shopper to visit my restaurants and give me advise on how to improve the guest/customer experience.  One of the things I am concerned about is how to keep my food standards high without using this service as a check and balance.  The potato question has to do with how fast a customer gets their order of fries and whether or not they are delivered hot.  Any suggestions?

A. Two words… friends and family. In a lot of instances, if you reimburse them for a food purchase then this can periodically be a way to measure the results. The only drawback is that your employees may recognize this person if they are already known to the staff. That’s where asking friends and family for an extended contact can pay off. You probably already have the check list from previous shopper reports, now is the time to update or customize it to your operation.

And a couple of other comments… I once owned a fresh pasta restaurant and had customer complaints about food being cold or served luke warm.  In analyzing the problem I did have to purchase some used plate warmers and domed metal lids, the ones like you find in hospital lines. They were actually a cheap long term solution. The employees had helped me identify why the plates were not coming out hot, warm pasta served on a cold plate doesn’t get warmer in the delay to get to the customer. So, follow up on the comments you get from the new “mystery shopper” to see if the system does not need revamping too. Fries will cool off quickly, even under heat lamps.

Also, is the staff fixing too much ahead in anticipation of a busy lunch? A good employee, who knows the business well, can actually save a customer wait time by fixing in anticipation, but a copy cat employee that was taught the same way may not have the same skills (or does not like it when the cashier asks… where is my order). Re-training may be in order.

Posted in Foodservice, Q & A

Making a Signature Dish with Idaho Potatoes

Friday, October 1st, 2010

Q. How can I make my Idaho potatoes a signature or special item on the menu?

A. Remember when Chili’s first came out with their Chicken or beef Fajitas? They were the best, a standard to be aspired to. What did most of their competition do instead? They added fajitas to the menu, but also figured out ways to make it cheaper, to leave off some of the options or to skip steps (why sauté or roast the red peppers when you can just steam some ahead and grab off the make-up line, became why not use green peppers, they are cheaper).

Well, the answers are a lot simpler than you might imagine. The execution is the real issue. First, identify what you are serving versus your competition.  Even bring in an order of mashed potatoes or baked potatoes from a competitor and analyze it.  Be sure to compare the same things. Compare portion sizes (and know that you don’t have to win this one, just make sure your portion is not tiny compared to theirs), plating appearance, texture, taste, flavor expectation versus what the menu says and ask your staff to tell you how they might enhance what the competition is serving BEFORE judging your potato side dish.

Now breakdown your potato side… could it be served in a different container to give it an edge over the competition? Does the flavor really shout out or is it too subtle to even pick up. Is it too salty? I’ll mention that one again… too much salt on the final product? Recently I went to an I-N-Out where the fries were not salted, but a packet of salt was served with them allowing the customer to adjust to taste. And if they added too much, whose fault was it then? Would leaving the skin on change the flavor profile? Would a different method make it special (for example, folding in the shredded cheese or spices after the mashed are done, almost to order) or what would it cost to add an option for the customer: such as sautéed mushrooms to mashed, the works to a hash brown dish (see Huddle House as the master of this exercise of making a common hash brown side into something special) or maybe more of the same (such as eight different popular potato sides on the menu). Once you have done all this, test out the final product with some of your regulars to see if they like it even better than before.

Posted in Foodservice, Q & A