I grew up in a very meat and potato centric family. We would eat rice, and pasta on occasion but most days it was potatoes. I didn’t really have a favourite potato dish because generally, they were just mashed though or sometimes baked, which I hated. It wasn’t until my teens and early 20’s that I was exposed to a variety of different potato preparations. This mostly came from the restaurants I was working in at the time.

Growing up I never really thought much of potatoes. I didn’t hate them. I didn’t love them either. They were just always there. But, once I started to see all these different ways that they could be prepared I fell in love with them. Even the ubiquitous mashed potato which I’d eaten with the majority of my meals as a kid took on new meaning to me.

Potatoes, like so many other ingredients that I’d learned about over the course of my early culinary education, can be so much more than we typically think they can be. Even the most common potato dish, mashed potatoes, can easily be elevated by the addition of sour cream and chives, or caramelized onions, bacon or duck fat, pushing them through a food mill rather than mashing by hand, and the list goes on and on.

Today, I wanted to take a few minutes and focus on the humble potato. With that in mind, I am going to share with you a few of my favourite ways that potatoes can be prepared. Some of these I picked up in restaurants, some from cookbooks, some from friends or family. Wherever they come from, they come with love, and that is all the humble potato needs to be more than it already is.

With that, in no particular order, these are…

Mashed Potatoes

I would be lying to myself and you if mashed potatoes wasn’t on this list. Here’s why. In the 16 years I worked in restaurants the 2 years in catering and the 2 years that I’ve been a personal chef one thing has always stood out to me. Good mashed potatoes will outshine everything else on a plate every single time. I’m serious. It doesn’t matter what it is. I’ve personally served people and have seen people be served incredible meals. Perfectly cooked and well-seasoned proteins with a really well-balanced sauce, and tender vegetables with just the right amount of butter and crunch. The customer will say, “It was really good. Everything was great! But, oh my god the potatoes!”

I think the reason why people get really excited about good mashed potatoes is actually pretty simple. We’ve all eaten a pile of them. We have a very clear understanding and expectation of what mashed potatoes are going to be. But when we’re served silky, buttery, well-seasoned potatoes, it blows our expectations out of the water. We expect the protein to be perfectly cooked. We expect the sauce and vegetables to be really good. But the mashed potatoes we only ever expect to be mashed potatoes.

I love mashed potatoes for a lot of reasons. They obviously pair well with almost anything which is great. Anyone can make them and it takes little effort to make the great. Most importantly, they are delicious.

If you want to see some ways that you can up your mashed potato game you can find two different posts I wrote about them. Here and here.

Smashed Potatoes

The term “smashed potatoes” seems to get thrown around a lot over the past few years. But what exactly does it mean? Well, in my understanding, there are two styles of smashed potatoes. They both start by boiling baby potatoes. In the first style, the potatoes are placed on an oiled sheet pan then pressed. The potatoes are then drizzled with olive oil, seasoned with salt and pepper and roasted in a hot oven, usually around 400°F. These are also sometimes referred to as crushed potatoes. The outside gets a little crispy and golden and the inside stays light and fluffy. Delicious!

In the second style of smashed potatoes, the potatoes are boiled as in the first style. However, rather than being crushed and roasted with oil, these are smashed and mixed with cream, butter, salt, and pepper. I enjoy both of these styles a lot and honestly don’t know if I have a favourite out of the two. Which one do you prefer?

Pan-Roasted Potatoes

Pan-roasted potatoes are generally made with either baby red, golden-gem, or fingerling potatoes. These cook fairly quickly and get nice and crispy. In this method, the potatoes are sliced, halved, or quartered and then cooked about halfway on the stovetop with a bit of olive oil. A tablespoon or two of butter is usually added and then they go into the oven on 375°f to finish cooking. Because they are already partially cooked, the oven-roasting only takes a few minutes.

This is a really quick way to make delicious roasted potatoes. Not only that, but herbs like thyme or rosemary can easily be added for extra flavour.

Parsleyed Potatoes

Parsleyed potatoes. What could that possibly mean? Well, it means potatoes with parsley on them. And yes, as simple as that sounds this is in my top five potatoes dishes. Why?

Parsleyed potatoes is a dish usually made with new or young potatoes. The potatoes are boiled in salted water until they are cooked through and then drained and left to steam for a minute or two to ensure they are dry. While the potatoes are draining a bit of butter is melted along with a bit of salt and pepper. The potatoes are added to the butter and tossed with a big handful of fresh chopped parsley right before being served. It sounds simple because it is. It also happens to be delicious and beautiful.

I like parsleyed potatoes for big family-style meals because the bright green from the parsley in contrast with the potato really pops. Also, the flavour is incredible. This dish goes especially well with white fish, roasted chicken, beef bourguignon, or even coq au vin (chicken cooked in wine). Give it a try!

Oven Roasted French Fries

I have a bit of a problem with French Fries in that if I eat them once, I crave them for a month afterwards. It drives me crazy! But they’re just so damn good.

These specific fries are actually oven-baked and ridiculously crispy. I know you’re probably thinking I’m crazy. There is no way to get really crispy oven-baked fries. Well, you’re wrong. Let me explain. I first cut the potatoes into fries and then boil them in salted water just until they are about to fall apart. I drain them, let them steam dry in the colander for a few minutes, then toss them with olive oil, salt and pepper and bake them on 425°F. They are amazing!

This same boiling then roasting technique works to get really crispy roasted potatoes too!

If you love fries but heat the grease, this is your work around. You can find the recipe on my Instagram here.

Conclusion

Potatoes are a humble vegetable which when treated without care are boring, bland and blah. However, when shown a little love, these tubers can become something that your family, friends, or guests, will talk about literally for years.

What are your favourite potato dishes? Let me know in the comments or on social media. In the meantime, have a great Friday and a great weekend!