For most, potatoes are the second bread. It is prepared in various ways as a side dish. It is also included in many dishes. And now we will tell you how to cook delicious potatoes in a saucepan.

How to cook delicious potatoes?

Ingredients:

• potatoes - 1.5 kg;
• salt;
• cow's milk - 180 ml;
• garlic - 1 clove;
• natural butter - 30 g.

Cooking

We clean the potato tubers and wash well. We cut it into pieces, fill it with water and let it stand for 10 minutes. Then we drain this water, put the potatoes in a saucepan and pour water on top. Salt, put the peeled garlic clove. Bring to a boil over high heat, then make it smaller, cover the pan with a lid and bring to readiness. Drain the liquid, pour in the milk brought to a boil and mash the potatoes until mashed. Then add the oil and mix well. If you want to get a lush mass, then you can additionally beat the puree with a mixer.

How delicious to cook a whole potato?

Ingredients:

• potatoes;
• salt.

Cooking

My potatoes, peel, put in a saucepan, fill with water and place on the stove. Salt after boiling. For flavor, you can put a bay leaf or a peeled garlic clove in the water. When the potatoes are cooked, drain the water, and place the potatoes on a dish, pour over with melted butter and crush with chopped herbs.

If you are interested in how to cook potatoes in slices, you can safely use this recipe. The cooking technology is exactly the same.

How to cook new potatoes deliciously?

Ingredients:

• young potatoes - 1 kg;
• dill - 30 g;
• salt;
• - 70 g.

Cooking

Peel young potatoes. You can do it with a knife, but it's a rather long process. It is much easier to do this with a metal dish brush. If the potato is small, then leave it whole, but if it is large, then cut it into several parts. We put it in boiling water, which should cover the potatoes by about 2 cm. If you want to get more boiled potatoes, then you need to salt closer to the end of cooking. The lid of the saucepan should be slightly ajar during the process. When the potatoes are ready, drain the water, put the butter, chopped herbs. Cover the pot with a lid and shake vigorously a couple of times.

Thanks to the advent of double boilers, multicookers, microwave ovens, deep fryers and other devices, potatoes can be cooked easily, tasty and quickly in many ways. Let's look at the step by step process of cooking potatoes in different ways. One of the most popular and versatile cooking methods is boiled potatoes.

How long do potatoes boil

Whole, peeled potatoes are boiled for 20-25 minutes.
Jacket potatoes are boiled for 25 minutes.
Young potatoes in their skins will cook in 20 minutes.
Finely chopped potatoes in the soup are cooked for 12-15 minutes.
You can cook potatoes in the microwave in 10-12 minutes.
Potatoes in a double boiler (whole and in uniform) are cooked for 20-25 minutes.

The cooking time of potatoes depends on their size: the larger the tubers, the longer they cook.
The more tubers are cooked, the slower the water boils, therefore, the time for complete cooking increases.

How to boil potatoes

So, where do you start cooking potatoes? Potato is a vegetable that is not eaten raw, it requires mandatory heat treatment. I do not mean the exception - the use of potato juice for the treatment of peptic ulcers.
Wash the potatoes before cooking. Better to do it under flow cold water using a brush, sponge. Especially carefully you need to wash the potatoes if you cook them in their skins. After washing, the potatoes must be put in a colander so that the glass has excess moisture, and then on a towel (you can use paper). It is necessary to wash and clean the potatoes immediately before cooking so that the potatoes do not darken.


The worst thing about potatoes, for all their merits, is that they need to be peeled. For peeling potatoes you can use ordinary knives with a steel blade, but it is desirable that the blade be equal in length to the handle of the knife. The knife, of course, must be sharp. You can also peel potatoes with a vegetable peeler or potato peeler. In large catering establishments, electric potato peelers are used for this purpose. Potatoes can be peeled in a spiral or in vertical stripes. It's up to you and your habit. It is necessary to clean about 2 mm layer. After cleaning with the tip of a knife, pick out the eyes. Wash potatoes again.

Young potatoes are peeled a little differently. Better, of course, just wash it well with a dish sponge, but not a metal one. It is in the peel that contains the most potassium and vitamins, and the peel also prevents the release of nutrients into the water during cooking. But not everyone likes "unpeeled" potatoes. The peel of young potatoes must be scraped off, scraped off with a sharp knife, it is better to do this under running water. For many, the "dust" flying from potatoes during cleaning causes a sore throat, scraping under running water eliminates this problem. Now in hardware stores there are special gloves for washing and peeling potatoes. I can also offer the old "old-fashioned method" of peeling young potatoes. Pour coarse salt into the bag, you can use the cheapest salt, put potatoes there, rub them in salt. As a result, we have a quick way to clean young potatoes, it remains only to wash the tubers. In addition, new potatoes are easier to peel if you put them first in hot and then in cold water.

How to boil whole, peeled potatoes

Consider the universal method of cooking on the stove in a saucepan. I note right away that it is not recommended to store peeled potatoes, in extreme cases, up to 2 hours with whole tubers in water and with the lid closed. Potatoes categorically do not like to be peeled without water and in the light, they immediately darken. Boiling time depends on the type of potato, age and water hardness.
The cooking time of potatoes and their taste also depend on what kind of dishes you have chosen. Enamelware is ideal, choose the size yourself, depending on the volume of boiled potatoes. The lid should fit snugly and be opaque. Light promotes the decomposition of vitamins. Enamel prevents oxidation reactions. It is advisable to choose a pot in such a way that there is about 3 cm from the surface of the water to the lid. It is necessary to put the potatoes in boiling water, then it will retain all the useful substances. It is necessary to cook on low heat so that the starch swells evenly. Over high heat, the potatoes are boiled on the outside and burst, but inside they remain undercooked. Cut very large tubers so that all potatoes are approximately the same size. The water should cover the potatoes by one finger. There are different opinions and theories about when to salt potatoes, but in the end it turns out that this is not important. And yet it is more correct to salt 10 minutes before the end of cooking. The total cooking time of peeled potatoes is about 25 minutes, 20 minutes after the moment of boiling, check the readiness with a fork. It is not recommended to open the lid while boiling potatoes.
A few more tips for regular cooking potatoes:
- In order for the potatoes to cook faster, it is recommended to put a piece of butter, about 20 grams, into the water, this will increase the boiling point and the potatoes will cook 5 minutes faster.
- So that the potatoes do not boil soft during cooking, if necessary, pour 1 tbsp. a spoonful of 6% vinegar per 1 liter of water. You can also pour a little cucumber or cabbage pickle. In general, an acidic environment increases the cooking time of potatoes, and potatoes almost do not boil in it.
- To prevent the potatoes from overcooking when boiling, drain some hot water and pour cold.
- For crumbly potatoes, on the contrary, you need to drain the water 15 minutes after boiling and cook over low heat with the lid tightly closed.
- You can improve the taste of ordinary boiled potatoes by adding dill and garlic to it.

Potatoes in a slow cooker:

1. Take 1 kg of medium-sized potatoes. Wash the potatoes, peel them, cut large tubers into 2-4 parts.
2. Put the potatoes in the multicooker bowl, add salt (1 teaspoon per 1 liter of water), pour in water so that it completely covers the potatoes.
3. Set the "Cooking" mode for 30 minutes.
4. Throw the finished potatoes in a colander, drain the water.
5. Use the finished potatoes for their intended purpose, putting a piece of butter and herbs.

When boiling potatoes in the usual way, they lose a lot of vitamins. Potatoes are much more nutritious when cooked in a double boiler.

Potatoes in a steamer

To cook 1 kg of potatoes in a double boiler, you need:
1. Choose medium-sized tubers, wash, peel, cut large tubers in half or into 4 parts.
2. Pour water into the steamer up to the mark, put the potatoes on the wire rack.
3. Set the timer for 30 minutes.
4. Place the finished potatoes under running water to wash off the starch.
5. Serve cooked potatoes with any favorite sauce.
6. After work, it is necessary to wash the steamer, otherwise the potatoes will dry out to the holes and it will be difficult to remove them.

Young potatoes are cooked in exactly the same ways, but cooking is less than an average of 5 minutes.

For boiling potatoes in the microwave, you need to choose small potato tubers or cut large ones in half, wash, peel the potatoes.


Pour 100 ml of water into a dish for a microwave oven, put potatoes, close the lid and cook at full power for 10 minutes. Drain the water from the cooked potatoes, salt is better when ready. Serve any boiled potatoes with butter, herbs.

How and how much to cook potatoes in their skins

If you need to boil potatoes for a salad or for some dish in their skins, then:
1. Choose medium-sized potato tubers if possible.
2. Wash potatoes thoroughly.
3. Put it in water so that the water covers the potatoes.
4. Close the lid, do not open it when cooking. Bring the potatoes to a boil and cook for 20 minutes until tender.
5. Drain the water from the cooked potatoes and put them in a pot of cold water for 30 seconds, you can add a slice of lemon to the water for flavor.
6. Remove the potatoes, pull the peel from the middle in different directions. Thus, the potatoes are easily peeled.
The total cooking time depends on many factors: stove power; the metal from which the pan is made and, of course, on the volume of water and the mass of potatoes.
On average, the total cooking time for 1 kg of potatoes in their skins is 25 minutes.

You can also boil potatoes. in a uniform in a double boiler by setting the timer for 30 minutes (25 minutes from the moment the water boils).

Jacket potatoes in the microwave

Currently, an interesting and worthy way of cooking potatoes in their skins is the method in microwave oven. Potatoes cooked in the microwave turn out to be crumbly, keep longer, and do not become “slippery”. In addition, the cooking time of potatoes in the microwave oven is much less than when cooking on the stove.
Take 0.5 kg of medium-sized potatoes, wash them thoroughly with a brush, make several punctures with a toothpick, put the potatoes in a microwave oven dish, pour 100 ml of water on the bottom, close the lid. Put the dish with potatoes in the microwave at maximum power (800 W) for about 10-12 minutes. Young potatoes cook 2 times faster.

For cooking potatoes in a bag in the microwave take small tubers (5-6 pieces), wash thoroughly with running water. Put the potatoes in a bag, better for baking, salt a little, sprinkle with vegetable oil, add dry herbs and seasonings if desired. Tie the bag tightly and poke a few holes to let the steam out.


Microwave at full power (800W) for about 10 minutes. Remove and carefully open the bag, put the potatoes on the board, peel the skin.

For cooking young potatoes in their skins take medium tubers on the stove, wash thoroughly, fill with water so that it completely covers the tubers. Add salt: 1 teaspoon per 0.5 kg of potatoes, bring to a boil and cook with a covered lid over low heat for 15 minutes. The readiness of the potatoes is checked with a fork - it should pierce the finished tuber easily. After that, drain the water. The total cooking time for young potatoes in their skins is about 20 minutes. Young potatoes are ideally served with sour cream, butter, herbs.

How to make mashed potatoes

The most favorite recipe since childhood is mashed potatoes.
Real mashed potatoes have a delicate, airy texture, creamy taste and pale yellow color.
For cooking, you need to take starchy varieties of potatoes. Young potatoes are not suitable for cooking mashed potatoes due to their immaturity and low starch content, such mashed potatoes will be lumpy. Potatoes should be boiled immediately after peeling. It is better to take small tubers of medium size and put the potatoes for mashing in salted boiling water. If you put it in cold water, then the top can boil and the middle will remain damp. In addition, some of the starch will be released into the water, and the taste of the puree will deteriorate significantly. Water must be poured so that it only covers the tubers, bring to a boil, reduce heat and cook with the lid closed until cooked for 20 minutes. The total cooking time is on average 25 minutes.
After cooking, the water must be completely drained and the potatoes must be crushed with an ordinary pusher: wooden or metal (now there are silicone, plastic ones). But do not use a mixer or blender, they will make the puree viscous, sticky and heavy. First crush dry potatoes without additives


Then add butter, the more, the tastier. Continuing to crush, pour boiled milk or cream in parts.


Potatoes turn gray from fresh milk. An egg or protein can improve the taste. Fasting people can use soy, almond or coconut milk. Thoroughly mix the puree. Puree is not prepared for the future, it should be eaten immediately while hot.


You can improve and diversify the taste of mashed potatoes by adding garlic, herbs, bay leaves, nutmeg, fried onions or bacon. Everything here is up to your taste and imagination!

One of the most requested recipes is the stewed potato recipe.
I offer the simplest version of stewed potatoes.
We will need:
- 1 kg of potatoes;
- 1 head of onion;
- a couple of cloves of garlic;
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil;
- salt, spices;
- greens and water.
In a frying pan, preferably with a Teflon coating or a thick bottom, heat the vegetable oil, put the peeled chopped potatoes (slices, circles or bars). Fry until golden brown, add diced onions and garlic, put salt and spices.


Stir and add water to cover potatoes. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until cooked through for about 15 minutes with the lid closed.


Serve stewed potatoes hot, sprinkled with chopped herbs.

Baked potatoes in foil
Another way to cook jacket potatoes is roasting in foil over charcoal. This is a very common way of preparing potatoes for picnics.
To do this, take medium-sized potato tubers, wash them thoroughly with a sponge or brush, wrap in foil and bake in burnt coals for 15-20 minutes, depending on the size of the tubers. You can cook more tasty and fragrant potatoes. To do this, wash medium-sized tubers thoroughly, cut in half, put a piece between the halves salty fat or bacon, optionally put greens, spices, garlic.


We wrap the potatoes in foil, put them in the burnt coals. Bake for 20 minutes. We check the readiness with a dry sharp stick. In the same way, you can bake such potatoes in foil in the oven on a baking sheet, for this, put the potatoes in foil in an oven heated to 200 degrees and bake until cooked for about 40 minutes.

Sliced ​​potatoes

Depending on what kind of dish you are preparing from chopped potatoes, there are different cutting methods.




1. Straw. Peeled tubers are cut into plates, and them into strips. Straws are thin and medium. The thickness in the cross section is on average 0.2 by 0.2 mm, the length is 4-5 cm. For such cutting, it is convenient to use a Burner grater or a Korean carrot grater. This cut is suitable for potato pie.
2. Bars. Tubers, cut into thick plates, are cut into sticks. The bars are thicker than straws. Approximately 1 x 1 cm thick and 4-5 cm long. This cutting method is ideal for french fries. It is also used for frying, cooking soups and borscht.
3. Cubes. Ready bars are cut into cubes. The size of the section is different, from 0.3 to 2 cm. This cut is used for salads, stewing in milk, cooking potatoes as a side dish.
4. Circles. Beautiful way, but a lot of waste. Carefully peel the potatoes in the shape of a cylinder and then cut into circles. Thickness is from 0.2 mm to 0.5 cm. Such potatoes are fried, baked with vegetables, meat, fish.
5. Slices. Peeled potatoes are cut into 2 or 4 parts along, and then across into pieces of a certain size. Sliced ​​for baking, stew.
6. Slices. Peeled potatoes are cut into 4 or more parts, depending on the size. This cut is suitable for pickles, stews, deep-frying, baking.
7. Barrels and cylinders. Not rational, but a beautiful way for stuffing and garnishing. Potatoes are peeled, turned into a cylinder shape.

There are also decorative ways of cutting for baking in the form of a pear, garlic. With the help of special recesses, balls are cut out of potatoes, used for boiled garnish or deep fried. There are devices for cutting potatoes in the form of a spiral, for deep-frying.
Potatoes cut in one way or another are put into the broth, vegetables, meat about 10-15 minutes before they are ready, depending on the method of cutting.

How to cook potato soup

Of course, one cannot help but recall the daily use of potatoes in soups and borscht.
Potato soup is prepared by almost all housewives, it is fast, tasty, nutritious and economical. The preparation of this soup is within the power of even a novice hostess. It can be cooked on any broth: vegetable, chicken, meat, fish, mushroom, etc. You can cook dietary and light, rich and high-calorie soups.
When cooking, you can add almost any spices, seasonings, vegetables, herbs, cream or milk.
I offer the simplest potato soup recipe.
The recipe is for 4 servings.
For 1.5 l meat broth we take 200 grams of potatoes, 200 grams of any vegetables (celery, onions, carrots, bell pepper, you can take a frozen mixture of vegetables for speed), 1 tbsp. a spoonful of vegetable oil for frying onions, salt, pepper, herbs to taste.
In the prepared broth put the potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes.


Bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes. We put peeled and diced vegetables, bring to a boil, put fried in vegetable oil, diced onions. Soup salt, pepper. Cook until tender over medium heat, with the lid closed for 10 minutes.


Serve sprinkled with chopped herbs.


Cooking time for potatoes in soup from the moment of boiling is 12-15 minutes, depending on the method of cutting.
What nuances and subtleties do you need to know when cooking potatoes in borscht? And here again there is no consensus. What to put first: potatoes or cabbage? And yet, first they put potatoes, cut into cubes, bring to a boil and only later fresh or sauerkraut.
The cooking time of potatoes in borscht is 15 minutes, taking into account the fact that the environment of borscht is acidic.

Unusual ways of cooking potatoes

Unusual new recipe boiled potatoes in uniform.
This recipe was invented by a Russian immunologist, such potatoes are considered the most useful. The recipe is called Freight.
Wash the potatoes thoroughly with a brush under running water, put in a stainless steel pan. The solution can be stored in it for a long time and used repeatedly. Pour potatoes with a solution of 350 g of salt and 1 liter of water. Do not be afraid of salt, when serving it, you may even have to add salt. Bring the solution to a boil over high heat, the salt may not even be completely dissolved, do not be alarmed. On the contrary, if all the salt dissolves, add a couple more tablespoons. When boiling, there should be an excess of salt that has not dissolved.


Boil at an intense boil, do not cover the lid tightly. When cooking, the potatoes should sizzle, as if deep-fried, this will boil the water out of it. It is necessary to stir periodically so that the tubers are under a layer of saline liquid. Such potatoes are ready in 10-15 minutes, since the temperature of the concentrated saline solution is much higher than the boiling point of water.
When cooked for up to 50 minutes, such potatoes do not boil soft, the peel does not crack, it becomes smaller and denser. Such potatoes (dense) are good for use in salads. Ready potatoes must be immediately fished out of the solution, washed under cold running water, peeled.


If you are going to take such potatoes on the road, then do not rinse them. It will dry out, covered with a salt crust, which will prevent damage to potatoes even in the heat.


Do not discard the saline solution, it can be used until it gets dirty. As the solution cools, a precipitate will form from the salt. In the subsequent cooking, you just need to put the washed potatoes in a cold brine, bring to a boil and cook.

A very tasty way to cook potatoes in milk.
We need 1 kg of potatoes, 300 ml of milk and 1 teaspoon of salt. We clean the potatoes, cut them into cubes, put them in a saucepan with cold salted water (the water should cover the potatoes), bring to a boil.


Reduce the heat and cook for 10 minutes, then drain the water, pour hot milk, bring to a boil and cook until tender for about 10 minutes.


The total cooking time for potatoes in milk is 20 minutes.
Serve potatoes with greens.

You can also cook potatoes in milk in a slow cooker.
To do this, you need 1 kg of potatoes, 1 glass of milk, 50 gr. butter, 1 teaspoon of salt, spices. Put the pieces of butter in the bowl of the multicooker. Potatoes cut into circles on top, pour milk. The milk should not completely cover the potatoes.


Add salt, spices, put on the "quenching" mode for 40 minutes. When ready, sprinkle with herbs and serve immediately hot.

Among the original delicious ways of cooking potatoes - baking potatoes in salt in their skins.
We need 1 kg of medium potato tubers. 2 tbsp. spoons of salt, 3 tbsp. spoons of flour. Plastic bag. Put salt and flour into the bag and mix. Wash the potatoes thoroughly and put them wet in a bag. Shake well so that the salt and flour evenly coat the potatoes.


We put the potatoes in a "fur coat" of salt and flour on a baking sheet (it is better to cover with foil), put in an oven heated to 200 degrees and bake for about 1 hour. You can test for readiness by piercing with a fork. Serve the potatoes immediately hot with butter, herbs.

The benefits of potatoes

In addition to the fact that almost all of us love potatoes for their taste and variety of dishes, the healing properties of this root crop should be noted. Potato consists of 15 - 20% (depending on the variety) of carbohydrates (starch), so it should be used with caution in people with obesity and diabetes. Potatoes also consist of 2% protein and 0.3% fat. The calorie content of potatoes, of course, depends on the method of preparation and varies greatly from 75 kcal per 100 grams in a young boiled to 500 kcal in chips.
There is a lot of potassium in potatoes, about 600 mg per 100 g, thanks to which it is useful for the work of the heart muscle. There is especially a lot of potassium in the peel, which is why jacket potatoes are so useful for cores. Potatoes contain a lot of iron, calcium, vitamins of group B, C, E, K, PP, organic acids.
Potatoes are indispensable in dietary nutrition. It is used for heart failure, hypertension, atherosclerosis. Potatoes help to remove salt from the body, especially baked potatoes are useful. Potato dishes are very useful with appropriate processing and preparation for peptic ulcer of the stomach and duodenum.

Potato calories

calories raw potatoes is 70 kcal per 100 grams.
Calorie content of boiled potatoes - 75 kcal per 100 grams.
The calorie content of potatoes in their skins is much less - 66 kcal.
A jacket-baked potato has 80 kcal per 100 grams of product.
The least number of calories in young potatoes, while it has a lot of protein.
The longer a potato is stored, the more starch it contains, and, accordingly, more carbohydrates and calories.

Choice and purchase
When buying potatoes for a long time, for the future, you need to take unwashed tubers. Potatoes do not like sandy soils, so if hard grains of sand are heard on it, then you should not take such tubers. It will store poorly and darken when cooked. You should be careful when buying potatoes from peat soils, which are recognized by their black color. The best potatoes from loamy and chernozem soils. If you see dirt adhering to the tubers, then feel free to take such potatoes.
One of the biggest disadvantages of potatoes, both in terms of taste and aesthetics, is their browning when cooked. It is impossible to determine when buying: whether the potatoes will darken. The reason for the browning of potatoes during cooking may be improper storage, transportation (potatoes are beaten, thrown), an excess of nitrogen fertilizers is also dangerous for potatoes (and human health). But at the same time, there are varieties that are most resistant to browning. This is Nikulinsky, Blueness, Handsome, Lorch.

So, what you need to know when choosing a quality potato.
1. Naturally, the tubers must be firm and dense, without mechanical damage, with a smooth surface, clean, dry, not eaten by pests.
2. Potatoes should not have eyes. If the potato has eyes, then it has begun to sprout, such a potato has an unpleasant sweet taste.
3. In no case should you take and use green potatoes. It contains the poison solanine.
When choosing, do not chase large tubers, although they are more pleasant to clean, small and medium tubers contain more nutrients. It is also worth choosing potatoes with a thicker skin, such potatoes are more mature, respectively, they will be better stored. Late potato varieties are tastier and more nutritious than early ones. The longer the potato ripens, the more starch it contains. As a result, it tastes better.

Potato storage
1. Early ripe varieties are not suitable for long-term storage, up to a maximum of November. Only late varieties can be stored for a long time.
2. Only ripe, dried, good quality potatoes can be stored for a long time, without damage, rot and frostbite.
3. Potatoes can be stored with beets by placing beets on top of the potatoes. The beetroot draws in excess moisture, which prevents rotting.
4. It is ideal to store potatoes at a temperature of 5 - 7 degrees. And, of course, in the dark. At temperatures below +5 degrees, the starch in the potato breaks down to sugars, such potatoes will have a sweetish taste and gray color. For this reason, do not store potatoes in the refrigerator or on the balcony for a long time. In addition, potatoes get wet when stored in the refrigerator. Do not store potato tubers in plastic bags. Short-term storage in refrigerators is only permitted in paper bags. Well, and, of course, it is simply inconvenient to store in the refrigerator, since potatoes take up a lot of space.
5. For short-term storage, you can use places at home away from heating. Ideal, of course, is storage in cellars.

Potato varieties

Potatoes are healthy, nutritious, available at any time of the year.
Let's start with the choice of potatoes. Depending on what culinary goal you are pursuing, what you want to cook from potatoes, you need to take different varieties. It is ideal to have three varieties of potatoes available in the kitchen (in the pantry). In total, there are about 4000 varieties of potatoes, which are distinguished by color, pulp density, starch content and ripening time.

Yellow potatoes have this color due to carotene. It is sweetish, boiled, tasty, these are the varieties: Vineta, Andretta, Sante, Agatha and others.

Red potatoes. Red varieties are useful because they contain antioxidants, do not boil soft, are stored for a long time, have a piquant taste, these are: Sheri, Red-tamb, Roseval, Red Scarlet, American and others.

White varieties are the richest in vitamin C and starch, they are very soft, juicy. These are: White Dew, Gypsy, Erow, Anabel, Bleu Bel, Spunta, Skazka and others.

Now new “colored” varieties of potatoes have appeared on the shelves: purple, black, blue. They have more nutrients and antioxidants. But aesthetically, people still recognize the usual white and yellow colors of potatoes.

Categories and labeling
In world standards, the designation is accepted - A, B, C, D according to the density of softness:
A - salad type potatoes;
B - for chips;
C - for deep-frying;
D - for casseroles and mashed potatoes.
If the potato starch content is above 15%, then this is a variety for mashed potatoes. These potatoes boil well and quickly. Mashed potatoes will, of course, high-calorie, but lush and tender. These varieties are: Andretta, Sineglazka, Sante and others.

If the starch content is below 15%, then such potatoes do not boil soft during cooking. It is suitable for soups, salads. Accordingly, these varieties are less high-calorie, which must be taken into account when dieting. These are varieties: Nevsky, Nikulinsky, Red Scarlet and others.

If the dry matter in potatoes is at least 20%, and reducing sugars are not more than 0.5%, then such potatoes are used for frying. Its slices retain their shape and do not color when cooked in a deep fryer or in oil in a pan, in addition, such potatoes do not darken and do not acquire a bitter taste. These are varieties: Nadezhda, Leader, early varieties of potatoes and others.
In Russia, the Moscow region, Voronezh, Tambov, Lipetsk regions are considered potato. It must be remembered that potatoes do not tolerate heat. Heat reduces the quality of tubers.

Interesting and unique facts
Well, who doesn't know potatoes? People say: “Potato is our mother, and bread is the breadwinner”, “Eat potatoes and bread - you will live up to a hundred years”, “In Russia without potatoes - what a party without an accordion”. After bread and cereals, it ranks second in prevalence in our diet. It is generally accepted that potatoes come from South America, or rather, from the highlands of the Andes. The first information about potatoes dates back to the 30s of the 16th century, when the Spaniards first tried and described "mealy roots good taste". In Russia, potatoes are considered the second bread, but for the first time "earthen apples" in Russia were tried at the beginning of the 18th century. They were brought as a gift to Count Sheremetyev from abroad by Peter I. At first, potatoes were food only for the nobility, and only at the beginning of the 19th century did they become available to ordinary people.

In 1962, one fifth of the population of Ireland ate only potatoes. Even using soup cleaners. A decoction was used to treat joints and fractures. "Potatoes and marriage are two things too serious to be trifled with," goes an Irish proverb. In Ireland, potatoes are classified as aphrodisiacs, products that increase sexual activity.

2008 was declared the International Year of the Potato by the United Nations.

The most expensive potato was grown on the French island of Noirmoutier. It has such tender tubers that it is harvested only by hand and costs 500 euros per 1 kg.

In a word, this vegetable deserves due attention and respect due to its role on our table.

Step 1: prepare the potatoes.

Potatoes of medium size, approximately the same, for simultaneous cooking, put in the sink and peel. The peel will be easy to peel, as we have young potatoes. If the potato seems large to you, you can cut it into 2-4 parts. But it is better to take a potato that does not need to be cut.
Pour water into a deep plate and lower the peeled vegetables there so that they do not darken.

Step 2: prepare the greens.

We wash a bunch of parsley and dill under running water. Put the greens on a kitchen towel to get rid of excess water.
Next, on a cutting board with a knife, finely chop the greens. And we divide it into two equal parts.

Step 3: boil the potatoes.

Pour clean water into a saucepan. We put it on the stove on a big fire. Bring it to a boil, do not add salt yet. Drop peeled potatoes into boiling water one part of finely chopped greens and bay leaf. The water should completely cover the entire ingredient. When the water boils, reduce the temperature of the stove to a small level, close the pan with a lid. Cook for about 15-20 minutes and after this time, the potatoes can be salted. In order to check the readiness of potatoes, we need a knife or fork, if the knife is without special efforts pierces a vegetable, which means the potatoes are cooked. If not, cook for another 5-10 minutes, and check readiness again. Next, you need to drain the water, it will be convenient to do this with a lid. We close the pan with a lid and move it slightly so that a hole is formed and liquid can pour out through it, but not potatoes.
After we drained all the water, we need to slightly dry the potatoes. To do this, put the pan back on the stove for 1 minute. Turn off the burner and add a piece of butter.

Step 4: serve boiled potatoes.

Boiled potatoes should be served warm. We lay it out on plates in portions, add the remaining greens for decoration, if desired, more butter or sour cream. Such potatoes are very tasty to drink with milk. Our boiled potatoes are ready! Enjoy your meal!

Potatoes for this dish must be young. Old and sprouted potatoes will not work because of their taste. Try to pick potatoes of the same size. And not too big. If you have durum potatoes, then during cooking, add a tablespoon of vegetable oil or margarine to the water. And if the potatoes are from crumbly varieties, then it is better to add not a lot of vinegar to the water.

It is not necessary to add greens to the water, and butter can be replaced with sunflower oil. It's a matter of taste.

When we put the already peeled potatoes in water so that it does not darken and does not lose vitamins, make sure that it does not stay in it for very long, as this causes the potato pulp to coarsen and lose some starch.

Potatoes for eating should not be diseased, not rotten and not have a green tint (comes from storage in the light) - this is very dangerous to health.

Before peeling, I always wash the potatoes with cold water to wash off the dirt. It's just more pleasant for me to clean it, although the cleaned one will have to be washed again. Cut off the peel with an ordinary sharp knife or a special knife for peeling potatoes. It is enough to scrape a young potato with a knife. All the vitamins are under the peel, so you should cut it very thinly. At this time, I put a pan with enough cold water so that the potatoes are completely covered, but no more, on a strong fire.

I thoroughly wash the peeled potatoes with cold water and cut them in half or into quarters, leaving the small ones whole. When the water in the pan boils, you can put potatoes in it: this way you save the maximum of useful substances. Often, potatoes are peeled for future use and it stands in cold water for hours, or even a day, giving it all the vitamins - leaving it for more than half an hour is not worth it at all.

Now, when the water boils, reduce the heat to medium, cover the pan with a lid so that the tubers boil evenly. Note that when cooking over high heat, the potatoes can boil, but at the same time remain damp inside. By the way, advice: to reduce the cooking time of potatoes, add 1 tbsp to the pan. vegetable or butter.

It is better to salt the potatoes at the end of cooking, 5-10 minutes before they are ready, because the potatoes can boil and lose their shape in salt water. Adding a small amount of apple cider vinegar to the pan will also help prevent overcooking.

Readiness of potatoes can be checked with a thin wooden skewer or a toothpick. Drain the water, put the potatoes on a dish, add a piece of butter, chopped dill - excellent potato side dish let's go to the table!

Potatoes cooked in their skins, or "in their uniforms", are not in vain considered more useful than peeled ones. The peel is the best way to preserve vitamins and minerals. In addition, such potatoes are best suited for cooking, baking, and, however, as an independent dish.

For cooking in their skins, it is better to choose potatoes of the same medium size and the same variety. Young potatoes are best. Before cooking, you should wash the tubers well, scrape with a knife, and so that the peel does not burst when boiling, I pierce it in several places.

Putting potatoes in their skins is often recommended to put in salted cold water so that the skin does not burst. We cover the saucepan with a lid. Cook over medium heat until the potatoes are done, until a wooden skewer is free to pierce the tubers. The main thing is not to digest. Next, drain the water, cool the potatoes and peel. New potatoes can be served unpeeled.