Potatoes are one of the most versatile pieces of food that there are, as there are just so many different potato varieties and you can make so many different things out of them.
Jacket Potatoes
Jacket Potatoes are easy to make, simply softening them in the microwave then crisping up the skins in the oven. You can put almost anything into a jacket potato for the filling, or just have it on its own with a little bit of butter. A jacket potato is quick and simple to make and can be very filling for a lunchtime or dinnertime meal. You can eat a jacket potato on it’s own or have it with meat, vegetables or salad for a more filling meal. Popular fillings for jacket potatoes are beans, cheese, coleslaw or tuna.
Layered Potatoes
Layered potatoes are usually made as a side dish to a meal and served with meat and vegetables. Layered potatoes are made by thinly slicing pealed potatoes and just layering them on top of each other in an ovenproof dish, then cooking them in the oven. You can make a main dish out of the layered potatoes by adding your favourite ingredients to the layered potatoes when you are making them such as mushrooms, cheese or onions. You add milk to each layer to make the dish nice, moist and creamy.
Mashed Potatoes
Mashed potatoes are most popular with the traditional British dish; sausage and mash. Again this is another easy dish to make as you simply just have to peel and boil the potatoes for a set amount of time until they are nice and soft. Once they are soft enough, drain the potatoes then add some milk to them and mash them until they are nice and creamy, you can also add a little bit of butter to them as well.
New Potatoes
New potatoes are popular in the summer with summer dishes such as salads. You can eat them with the skins on, warm or cold with a bit of butter on them. New potatoes can also be used in a potato salad which is a mixture of mayonnaise, potatoes and chives.
Roast Potatoes
Roast potatoes are most popular with a British Sunday dinner, also know as a roast dinner. They are mainly served with meat, vegetables, Yorkshire puddings and gravy. Usually roast potatoes are cooked in the fat of the turkey or the chicken, but they are best cooked soaked in olive oil with rosemary to give them a nice flavour. The olive oil also helps crisp them up on the outside, whilst leaving them nice and fluffy inside.
Potato Skins
You can easily make potato skins by softening a potato then once cooked, you scrape out the potato filling and add what filling you would like. You can always bind the potato with the filling of your choice and place it back into the empty potato skins. You then cook this for a further amount of time, in the oven, until they are ready to eat. Popular fillings are bacon, cheese, mushrooms and onions.
Potato Wedges
Potato wedges are just like really thick chips with a lot more potato to them. They are easy to make by cutting up a potato into wedges then cooking them in the oven. You can also get ready made frozen wedges that you can cook simply in the oven for a set amount of time. Potato wedges have the skins left on and are usually seasoned to make them quite flavoursome.
Potato Chips
Chips are probably one of the most popular types of potato eaten in Britain. They come in all shapes and sizes from french fries to thick cut chips. They are sold at most takeaways and fish and chip shops. They are sold in restaurants as a side dish as well as with many dishes. They can be cooked at home, through making them yourself, buying them fresh or buying them frozen to cook whenever you like. Chips that are bought fresh or frozen in a supermarket are mostly cooked in the oven. With chips that you make you can fry them in a frying pan or in a deep fat fryer. Chips can be served with lots of different meals from burgers to pizza.
Everyone has their own potato preference and each type can taste completely different. All you have to decide is whether you are a lover of just one potato type or do you love them all. The decision is entirely up to you.
