How to Clean and Peel Parsnips

Posted by admin on March 10, 2010

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Filed Under: Vegetarian Cooking

Tips in Preparing Potatoes For Salads

Posted by admin on March 9, 2010

For most people, potato salads are favorite side dishes. There are many potato lovers out there. They continually find ways to invent new dishes for potatoes.

There so many recipes you can get about potato salads. However, there are things to consider about this type of salad:

• Potato salads sometimes have ingredients that easily spoil. This is why getting the right potato is important. Idaho or Russet potato is perfect for French fries and baked potato recipes but not for boiling and making salads. The Yellow Finn, red potato and Yukon Gold are the best kinds for salad dishes. These potatoes are waxy, with a superior texture and high moisture.

• The basic combination for a potato salad would be potatoes, mayonnaise or salad dressings, vegetables (such as celery and onions), eggs (optional) and seasonings. Since mayonnaise and salad dressing can easily spoil when mixed, you need to store them in a cool temperature.

• When boiling the potatoes, you need to make sure you reach a certain pint before you take them out. You can either cut your potatoes prior to boiling them or you can put them in whole. For smaller pieces, boiling time is shorter. However, before placing the potatoes inside a pot with boiling water, you can add salt onto the water. You will know if the potatoes are ready when it becomes tender enough to be bitten through.

• After boiling the potatoes, allow them to dry by placing them onto empty pots. Another option is to place them on top of some cookie sheets inside the oven just for a few minutes. This is very useful since it allows the seasonings, oils and dressing to sink into your potatoes later on.

• Since potatoes absorb the flavor best when they are still hot, you can add the seasonings already. However, make sure you do not add anything that the heat can easily spoil. Just dab a very light blend of oil, along with some spices and herbs with the potatoes. For the case of cold salads, allow the potatoes to cool down prior to finishing your salad.

• Liven up your potato salad with other ingredients you like. It highly depends on your favorite foods. You may add slices of ham, chopped carrots or raisins.

• The key point in making these potato salads is to have your own set of ingredients. Make it as distinct as you can imagine and as fresh as you want it. You can make use of bacon crisps, pickle juice or even add some vinegar onto it. This is entirely up to you. Try to be as creative as possible and experiment.

For more information on How to prepare potatoes for salad and Starters and Snacks Recipes please visit our website.

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Filed Under: Garden Cooking

Potato Growing Hints

Posted by admin on March 8, 2010

By Diane Drinkwater

If you are short of space then grow earlies! The first earlies are a great treat when you can harvest them and cook them within a very short time. Nothing you can buy in the shops will compare. You also plant them closer together as they do not need to grow as much!

If you have a lot of space for potatoes then you will want to make sure you grow a mix of potatoes but include some that are good for storing. If you are short of space you can grow first earlies in a barrel or potato bag. This means you can grow them even on a patio! Chitting should be done about six weeks before you want to plant them out. So work backwards from the recommended planting date. This will be late January in the warmer regions of the UK and further north it will be February.

A potato has a rounded more blunt end. This is where the eyes are. It is the eyes that sprout.

Stand them so the blunt end is pointing upwards. Use a tray or an egg box. Keep them in natural light but in a frost free place. Frost will damage the potatoes.

You can remove some of the shoots if there’s a lot. They shouldn’t grow too spindly. You want the shoots to be strong. IF you get long thin shoots then they have been kept too warm. Shoots that are tiny indicate too cold.

Spraying the chitting potatoes with a small amount of weak feed of Maxicrop, this is a seaweed feed, can encourage strong growth.

By chitting you encourage the plant to be ready about a week earlier – so there’s not a great deal of problem if you buy potatoes late and just throw them in the ground.

Before planting dig in some well rotted compost.

Plant them the right way up, the right distance apart according to the type (30cm for First Earlies, 45cm for second Earlies and maincrop). The weather needs to be frost free and the soil shouldn’t be water logged. The plants need to be earthed up – that is, the soil pulled up around the plant as it grows. This ensures the foliage is more protected from frost as well as keeping away the weeds. When your plants are 10cm tall you can earth them up almost completely. You can do this again about twice more. If it is difficult to earth them up then you can apply a mulch of well rotted compost or even straw. Just leave the tops of shoots showing from the top of the soil.

About two weeks before you plan on harvesting them you should give them a really good soaking. This enables the tubers to take up more water and increased the weight of the potato crop. Regular watering during the growing season is also recommended.

More information about growing potatoes: http://www.gardenandgardener.co.uk/2010/01/11/growing-potatoes/.