Potatoes

Wrinkly potatoes (papas arrugadas) Total time: 25 minutes Servings: 4 Note: Use small (1 1/2 to 2 inch), waxy potatoes. Wash the potatoes but do not peel them. 1 1/2 pounds small potatoes 1 tablespoon coarse salt 2 cups water 1. Place the potatoes in a wide pan with the salt and water. Bring to a boil and cook on a high heat until all the water has evaporated, about 20 minutes. The potatoes should be tender, coated with white salt and their skins slightly wrinkled.

We were opening Christmas gifts last year when my much better half dropped a package on my lap -- a cold, heavy package. Curious (and suddenly chilly), I opened it. Bacon. Six pounds of artisan bacon, ranging from thick-cut hickory-smoked to jalapeño-spiced and apple-cinnamon, varieties hailing from Virginia to upstate New York, Texas to Tennessee. Now if that's not true love, I don't know what is. I'm a bacon fanatic. In or out of the kitchen, sometimes it's all I can think about: the vibrant red as it cooks, the smokiness, the subtle crunch, the sizzle, the wonderful aroma that will not be denied.

  Cauliflower and potato gratin Total time: 1 hour, 15 minutes Servings: 6 to 8 1 (1 1/4 -pound) head of cauliflower 1/2 pound small boiling potatoes Salt 1 tablespoon vinegar 1/4 cup butter 1 leek, white part only, finely chopped (about 1/2 cup) 1/4 cup flour 1 1/2 cups milk 2 tablespoons crème fraiche or sour cream 3/4 cup grated Gruyère cheese, divided (about 1 1/2 ounces) Freshly grated nutmeg 1/4 cup fresh bread crumbs 1. Heat the oven to 400 degrees.

Properly made, comfort food is an art. Mashed potatoes are no exception. And while personal preference may have a lot to do with what you might consider the "perfect" mash -- do you like your potatoes smooth or lumpy? Creamy or fluffy? -- there are nevertheless some tips you can follow to elevate your spuds above the rest of the pack: What potatoes do I use? For light or delicate mashed potatoes, use bakers, like russets. With their high starch content and low sugar, they'll whip up nice and fluffy, perfect for soaking in all the cream, butter and sour cream you can throw at 'em. If you prefer mashed potatoes that are denser, like those trendy "smashed potatoes," use boilers.

Storing potatoes should not be much of an issue if you plan on using them within a few days of purchase. But if you buy in bulk, or are not planning on using them right away, the way you store potatoes can affect their edible shelf life. To store potatoes, keep them in a dark, cool, well-ventilated place. Keep the potatoes away from any light, as light can cause the potato to accumulate chlorophyll, causing it to turn green. The more light, the more green the potato will become, giving it a bitter flavor (and the effect can be harmful, even toxic, in large amounts)

Put a new wrinkle in the way you cook potatoes. In the Spanish Canary Islands they are called papas arrugadas , or wrinkly potatoes. Cooking in heavily salted water wrinkles the skins and leaves them with a light crusting of salt. The result is a concentrated potato flavor enlivened by a gentle seasoning that seems to go all the way through. They are delicious served with baked or grilled fish and Canary Island mojo sauces. The Canary Islands are sort of Spain's Hawaii.

Take everything you love about a French fry - that crisp, golden-brown crust enveloping an oh-so-fluffy interior - and flatten it. In fact, go ahead and smash it. Lately, I've been frying up smashed potatoes, and they're everything I could want in a French fry and more. Each bite is like a tiny taste of culinary nirvana: crunchy yet delicate, full of flavor. Not to mention smashed fries are the perfect width for dipping into your favorite sauce. And they're so simple to make.

  Curried lamb pasties with spicy sweet potato and tamarind Total time: About 1 1/2 hours, plus cooling time for the filling Servings: Makes 6 hand pies. Note: Harissa can generally be found at gourmet and cooking supply stores, as well as select well-stocked supermarkets. Tamarind paste is available at Asian, Indian and Latin markets, and is generally available at cooking and gourmet supply stores. 2 tablespoons butter 1 large yellow onion, chopped 1 tablespoon minced garlic 1 pound lamb shoulder chops (or 3/4 pound lamb stew meat)

Many thanks for the delightful article on California's food capitals, not to mention the great recipes ("The State's Best Tastes," by Andy Meisler, Style, Aug. 7). I grew up in Perris, Calif., and I wish it could have been mentioned in the article too. At one time we raised some of the greatest potatoes, onions, beans, etc. In the summer we had the Perris potato festival with its mascot, Potato Pete. Unfortunately, much of the finest farmland is now covered by tract homes and strip malls.

"Wretched" . . . "tasteless" . . . "the worst of all vegetables." In his book "Food," Waverly Root recounts nearly a dozen horrible slurs against the potato. Nietzsche, for instance, implied that eating potatoes could lead to alcoholism. Early American settlers thought potatoes were fit only for the hogs. But in 1989 the potato is trendy, deemed fit for power eaters and marketed as sexy. (As Danny de Vito proved, a lumpish figure is no obstacle to glamour and fame.

Just before sunrise, a hardy band of men and women gathered near a barley field in the remote San Luis Valley to await the dawn. Some fiddled with their cameras while others nervously scanned the cold, empty sky. As golden sunlight broke over the mountains, a distant trumpeting filled the air. Thousands of primeval-looking birds with long necks and dagger-like beaks appeared overhead. Their numbers were staggering, the noise deafening. As they spiraled raucously down onto the field, cameras fired from every direction.

I can remember the first time I had herring and potato salad, a summer night in Paris, sitting at a sidewalk table. The cool vinegary tang of the pickled herring against the waxy yellow potato with the crunch of carrot and sweet onion was perfect with a sip of Chablis. Recently I picked up some pickled herring at a Russian deli in West Hollywood (can't remember which) and made "Herring and Potatoes" from former Chez Panisse chef David Tanis' first book "H eart of the Artichoke and Other Culinary Journeys ” (Artisan Books, New York, 2010, $35)

  Total time: 50 minutes Servings: 4 to 6 1 pound new potatoes 2 strips thick bacon, cut into ½-inch crosswise strips 1 tablespoon minced shallots 4 medium artichokes, trimmed to hearts and stems, quartered lengthwise and stored in acidulated water 3/4 cup water 1/2 cup cream Salt 2 tablespoons minced chives 1. Steam the potatoes until tender, about 15 minutes, and set aside. When cool enough to handle, cut into quarters or bite-sized pieces.

Thousands of roses and boxes of chocolates will be exchanged this Valentine's Day, but maybe it's time to rise above the cliche. Man up. Roll up your sleeves. Kick the sweets to the curb and toss those fresh flowers in favor of something called the "broquet. "  What, you ask, is a "broquet"? It's a bouquet of "flowers" made of crunchy potato chips. Because nothing says romance like salty potato chips and fingers ready for licking. Ruffles is encouraging people to create their own "broquet" and share them on the brand's Facebook page.

Three new Lay's potato chip flavors will hit grocery stores next week. Only one will prevail and be added as a new chip flavor to Lay's product line. Frito-Lay launched a promotional campaign titled "Do Us a Flavor," in which consumers nominated various flavors. A panel of food experts waded through 3.8 million submissions and culled a list of 20, that's now been winnowed down to 3: Sriracha, Chicken & Waffles and Garlic Cheesy Bread. The new flavors are expected to be in stores Tuesday, and fans will be able to vote for their favorite one through Twitter, text message and Lay's Facebook page . The person who submitted the winning flavor will win $1 million or 1% of the chip's 2013 sales, whichever is more, the company said.  The interactive contest follows a similar move by Hasbro Inc. to replace certain Monopoly game pieces after fans voted.

For those men who are looking to boost their sperm count, researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health have some simple advice: drop the TV remote control and get to the gym. A study published Monday in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that men who watched more than 20 hours of television a week had 44% lower sperm count than men who watched almost no television. Researchers found too that men who engaged in moderate to vigorous exercise for 15 or more hours a week had 73% higher sperm count than men who exercised less than five hours per week.

The potato isn’t getting much love from the health headlines, as new research finds that eating the tuber in its many forms -- boiled, baked or fried to a crisp -- is associated with more weight gain than eating bacon, hot dogs or doughnuts. But soda, juice, that after-dinner drink ... they don't help.  Sugary beverages -- and that includes juice -- aren’t too far behind the potato in the new analysis, backing up a growing preponderance of research that calories from drinks add up. In the study , which surveyed the weight and diet of more than 120,000 people, researchers found that eating an extra daily serving of potatoes was associated with a weight gain of 1.3 pounds over four years.

This recipe is a perfect way to use up leftover salmon, and also works well with other leftover fish -- or even chicken -- just change up the herbs as desired to suit your taste. For this version, flake grilled salmon over a salad of steamed red potatoes, avocado and watercress and toss with a simply seasoned lemon and olive oil-based dressing. It takes only about 40 minutes to prepare. If you don't have leftover salmon and would like to try the dish with fresh salmon, grill a seasoned fillet over moderate heat until the flesh lightens in color and firms throughout, 10 to 20 minutes depending on the size of the fillet.

Boeing, the Chicago-based company that has built some of the world's most sophisticated aircraft, has turned to a very basic food staple to test airplane Wi-Fi: potatoes. About 20,000 pounds of potatoes were used as stand-ins for passengers during tests at the company's laboratories to ensure onboard Wi-Fi signals are consistent through the cabin without interrupting the navigation and communication systems, the company said Wednesday. The sacks of potatoes replicate the way human passengers reflect and absorb electronic signals, said Boeing spokesman Adam Tischler.