Potatoes: The perfect summertime sidekick

Grilled meat, poultry and seafood are a summertime staple, and for a tasty accompaniment, many cooks choose potatoes. Since the grill is already hot and ready, why not whip up your potato side dish on the barbecue?

Grilling adds a delightful smoky flavor to our three featured sides. Try grilled russet potato kabobs paired with a zesty lemon herb drizzle, and you can add slices of chicken sausage to create an entire meal on a stick. Cookout Potatoes are a cheesy blend of Yukon Golds topped with bell pepper, bacon and onions, a tidy dish prepared and cooked in a disposable pan. Grilled Potato Planks are made by slicing yellow potatoes 1/2-inch thick, and coating them in a delicious blend of oil, garlic, rosemary and salt before they hit the grill.

Grilled Potato Kabobs with Lemon Herb Drizzle

Lemon-Herb Drizzle:

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh herbs (such as basil, rosemary, marjoram and sage)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt, or to taste
Juice of 1 fresh lemon
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Potato Kabobs:

1 pound russet potatoes, scrubbed
1 (12 ounce) package precooked chicken sausage, sliced 1/4-inch-thick on the diagonal
2 ears fresh corn, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 zucchini, sliced 1/4-inch-thick on the diagonal

Heat olive oil in small saucepan until very hot; remove from heat and stir in garlic. Let cool, then stir in herbs, salt, lemon juice and pepper; set aside. Place potatoes in medium microwave-safe bowl and cover with lid or plastic wrap. If using plastic wrap, make sure plastic wrap is not touching any ingredients and poke one small hole in cover to vent. Microwave on high for 10 to 12 minutes or until potatoes are tender (cooking time may vary depending on microwave). Use oven mitts to carefully remove from microwave.

When cool enough to handle, cut into large chunks. Thread potatoes, sausage and vegetables on skewers. Grill over medium-high heat for about 10 minutes, turning frequently and brushing with a little of herb mixture during the last few minutes of cooking. Remove from grill and place on platter; drizzle with remaining herb mixture. Serves 6.

— Wisconsin Potato Vegetable Growers

Cookout Potatoes

Non-stick cooking spray
1 medium onion, halved and thinly sliced
1 1/2 pounds Yukon gold potatoes, very thinly sliced
1 1/3 cups shredded low-fat sharp cheddar cheese
1/3 cup real bacon bits
1/3 cup chopped bell pepper (any color)
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt

Spray 9 x 9 x 2-inch foil pan liberally with nonstick cooking spray. Place half the onions, potatoes, cheese, bacon bits, bell pepper and garlic salt in pan. Repeat layers. Cover tightly with foil; grill over medium heat for 1 hour, rotating pan occasionally to avoid hot spots. Serves 8,
 
 — Wisconsin Potato Vegetable Growers

Grilled Yellow Potato Planks

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 pounds (about 4) unpeeled yellow potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices

Preheat grill. Combine oil, garlic, rosemary and salt in dish. Add potato slices and turn until well coated. Grill potatoes for 8 minutes or until soft. Turn and continue grilling 10 minutes longer or until cooked through. Remove from grill and serve. Serves 4.

 — Wisconsin Potato Vegetable Growers
 

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Purple potatoes lower BP without piling on pounds

PENNSYLVANIA: Scientists have found that just a couple servings of potatoes a day reduces blood pressure almost as much as oatmeal without causing weight gain.

Although researchers used purple potatoes, they believe that redskin potatoes and white potatoes may have similar effects.

“The potato, more than perhaps any other vegetable, has an undeserved bad reputation that has led many health-conscious people to ban them from their diet,” said Joe Vinson, Ph.D., from the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania who headed the research.

“Mention ‘potato’ and people think ‘fattening, high-carbs, empty calories’. In reality, when prepared without frying and served without butter, margarine or sour cream, one potato has only 110 calories and dozens of healthful phytochemicals and vitamins.

“We hope our research helps to remake the potato’s popular nutritional image,” Vinson stated.

In the new study, 18 patients who were primarily overweight/obese with high blood pressure ate 6-8 purple potatoes with skins twice daily for a month.

The average diastolic blood pressure dropped by 4.3 percent and the systolic pressure decreased by 3.5 percent, said Vinson.

The majority of subjects took anti-hypertensive drugs and still had a reduction in blood pressure. None of the study participants gained weight.

Unfortunately for French fry and potato chip fans, those high cooking temperatures seem to destroy most of the healthy substances in a potato, leaving mainly starch, fat and minerals.

Potatoes in the study were simply microwaved, which Vinson said seems to be the best way to preserve nutrients.

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Potatoes – it’s all about eating quality

NORMAN Laird, owner of Six Mile Valley Potatoes, grows all his own produce for sale in local markets and retail outlets in the Ballyclare/South Antrim catchment area.

Given the nature of the business his priority is to produce ‘spuds’ with an excellent eating quality.

“There are no second chances,” he said.

“Consumers want potatoes with good flavour and excellent eating quality. My reputation is totally dependent on my ability to met these requirements.”

Selecting the most appropriate varieties to grow is the starting point to every potato enterprise. This year Norman has chosen British Queen, Pentland Squire and Maris Piper, Dunbar Standard and Navan.

“But a lot can also be done to enhance flavour and potato dry matters,“ he further explained.

With this in mind Norman has been including ‘Hebridean Liquid Seaweed’.

With every blight spray applied over the last two growing seasons. And such has been the results achieved that he will be using this unique product on all his 2012 crops. The seaweed extract, which is supplied by Richard Owens from ‘Owens Farm Solutions’, comprises a very wide range of elements concentrated from the sea.

Richard, who recently called in with Norman Laird, explained how Hebridean Liquid Seaweed actually works:

“The seaweed is harvested from the Isle of Lewis on the Outer Hebridees. It contains more than sixty natural organic elements, amino acids, enzymes, trace elements and growth promoting substances as well as high levels of solubilised alginates, a major source of nutrients for biological activity in the soil, thereby helping to create the ideal soil structure.

“These, in turn, have a catalytic effect on crop growth by supplementing the plants own biochemistry and ensuring greater efficiency in the growth mechanisms of crops to which it is applied.

“As the roots develop and strengthen, nutrients previously locked up in the soil are released, thus negating deficiencies in trace elements and ensuring more effective use of fertilisers and therefore enabling to keep crops such as potatoes greener and healthier.

“As Hebridean Liquid Seaweed is one of the most concentrated seaweed products on the market it enables potato crops to deal with stress during its growing period and enable the soil to distribute nutrients equally to each tuber once it has initated so that it produces tubers of a more uniform size and prevents the crop dying too early.”

Norman Laird concurs: “I have found that my saleable yields have increased significantly since applying the product as not only are the potatoes more of an equal size, but also flavour is much better with the Hebridean Liquid Seaweed.”

But that’s only part of the story: Richard Owens again: “The seaweed extract also acts as a very effective wetting agent, thereby improving the effectiveness of the blight fungicide, with which it is mixed in the spray tank.”

He concluded: “The application rate on potatoes is 1.5 litres per hectare, per spray.”

For further information, telephone Richard on 07990690857.

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Let sweet potatoes soak up the sun

The sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) is a dicotyledonous plant that belongs to the family Convolvulaceae. Its large, starchy, sweet-tasting, tuberous roots are an important root vegetable. The young leaves and shoots are sometimes eaten as greens. Of the approximately 50 genera and more than 1,000 species of Convolvulaceae, I. batatas is the only crop plant of major importance—some others are used locally, but many are actually poisonous. The sweet potato is only distantly related to the potato (Solanum tuberosum).

Although the soft, orange sweet potato is often mislabeled a yam in parts of North America, the sweet potato is botanically very distinct from a genuine yam, which is native to Africa and Asia and belongs to the monocot family Dioscoreaceae. To prevent confusion, the United States Department of Agriculture requires sweet potatoes labeled as “yams” to be labeled also as “sweet potatoes“.

The genus Ipomoea that contains the sweet potato also includes several garden flowers called morning glories, though that term is not usually extended to Ipomoea batatas. Some cultivars of Ipomoea batatas are grown as ornamental plants; the name “tuberous morning glory” may be used in a horticultural context.

The plant is a herbaceous perennial vine, bearing alternate heart-shaped or palmately lobed leaves and medium-sized sympetalous flowers. The edible tuberous root is long and tapered, with a smooth skin whose color ranges between yellow, orange, red, brown, purple, and beige. Its flesh ranges from beige through white, red, pink, violet, yellow, orange, and purple. Sweet potato varieties with white or pale yellow flesh are less sweet and moist than those with red, pink or orange flesh.

In certain parts of the world, sweet potatoes are locally known as camote, kamote, goguma, man thet, ubi jalar, ubi keladi, shakarkand, satsuma imo, batata or el boniato. In New Zealand English, the M?ori term k?mara is commonly used.

Grow your own Sweet Potato

To have sweet potatoes this fall, plant them now. Set out the plants in full sun both in the garden and in containers.

For container growing, use pots that are at least 18 inches deep and wide, and fill with loose, fresh potting mix and/or organic compost. Space the plants at least 10 inches apart. Check that the drainage holes aren?t blocked, because the tubers need well-drained soil; they don?t like being waterlogged. Water deeply once a week rather than moistening the surface of the soil daily.

In a garden, varieties like Porto Rico-198, Jewel or Pope fare well in large spaces. The vines can reach as long as 20 feet and will root wherever they touch the soil. Bush Porto Rico is a compact variety for small gardens or large containers.

It takes 12 to 15 weeks for sweet potatoes to mature. Begin harvesting when the vines start to yellow and die back. A light frost may blacken the vines without harming the potatoes, but don’t wait too long to harvest if the vines turn dark, because the tubers will quickly become vulnerable to insect damage or rot.

To harvest, gently dig down until you can easily lift the vines. Then separate the tubers from the roots, brush off excess soil and lay the potatoes in a single layer in a warm, well-ventilated area for a week. That will allow the tender skins to harden slightly.

Debbie Moose cooks it

The world has dubbed the sweet potato a superfood for its nutritional power. The vegetable is high in calcium, folate and beta-carotene, while having a lower glycemic index than white potatoes. All that?s fine, but I just call them good eating.

Sweet potatoes come in classic orange along with white and even purple. For any variety, look for potatoes without soft or black spots. They should be firm and have a good heft in your hand when you hold them.

Store sweet potatoes in a cool, dry place. Do not refrigerate. Use them within a couple of weeks.

I?m a fan of sweet potatoes in every form, and it?s a shame to limit them to Thanksgiving. Serve this salad at your next picnic as a change from regular potato salad.

Reach freelance writers Debbie Moose and Carol Stein at [email protected].

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