I was listening to a weekly radio show last week that is hosted by chef Jim
Coleman, of Normandy Farms, a wedding facility that has a decent restaurant.
He was talking about microwave smashed potatoes, and made it sound pretty
convincing about how great they were. I figured I'd give it a try. They were
damned good!

You wash red potatoes and put them in a large microwave-safe bowl, covered
with plastic wrap. Don't prick the potatoes, as it wont matter if the burst.
Microwave on high for 8 minutes or so. Mash them up with your favorite
mashed potato fixin's. I just used a good quality EVOO and some salt and
pepper. These are great for putting together a weekday meal.

Is this something everyone knew about? Who forgot to tell ME?

Jon

On 6/15/2010 2:10 PM, Zeppo wrote:
> They were damned good!
> You wash red potatoes and put them in a large microwave-safe bowl,
> covered with plastic wrap. Don't prick the potatoes, as it wont matter
> if the burst. Microwave on high for 8 minutes or so. Mash them up with
> your favorite mashed potato fixin's. I just used a good quality EVOO
> and some salt and pepper. These are great for putting together a
> weekday meal.
>
> Is this something everyone knew about? Who forgot to tell ME?
>
> Jon

Glad you tried it. The potatoes get really hot, so you have to be
careful. I use a 10" pie plate and I cover it with a microwave cover
that looks like this:

http://www.simplysmartliving.com/ass...tter_shiel.jpg

If you have leftover baked potatoes, you can refrigerate them, then when
they are cold, slice them into rounds or cube them, add sliced onion and
make home fries.

Becca

"Becca" > wrote in message
...
> On 6/15/2010 2:10 PM, Zeppo wrote:
>> They were damned good!
>> You wash red potatoes and put them in a large microwave-safe bowl,
>> covered with plastic wrap. Don't prick the potatoes, as it wont matter if
>> the burst. Microwave on high for 8 minutes or so. Mash them up with your
>> favorite mashed potato fixin's. I just used a good quality EVOO and some
>> salt and pepper. These are great for putting together a weekday meal.
>>
>> Is this something everyone knew about? Who forgot to tell ME?
>>
>> Jon
>
> Glad you tried it. The potatoes get really hot, so you have to be careful.
> I use a 10" pie plate and I cover it with a microwave cover that looks
> like this:
>
> http://www.simplysmartliving.com/ass...tter_shiel.jpg
>
> If you have leftover baked potatoes, you can refrigerate them, then when
> they are cold, slice them into rounds or cube them, add sliced onion and
> make home fries.
>
> Becca
>
>
Thanks Becca, The splatter shield looks interesting so I ordered one. I'm
going to try this method to make potato salad this weekend, too. They come
out firm enough to make decent slices.

Jon

On Jun 15, 2:10*pm, "Zeppo" > wrote:
> I was listening to a weekly radio show last week that is hosted by chef Jim
> Coleman, of Normandy Farms, a wedding facility that has a decent restaurant.

"Nancy2" > wrote in message
...
> On Jun 15, 2:10 pm, "Zeppo" > wrote:
>> I was listening to a weekly radio show last week that is hosted by chef
>> Jim
>> Coleman, of Normandy Farms, a wedding facility that has a decent
>> restaurant.
>> He was talking about microwave smashed potatoes, and made it sound pretty
>> convincing about how great they were. I figured I'd give it a try. They
>> were
>> damned good!
>>
>> You wash red potatoes and put them in a large microwave-safe bowl,
>> covered
>> with plastic wrap. Don't prick the potatoes, as it wont matter if the
>> burst.
>> Microwave on high for 8 minutes or so. Mash them up with your favorite
>> mashed potato fixin's. I just used a good quality EVOO and some salt and
>> pepper. These are great for putting together a weekday meal.
>>
>> Is this something everyone knew about? Who forgot to tell ME?
>>
>> Jon
>
> The only microwave mashed potatoes I've ever had was a bag of those
> Ore-Ida "Steamed Mashed" potatoes which they brought out when they
> quit with their far superior real mashed potatoes that you added milk
> and butter to and then stirred/whipped with a fork.
>
> Their steamed/mashed were terrible - just like glue....very pasty. I
> don't know if it's the way they prepare them for steaming and mashing,
> or if all nuked potatoes are like that. I can see people might like
> your version - I don't like skins in my mashed potatoes, no matter
> what kind they are - and I don't know anyone who would rather have
> EVOO than butter - but that's just me. ;-) I'm glad they worked for
> you.
>
> N.

Not 'rather' so much as need to. The EVOO is just an effort to combat the
health problems we had accumulated over the years. We still use butter
occasionally, but pick where and when very carefully. Since cutting out
butter, eggs and other saturated fats from most of what we eat we've both
brought our cholesterol levels into the normal range.

We're still going to make mashed potatoes the traditional way, but just on
the rare special occasion.

Jon