Boiled Potatoes
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Wash the potatoes but do not peel them.
Place them in a pot and cover with water by 1 inch.
Do not put on the lid.
Boil and dry
When the water is near boiling, pour it off and replace it with cold water and a good amount of salt.
Boil medium-sized potatoes for 30 minutes and large ones for 1 hour; check doneness with a fork.
Once done, pour off the water, cover the pot with a folded napkin, and let them sit by the fire for about 1 hour to dry.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Potatoes
- Form the entire dish; their starch softens into a tender, fluffy interior as they cook.
- Coarse sea salt
- Seasons the cooking water so the potatoes take up flavour as they boil.
The step that matters
Drying the potatoes after boiling. Pouring off the water and letting the potatoes sit covered lets surface moisture evaporate, so they taste less watery and hold their texture instead of turning soggy.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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