Boiled Potatoes
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Pare the potatoes and soak them in cold water for 1–2 hours.
Place the potatoes in a kettle with boiling water to cover them.
Boil and dry
Boil for 15 minutes, then add 1 tablespoon of salt for every 12 potatoes.
Boil for an additional 15 minutes.
Pour off all the water and cover the potatoes with a clean towel for 3 minutes to dry.
Shake the potatoes and transfer them to a hot dish.
Serve immediately.
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 bulk of the dish, providing starch that softens into a fluffy, tender texture when boiled.
- Coarse sea salt
- Seasons the potatoes as they cook in the boiling water, flavouring them from within.
The step that matters
Drying the potatoes after boiling. Pouring off the water and letting the potatoes sit covered for a few minutes lets surface moisture evaporate. Dry potatoes hold salt and butter better and avoid a soggy, waterlogged texture.
“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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