BS: Demise of the jacket potato in pubs

Subject: RE: BS: Demise of the jacket potato in pubs
From: Gallus Moll
Date: 02 Nov 18 - 04:34 PM

For me it has to be garlic butter (made by me) plus ground black pepper!

Subject: RE: BS: Demise of the jacket potato in pubs
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 02 Nov 18 - 05:21 PM

Ah, the well-buttered jacket spud can be a thing of beauty. Choose your spud carefully. An organic Nicola is my go-to (I grow 'em). It goes beautifully with some home-grown salad and some cold meat left over from the Sunday roast. Some shop spuds go horribly watery. Know your spud.

For two people. Take four/five/six spuds (depending on size). Scrub well and smother with salt (NO BLOODY OIL!). Bake in oven, 200C/400F, for one hour. In the meantime, grate 200g of the strongest cheddar and fry 150g of chopped-up pancetta or streaky bacon until almost crisp. Smoked or not, it's up to you.

When the spuds have cooled enough to pick up, cut a sliver off the top of each one (the long side). Scoop out the flesh into a bowl, being careful not to break the skin. Mix the warm flesh with the bacon and cheese. Maybe some salt (easy, tiger) and definitely some freshly-ground black pepper. Stuff the mix back into the skins. Place on a tray and heat in a hot oven for 20 minutes.

By far the finest accompaniment to these stuffed spuds is tinned baked beans. I'm not kidding.

Subject: RE: BS: Demise of the jacket potato in pubs
From: Jos
Date: 02 Nov 18 - 06:08 PM

I thought they were only jacket potatoes once they were cooked. Before that, they are just big potatoes.

Subject: RE: BS: Demise of the jacket potato in pubs
From: leeneia
Date: 03 Nov 18 - 11:51 AM

Scrub. Oil. Bake at 400 for one hour, till tender in the middle when poked.
Let cool till safe to handle.
Slit open
Butter
Commercial sour cream
fresh-cracked pepper

Yum!

(The butter and sour cream supply salt.)

Subject: RE: BS: Demise of the jacket potato in pubs
From: Senoufou
Date: 03 Nov 18 - 12:31 PM

I think the name 'Jacket Potatoes' above the spuds in Tesco refers only to their size. Jos is right in that they're just 'potatoes' until one does something with them.

They do seem to be all the same size and shape.

Bags of 'any old spuds' have little ones, wonky ones and damaged ones.
They're very cheap, but we don't bother with those.

We used to grow all our own spuds in the last house (huge garden, we were younger and had more energy!) I did Earlies, Middles and Lates.
There's something very satisfying in forking up a potato plot and unearthing quantities of lovely home-grown spuds. Sigh.

Subject: RE: BS: Demise of the jacket potato in pubs
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 03 Nov 18 - 01:43 PM

In the oven right now: guess what's for supper tonight?

Subject: RE: BS: Demise of the jacket potato in pubs
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 03 Nov 18 - 03:06 PM

No oil!!!

Subject: RE: BS: Demise of the jacket potato in pubs
From: Mo the caller
Date: 04 Nov 18 - 07:38 AM

With grated cheese and sweetcorn

Subject: RE: BS: Demise of the jacket potato in pubs
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 04 Nov 18 - 08:30 AM

Sen, possibly Tesco's are also selecting varieties that they think are good bakers under that label?

I'm not at all up on this (and I'm guessing it disagrees with Steve Shaw's personal favourite) but people may prefer a potoato with a floury texture. Off the top of my head, I'll suggest Maris Piper for a baker.

Where I certainly do agree though is that potatoes differ and some are better for some uses than others. Charlotte is the only one we usually grow a small sample of each year. To me that's a great boiler, excellent with a salad or a hot meal.

One of the worst seems to me to be when you get a bag of spuds with the intention of making mash and find what you've got just boils into the water.

Subject: RE: BS: Demise of the jacket potato in pubs
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 04 Nov 18 - 01:37 PM

Spuds that do that make bad jackets too. Sloppy watery things. Kind Edwards are usual culprits. A big Charlotte bakes very nicely. Some spuds sold in shops are incredibly watery these days, a reflection on how they're grown. You're paying good money for water. Caveat emptor!

Subject: RE: BS: Demise of the jacket potato in pubs
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 04 Nov 18 - 01:46 PM

Its odd how some people don't eat the jackets. I think they're the best bit.

Subject: RE: BS: Demise of the jacket potato in pubs
From: Senoufou
Date: 04 Nov 18 - 02:16 PM

Yes, I have to admit the different varieties do have differing qualities for cooking.
We grew Maris Piper too, but found Desirée to be the best all-rounder for our type of soil (very light and well-drained) and rainfall (usually sparse!)

Husband has just cooked a delicious-smelling snack for us both to eat in front of the TV. He's used his rice cooker, and above the rice has steamed potato wedges and lumps of some weirdly-shaped thing called a squash (!), drained them and added butter (of course) and salt-and-pepper.

I've just been served with a bowl of this, a fork and a paper napkin.
His portion is of course swamped in Fiery Horror sauce.
The cats are already theatrically coughing and sneezing.

He's growing two gigantic Scotch Bonnets plants in our utility room. They're about six feet tall and there's a sinister number of fruits on them already. Scotch bonnet chillies are so fiery they could provoke a heart attack. Hmmm...he knows I have Life Insurance.... :(

Subject: RE: BS: Demise of the jacket potato in pubs
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 04 Nov 18 - 03:22 PM

Eat enough Scotch Bonnets and they'll STAVE OFF heart attacks!

Roasted diced squash, carefully-handled, which means neither overdone nor underdone, baked in good olive oil, gently seasoned, no burnt bits but nicely caramelised, is a thing of beauty. It can be eaten as a side veg or made into a beautiful soup with gently sautéed onions and home-made stock.

Desiree is a modern variety, much-m!igned as a fast-grown bulk commercial spud. Grow it yourself and it's a thing transformed. I have found that you tend to get a few very huge spuds and a lot of tiddlers per plant, but they yield very well overall.

Subject: RE: BS: Demise of the jacket potato in pubs
From: Senoufou
Date: 04 Nov 18 - 04:16 PM

When I had shingles a few years ago, followed by agonising post-herpetic neuralgia, the doc suggested rubbing my back with chilli paste as the capsicum would kill the pain. Husband fell about laughing. I had Amitriptyline instead, which did the trick in a couple of weeks.

His dad died of heart failure, and had eaten fiery, spicy food all his long life. But then, diagnosis is poor in W Africa, so he may well have had some other illness, not heart trouble at all.

Subject: RE: BS: Demise of the jacket potato in pubs
From: Mo the caller
Date: 06 Nov 18 - 05:52 AM

I never boil spuds now, because the tasty varieties (King Edwards, Sharp's Express) do tend to turn into soup. Cut them small and they steam quite quickly.

Subject: RE: BS: Demise of the jacket potato in pubs
From: Gallus Moll
Date: 06 Nov 18 - 06:22 AM

I prefer waxy to fluffy potatoes- - tho for bakes potatoes it is not such an issue!

Subject: RE: BS: Demise of the jacket potato in pubs
From: Senoufou
Date: 06 Nov 18 - 08:34 AM

Since we got this fancy rice boiler, which has a steaming grid above the rice section, we've cooked our vegetables by steaming them, and the flavour is much better. It also conserves the vitamins and food value, instead of leaching them out into the water when boiling.

Spuds done this way (as Mo says, cut into fairly small pieces) are quite delicious. Also those strange 'squash' things, slices of aubergine and something called okra (green thingummies, don't ask!) which my husband goes in for.

Just after the War, everyone had a pressure cooker and also a three-tiered steamer. And an open fire (no central heating) on which to roast spuds and all sorts of other things. People actually 'cooked' in those days - no microwaves, electric toasters, fan-assisted ovens or ready-made meals.

Subject: RE: BS: Demise of the jacket potato in pubs
From: Jos
Date: 06 Nov 18 - 09:12 AM

I used to use a pressure cooker in the 1970s to feed a large family. I haven't bothered with it for years now.

I tried okra but it was so slimy it made me feel quite ill. Somebody on a cookery programme a while back said the secret was to soak them in salt and vinegar to get rid of the slime, but I haven't tried it. There are so many other lovely things to eat that I am happy to forgo okra for the foreseeable future (who needs gumbo anyway).

Subject: RE: BS: Demise of the jacket potato in pubs
From: JHW
Date: 06 Nov 18 - 01:57 PM

"Its odd how some people don't eat the jackets. I think they're the best bit."
Agree, alas my oven only goes up to 190. Dries and wrinkles big spuds but doesn't bake them.
Routinely I cut very small spuds in half. Toss in tiny amount of oil in prep bowl and bake? laid on their round backs, skin and all on baking tin in the oven. 25 mins. Time to get other vegs boiled while their doing.

Subject: RE: BS: Demise of the jacket potato in pubs
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 06 Nov 18 - 02:08 PM

I love Okra (also known as ladies fingers), especially in the form of bhindi bhaji from an Indian restaurant/take away but I don't think my couple of attempts at cooking the fresh okra worked out too well.

Which squash, Sen? Butternut is the most likely one for us to use.

Subject: RE: BS: Demise of the jacket potato in pubs
From: Senoufou
Date: 06 Nov 18 - 02:18 PM

I don't know its name Jon. It's a strange shape, fat at the bottom and thin at the top, a bit like a pear, but larger. Pale yellow with faint stripes. It was very nice, especially with the potato chunks.

I don't really know what he does with the okra or ladies' fingers!! :)
because they go in with his own vegetables, not our joint vegetables if you see what I mean.

He makes me smile sometimes, as he's getting more and more 'Europeanised'. He bought a microwaveable vindaloo from Morrisons at the weekend, and said it was delicious, so he went back and bought THREE more to have in the freezer for 'snacks'! He'll probably add Scotch bonnets to them, as they won't be nearly hot enough for him.

I'm a bit scared of pressure cookers to be honest, as when I was young, a neighbour's one exploded and caused a lot of damage to her kitchen.

Subject: RE: BS: Demise of the jacket potato in pubs
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 06 Nov 18 - 02:27 PM

This is butternut squash, Sen.

I'd run a mile from your husband's cooking. I love spicy but don't have much tolerance for heat. Vindaloo would be far too much for me without adding extra heat!

Subject: RE: BS: Demise of the jacket potato in pubs
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 Nov 18 - 02:35 PM

Okra grows well here in North Texas, so I learned how to eat it. In particular, fried okra (sliced in about 1/2 inch pieces, rolled in seasoned cornmeal and sauteed in shallow corn oil). I've stir-fryed it with success, but never want it boiled (slimy). If you soak it in vinegar that will remove the slimy consistency, and I made a case and a half of pickled okra this year as gifts for friends who love it. There is a lot in the freezer and I have a recipe for broiled okra that is supposed to be very good.

I have grown potatoes and sweet potatoes. Sweet potatoes are in the ground right now, the red lasoda (the waxy ones with red skin) will be planted probably in December or January and harvested next spring.

Michael Pollan about how Russet potatoes are grown for McDonald's restaurants. My question, are all Russets subjected to this treatment, or just the ones destined to the fast food boxes?

Subject: RE: BS: Demise of the jacket potato in pubs
From: Senoufou
Date: 06 Nov 18 - 02:42 PM

Oh well done Jon, that's exactly what it was!! Weird-looking things aren't they?

I don't know how he eats these fiery foods. He actually laughed like a drain when I told him that vindaloo is considered almost too hot for many Brits. He thought it was tasty but rather feeble, however Scotch bonnets seem to make his food sufficiently fiery to his taste. He must have an asbestos mouth.

The cats and I evacuate the kitchen when it's all cooking. Bright orange steam comes out and it catches in one's throat. One tiny spot on the tongue would mean an ambulance for me I reckon!

I suppose I ought to give okra a try Stilly. It's nice to have something different now and then.

Subject: RE: BS: Demise of the jacket potato in pubs
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 Nov 18 - 02:46 PM

Here is a response to the Pollan video that describes the ingredients and offers a different reading on the chemicals used in the field.

When I make friend okra and it's just me at home it usually never makes it to the table, I eat them off of the paper towel where they drain and cool on while the rest of them cook.

Subject: RE: BS: Demise of the jacket potato in pubs
From: Senoufou
Date: 06 Nov 18 - 02:53 PM

Goodness Stilly, that's rather a lot of processing and additives just for some chips!
That's why I miss our home-grown spuds. They were completely organic and tasted gorgeous. :(

Subject: RE: BS: Demise of the jacket potato in pubs
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 06 Nov 18 - 03:16 PM

Sounds a bit scary, SRS. I can't answer your question about growing Russets but I'm not sure it's a UK home growers usual variety? Maybe one of the keener gardeners here will advise from that perspective. Blight, early and late are probably the biggest worries with potato growing here.

We do use Phostrogen on the veg plot here so can't claim to be organic. I'm not sure we'd be that organic without. There's about 2-3 yds between the veg plot wire fence and where the farm plant stuff (sugar beet this year) and I'm not sure we are 100% clear from whatever stuff they might use.

Subject: RE: BS: Demise of the jacket potato in pubs
From: Senoufou
Date: 06 Nov 18 - 03:27 PM

As our garden was very big, we had a three-stage compost heap down at the bottom. The compost seemed to fertilise the soil quite well, so we didn't use fertiliser.

And I used to 'rotate' the crops on the vegetable plot, to minimise pests getting a hold. The main problem was watering, as the rainfall never seemed to be enough. I had three large plastic rainwater butts and a much-used watering can.

When I think of the energy I had in those days, I'm a bit sad to think I couldn't do all that now.

Subject: RE: BS: Demise of the jacket potato in pubs
From: The Sandman
Date: 06 Nov 18 - 03:31 PM

Demise of the jacket potato, micro wavecooking plus not using best varieties