Sweet Potato Awareness Month

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Chef Diane

My mother loves sweet potatoes.  When I was growing up she used to tell me that she take two hot sweet potatoes to to school every day, one in each pocket, to keep her hands warm on her long uphill walks to school each morning in the snow, then eat the potatoes at lunch. I should have realized that growing up in the south, on the beach, there were no hills or snow to hinder her daily walks, however it wasn’t until recently that my aunt, her sister, told me that she never had to walk up hill in the snow with sweet potatoes in her pockets to keep her hands warm.  But she does however love sweet potatoes.

Every year at Thanksgiving and Christmas she cooks them, puts them in a dish and tops them with marshmallows and bakes them until they are golden brown.  All she adds to the potatoes are butter, and the rest of the family is not as fond of that, but my mother isnt concerned, that means more for her.  I love them with pecans, brown sugar and cinnamon, they are delicious that way, and no leftovers.

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Sweet potatoes are an excellent source of vitamins and beta carotene and antioxidants. They are also a good source of fiber as well.  Actually, the sweet potato is not a potato at all, but a root. I have noticed more use of the sweet potato, especially in the form of fries at local restaurants.  At thanksgiving when my father fries the annual turkey, he also uses the mandarin I gave him and slices up sweet potatoes and fries them as chips.  They are just like Lay's potato chips, only better!  I also have friends who will bake a sweet potato pie instead of pumpkin pie for their thanksgiving dessert.

November is Sweet Potato Awareness Month; this is a perfect time to celebrate with many different delicious dishes.  They are not only good, but good for you.  So this November, bake, fry, or make a pie out of some sweet potatoes.  Below is a recipe for sweet potato pie from southernfood.com to get you started in the month long awareness of this root.

Sweet Potato Pie

Ingredients:

4 ounces butter, softened

2 cups cooked and mashed sweet potatoes

2 cups granulated sugar

1 small can (5 ounces, about 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons) evaporated milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 eggs, beaten

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

2 prepared pie shells, unbaked

Preparation:

Mix butter, potatoes, sugar and evaporated milk until well blended.

Add vanilla, eggs, and cinnamon; mix well. Pour into the prepared pie shells.

Bake in a 350° oven for about 1 hour, until set.

Makes 2 pies.

National Potato Day

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By Chef Diane

I love potatoes! When I was growing up we ate mostly rice, my parent's parents ate mostly potatoes.  Now I am a potato generation.  My son was lucky enough to share his time with my parents and myself, so he had a little of both.

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I love potatoes cooked anyway, baked, boiled, mashed, fried, hash browned scalloped, you name it, I love them.  My mother used to tell a tale that when she was growing up, she would keep hot sweet potatoes in her pockets to keep her hands warm on her way to school, and then she would eat them for lunch. Recently I found out that never happened, but it was still a good story.

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Potatoes are very good for you, full of vitamins such as vitamin C, potassium, and iron.  They give you quick energy and fill you up.  My cousin, who is very calorie conscious, has one weakness, and that is French fries.  She particularly loves the ones from McDonalds.  My father has recently started making fries and potato chips from sweet potatoes at Thanksgiving, when he cooks the turkey.

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In the US, 45 billion tons of potatoes are harvested each year for the nation's consumption. So today, on Potato Day, why not gobble a few potatoes yourself, and help keep the farmers happy.  If you need a recipe for something to fix with potatoes, a favorite southern dish is potato salad.  Below is a great recipe from southernfood.com to try.

Potato Salad

Ingredients:

• 3 pounds potatoes, cooked until just tender, cubed, cooled
• 5 or 6 hard cooked eggs, cooled, coarsely chopped
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup chopped red onion
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup chopped celery, optional
• Thinly sliced tomatoes and cucumber, for garnish, optional

Dressing:

• 3/4 cup mayonnaise (a little more or less, as desired)
• 1 to 2 tablespoons prepared mustard
• Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

Combine potatoes, egg, onions, and celery. Stir in mayonnaise, mustard, and salt and pepper to taste. (Stir the mayonnaise and mustard in a little at a time, until you have the flavor and consistency you like.)

Top with thinly sliced tomatoes and cucumber, if desired.

Serves 6 to 8.

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Spud Lover’s Day – Yahoo!!

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By Chef Diane,

As I was looking at this month's schedule I noticed that February is Potato Lover's Month.  Well if there is anything I love, its chocolate and potato’s.  How great would a chocolate potato be?  Potatoes are wonderful, in fact, according to http://blog.souplantation.com/10-reasons-to-love-the-potato/ there are 10 reasons to love the potato, and they are:

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1. It’s no coincidence that February is Potato Lovers’ Month and American Heart Month. Potatoes (with the skin) are a good source of potassium. Research shows that potassium may help lower blood pressure, contributing to a heart-healthy diet.
2. This one’s simple: one medium-sized potato (5.3 oz.) has 110 calories and is fat- and cholesterol-free.
3. Did you grow up listening to your mother tell you to eat your vegetables? Well, potatoes are vegetables, so eat away!
4. It’s cold season and what you eat can help you fight off the winter bug—a medium-sized spud has nearly half the recommended daily value of vitamin C and is also a good source of vitamin B6.
5. Potatoes are also a source of dietary fiber, a complex carbohydrate, which is known to increase satiety and help with weight loss.
6. Russets, reds, fingerlings, blues, purples, yellows and whites—with six common fresh potato varieties, there’s always a new color or texture to experiment with.
7. No time to boil or bake? That’s a good thing! The quickest methods for cooking potatoes, microwaving and steaming, are also the healthiest because they allow the potato to retain the most nutritional value. Visit www.potatogoodness.com for healthy and quick potato recipes.
8. Potato casserole, potato salad, mashed potatoes, baked potatoes, roasted potatoes—the possibilities for potatoes are endless!
9. Potatoes with skin rank highest for potassium content among the top 20 most frequently consumed raw vegetables and the top 20 most frequently consumed raw fruits. That means they have more potassium than a banana, more than broccoli, more than an orange, more than spinach…you get the idea!
10. Each year, there are more than 1 million acres of potatoes planted—that’s like filling the whole state of Rhode Island with potato plants. It’s the leading vegetable crop in the US with a total production of 41.3 billion pounds! That’s plenty of potatoes for everyone.

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Of course I love potatoes because they taste good, and can be prepared in so many different ways.  You can bake them, boil them, fry them, mash them, make potato salad, soup, or even pancakes with them.  You can steam them, roast them, julienne, them scallop them, hash brown and au gratin them.  I haven't found any type that I didn't like.  When my parents were growing up their families ate potatoes daily, they grew up wanting to never see another potato.  When I was growing up we had rice all the time.  Well that made me shy away from rice and only eat potatoes.  My son, who spent half the week with me, and half with my parents who watched him while I worked had a equal balance of both, so I hope that breaks the rice/potato cycle, but I still eat my potatoes.  I especially love a baked potato when I’m not feeling well.  They are easy to digest, and are considered a comfort food.  My cousin craves French fries, and my favorite side with breakfast is crispy hash browns.  Every Sunday after church I have lunch with my parents.  We watch a program that has something to do with remodeling restaurants and teaching them a new dish or two to help their struggling business.  This past Sunday the host of the show taught them an appetizer to make to help increase sales.  He took a small potato, baked it, cut it in half, then scooped out the inside and filled with barbequed pork.  Then put some mashed potatoes in a pastry bag and topped the stuffed potato with it.  It looked so delicious and wish I knew where that restaurant was!  Since I don’t have that recipe, I thought I would share this potato soup recipe with you instead.

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To find out more about potatoes, click here: http://www.idahopotato.com/

Potato Soup

Ingredients

• 3 bacon strips, diced
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 2 large baked potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1 cup half-and-half cream
• 1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
• Shredded Cheddar cheese
• Minced fresh parsley

Directions

1. In a large saucepan, cook bacon until crisp. 
2. Drain, reserving 1 tablespoon drippings. Set bacon aside. 
3. Sauté onion and garlic in the drippings until tender. 
4. Stir in flour, salt, basil and pepper; mix well. 
5. Gradually add broth. 
6. Bring to boil; boil and stir for 2 minutes. 
7. Add the potatoes, cream and hot pepper sauce; heat through but do not boil. 
8. Garnish with bacon, cheese and parsley.

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Do you know?? Who was the Vice President who misspelled the word Potato in a spelling bee?

Today is National Potato Day

Can there be a more perfect food?  The potato is so versatile.  It can be baked, boiled, fried, and micro waved, grilled, mashed, shredded, roasted and steamed.  It can be a whole meal, or a dessert.   You can eat them for breakfast, lunch or supper.

There are over 4000 varieties of potatoes.  In general, varieties are categorized into a few main groups, such as russets, reds, whites, yellows (also called Yukons) and purples—based on common characteristics. 

The potato originated in Peru, over 10,000 years ago.  The Spanish introduced the potato to Europe in the second half of the 16th century.   They were a bit leary of the potato,  but soon enough it became an important food staple and field crop that played a major role in the European 19th century population boom.  However, lack of genetic diversity, due to the very limited number of varieties initially introduced, left the crop vulnerable to disease. In 1845, a plant disease known as late blight, that led to crop failures and cause the Great Irish Famine.

China is now the world's largest potato-producing country, and nearly a third of the world's potatoes are harvested in China, Russia,  India and the United States.

Potatoes are also used to make Vodka and food for domestic animals.  Potato starch is used  in the food industry as, for example, thickeners and binders of soups and sauces, in the textile industry, as adhesives, and for the manufacturing of papers and boards.  Research is being done to also use it in the production of plastic.

Potatoes can be served in many different recipes.  A baked potato with butter and sour cream is very popular, one restaurant used to  fill them with broccoli or chili and cheese too.  French fries and potato chips are a great snack.  Hash browns, or breakfast potatoes are a great way to start the day, and scalloped or augrautin make a great dish for dinner.  Potato salad makes a great accompaniment at a picnic, and sweet potato pie is a wonderful dessert, tastes like pumpkin pie.

Potatoes are full of vitamins and minerals, but are best known for their carbohydrate content.  I love potatoes, and usually have some type of potato every day.  My mother loves sweet potatoes and used to tell us when she was going to school, to keep her hands warm, she would put hot sweet potatoes in her pockets on her way to school, and then eat them for lunch.

With all the different ways to prepare the potato, Im sure you can find some way to participate in National Potato Day.  Just remember, it is spelled POTATO, no E at the end as Vice President Dan Quale stated at a spelling bee in 1992!

Did you know that, Mr. Potato Head was invented in 1949 and marketed and sold commercially by Hasbro in 1952.  Mr. Potato Head is an American toy that consists of a plastic potato and attachable plastic parts such as ears and eyes to make a face. It was the first toy ever advertised on television, and has become popular once again thanks to the movie Toy Story.