NOW CLOSED: manyfacesofpotatoes.co.uk January Feedback - Love2Shop voucher up for grabs

[AnnMumsnet]

You may know we have recruited 15 Mumsnet Potato Councillors to test potato based recipes for potato website manyfacesofpotatoes.co.uk. Each month they are sent a new family favourite recipe potato recipe which can be prepped and on the plate in around 30 minutes. This thread is for their feedback and is also open to the whole MN community.

If you are not an official "Potato Councillor" manyfacesofpotatoes.co.uk are offering £50 of Love2Shop vouchers to anyone who either:

~ Would like to add their own twist to this month's test recipes (if so please add it below) or
~ Would like to upload their own family's favourite potato recipe (if so please add it here and/ or on manyfacesofpotatoes.co.uk) and then post the link on the thread) or
~ Who has a question about potatoes (if so please ask below and we'll endeavour to get a response from manyfacesofpotatoes - responses also welcome from MN Potato Councillors ).

Everyone who does one of the above will be entered into a prize draw where one winner will get £50 of Love2Shop vouchers.

The recipes this month are:

Cottage Pie

Mid Week Roast

Chicken and Potatoes in White Wine and Tarragon sauce

If you are one of the 15 MNers who are trying out potato recipes for the "manyfacesofpotatoes.co.uk", please answer the following questions and state the recipe name.

~ How long did it take you to cook the recipe?
~ Will you be cooking it again?
~ Any other general comments about the recipes?
~ Since taking part in this activity have you found anything surprising about potatoes that you were unaware of before?
~ Any other general comments

In addition, the team at manyfacesofpotatoes.co.uk say "For 100s of 30 minute recipes or if you would like more information on which varieties of potatoes are best used with specific meals then go to www.manyfacesofpotatoes.co.uk. Or, if you're stuck for a mid week recipe, then download the free Quick & Tasty app from iTunes, suitable for iPhone and iPod touch. The app has a fantastic 'what's in my store cupboard?' scroll mechanic so you can match a recipe to what you have in your fridge/cupboard".

Thanks and good luck, MNHQ

[EttiKetti]

I was sent the Midweek Roast recipe.

~ How long did it take you to cook the recipe?

It took approx 10 mins to prep and 35 minuites to cook the meat through...although the vegetables were NOT cooked properly in this time. The veg were not remotely roasted, they were all very wet from the meat juices. We also elt the bacon added nothing extra to the dish.

~ Will you be cooking it again?
No.

~ Any other general comments about the recipes?
This one was a loser in our house. The pork was great, the veg, esp potatoes, were awful.

~ Since taking part in this activity have you found anything surprising about potatoes that you were unaware of before?
No, I have always been a potato lover, it was the rest of my family I was trying to convince :o

~ Any other general comments

This was nothing like a mid week roast, sadly! Looking forward to next month tho!

[FromGirders]

I was also sent the Midweek Roast recipe.

~ How long did it take you to cook the recipe?
I spent about 20 minutes peeling and chopping, but I was being quite leisurely about it. I cooked the dish for about 40-45 min (a bit longer than the recipe said as our pork steaks were quite big).
Our potatoes could have done with a bit longer - next time I'd cut them a bit smaller than I did. I liked that the veg got cooked in the meat juices, it made them tastier :-). But don't you call that braising rather than roasting?

~ Will you be cooking it again?
Probably. Three out of four of us really liked it. And I liked that it used leek instead of onion.

~ Any other general comments about the recipes?
We all liked it (except dd(7) who is just not a fan of veg, or potatoes cooked any other way than baked). Dh and ds really liked the apples and would have liked more of them in the recipe. I like these dishes where everything goes in the oven together as it gives you (or whoever is cooking!) the chance to properly clear up before sitting down to dinner, and there's only one "pot" to wash afterwards :-D

~ Since taking part in this activity have you found anything surprising about potatoes that you were unaware of before?
Um, no, I'm still waiting to be surprised by potatoes. Doesn't mean I like them any less!

~ Any other general comments
Keep the recipes coming! Would love to find an alternative to baked potatoes for dd!

[gingercat12]

I am not a MN Potato Councillor, but love cottage pie. Reading the recipe, I am really craving for one now.

We normally put some wine over the beef mince, and use nutmeg instead of mixed herbs.

[babster]

I was assigned Chicken and Potatoes in a White Wine and Tarragon Sauce.
~ How long did it take you to cook the recipe?
The chicken breasts were not the same size so the smaller ones took 30 mins, the bigger ones 40 mins (with a minute's nuking in the microwave so I didn't give anyone food poisoning). So a little longer than expected.
~ Will you be cooking it again?
Yes. The adults liked it - the chicken was juicy and tasty from being baked in a foil parcel. The kids liked the chicken, but hated the potatoes - I think the wine taste freaked them out, plus the cream curdled a bit in an unattractive cottage cheese/vomity way. Next time I'll cook roast potatoes separately for the kids.
~ Any other general comments about the recipes?
It made me want to try out pommes dauphinoises, which I love but have never cooked. Can I have a recipe for that next time, please? ;)
~ Since taking part in this activity have you found anything surprising about potatoes that you were unaware of before?
They taste good with basil!
~ Any other general comments
Nope.

[noyouhavehadaweeintheeggnog]

i had the cottage pie - always thought this was topped with cheese anyway......

Ease of cooking - fairly easy to follow the instruction nothing too complicated,
it took about 25 mins to do the prep and simmering included up to whacking it under the grill. I did all this then left it on the worktop while i did the school run then i heated it in the micro to get it boiling hot again then did the grilling bit so it looked pretty and it did though the ratio of mince to the mash seemed a bit lop sided eg too much of the mincey stuff.
My 9 yr old out and out refused it onthe grounds she doesnt like mash - after some mild persuasion and the promise of a cheese toastie she tried the mash and spat it out then had some of the filling which she said was bareable but not impressed in the carrots but loved the tomato mix in with it. DS who is 5 said it tasted like paper ???? and ate a fair helping of it but still said he thought it was yacky and also asked for a cheese toastie - just to clairfy i dont normally give into refusal of foods but knowing they are mash haters from the outset i thought it was unfair not to feed hungry children. Dh liked it he said it was "alright" and i thought it was ok too though the potato wasnt as creamy as i normally like as id normally use butter in with the mashing process as well. Unfortunatly i wont be cooking it again until the children have left home because im not into making seperate meals for seperate people. The leftovers were not eaten though i have left them out for the moment to see if dh was impressed enough to take it for his lunch to work tomorrow.

Also i normally drain fat off mince when i cook it so dint with this one and i have that fatty after taste left in my mouth. I am not aware of anything else new about potatoes since i have started this activity other than i much prefer frozen pre made mash to my home made efforts

[CMOTDibbler]

My question is: is there a good way to freeze mashed potato that doesn't make it come out yucky. I'd like to be able to freeze some to take out in small quantities and nuke for ds's tea when I'm running short of time/patience

[roquefortlover]

I also had Chicken and Potatoes in a White Wine and Tarragon Sauce.
~ How long did it take you to cook the recipe?
Prep was very quick, about 5 mins, which I really liked not surprisingly. However cooking time was much longer than stated - about 50 mins to get chicken and pots cooked through.

~ Will you be cooking it again?
Yes. I made a couple of substitutions to the recipe - used low fat creme fraiche instead of cream as we are on January healthy eating kick and a smear of pesto as I forgot to buy basil! DH absolutely loved it especially the sauce and thought the potatoes were very tasty. He especially liked the thin slices for some reason, clearly I am normally not dainty enough in my cutting... I enjoyed it too although the sauce had split rather which i thought was down to the creme fraiche but maybe not going by babster's experience. All 3 children liked the chciken and potatoes although there was some scraping off of sauce -I can live with that! DD who can find meat dry thought the chicken was really easy to eat as it was moist.

~ Any other general comments about the recipes?
It was good to have guidance this time about potato type. Also liked the very minimal prep of this one and lack of mess due to foil!

~ Since taking part in this activity have you found anything surprising about potatoes that you were unaware of before?
Ease of cooking in a parcel with the meat/fish instead of separate. The fact that DH likes his spuds thinly sliced!

~ Any other general comments
No.

[babyinacorner]

Hi, i also had the chicken and potatoes in a white wine and tarragon sauce.

Ease of cooking - very easy, I halved the recipe as it was only myself and dh eating it.

Time in which it took you to cook the recipe? About 35 mins to cook, 5-10 mins to prepare

Did you and your family enjoy the recipe? We both enjoyed it and liked the taste of tarragon. We also substituted the cream for half fat creme fraiche but i would imagine it would have been even more tasty with cream! I really liked the fact that it is a whole meal in one neat parcel, no need for lots of pots and pans.

Since taking part in this activity have you found anything surprising about potatoes? Not really

Will you be cooking it again? Yes definitely

Any other comments? i would really like a recipe for twice baked jacket potatoes or boulangere potatoes please!

[pombear]

Cottage pie here:

How long did it take? Well, I definitely cannot peel and finely chop a carrot, peel and finely chop an onion, crush a clove of garlic and peel some potatoes in 5 minutes flat, and now I'm feeling a slight failure because of that! I was going as fast as I could too, as we were late in yesterday night. After a bit longer than 5 minutes prep, then it took about 20 minutes to cook.

Will you be doing it again? Probably, with a few tweaks here and there. We all liked it enough to eat it all, though I think it needs a bit of oomphing up in the flavour region, and I'd use tomato puree instead of ketchup too. No complaints or left dinners though, so it was a solid enough school night recipe

General comments about the recipe: It was tasty enough, but for mid-week mince - sorry potato council, but I'd probably whack in some pasta next to it instead of the potato mash topper - the final grilling bit just seems a bit of a pain as everything else is 'done'.

Have I learnt anything else about potatoes? I didn't think I would for this recipe, for it is simply mash on top of mince. But...seeing as my focus was on the potatoes, and as they were a wee bit softer than normal, instead of reaching for my handy masher, I did a bit of a 'cooks' thing and used a fork to mash and then whip it with the milk. The mash turned out lovely and creamy and really white - I'm sure most people would go 'duh, of course', but I've never done it like that before, and it was a potato-revelation. (Felt I ought to do something different with the potatoes 'cos I'm doing this test!)

Any other comments? I'd love a recipe that's using potatoes in a bit more of an inspirational way (if you can ever have inspiring potatoes!) as this one and last month's for me have just been variations on mash. Though doing this has been good to kick-start me back into remembering there are traditional recipes that don't take too long to do, and stops me reaching for the obvious all the time.

[moomoo1967]

Chicken with potatoes and leeks in a white wine and tarragon sauce
~ How long did it take you to cook the recipe?
I checked on the food once the 25 mins were up but the potatoes were no where near cooked so had to add another 20 mins onto the original cooking time.

~ Will you be cooking it again?
No, I was really disappointed as along with it taking longer than stated the cream actually curdled and looked awful. Possibly because of the longer cooking time but then cream will curdle if overheated.

~ Any other general comments about the recipes?
I realise that the recipe stated new potatoes but maybe the recipes could state which type of potatoes, not necessarily for this recipe but for the others.

~ Since taking part in this activity have you found anything surprising about potatoes that you were unaware of before?
No
~ Any other general comments
It looked lovely in the photo and I was really looking forward to it. Plus I do like a sauce with chicken and this had all evaporated so I ended up making extra sauce to accompany the dish.

[LargeLatte]

I have a question if that's OK

Is it OK to eat the black or greem bits you sometimes find on a potato once it's been peeled?

[Fillybuster]

My recent 'twist' to cottage pie is to add some peeled, cubed sweet potato or butternut squash for the last 5 mins or so when I'm cooking the spuds for the mash...it makes the mash go a lovely orangey colour and adds a lovely depth of flavour as well. A spinkle of nutmeg into the mash doesn't hurt, either...:)

The other bit of helpful advice is that I usually make double quantities of cottage/shepherds pie and then make some up into 1 or 2 portion foil containers. It freezes brilliantly - then you can just grab one out of the freezer in the morning, leave it to defrost in the fridge, and chuck it into a 180-ish oven for 30 mins uncovered to heat through and crisp on top at the same time.

[moonbells]

Charlotte potatoes take a lot longer to cook than people think... so I suspect the Tarragon Chicken recipe wouldn't work as well.

Where's the veggie option?

Fillybuster yes we use sweet potatoes for that, too!

We have a pest child who doesn't like mince lumps, so we precook it when doing and then whizz with a hand blender. He also won't eat onions if he spots them so that disguises them too! Makes for a much nicer texture cottage pie.

[johnworf]

Cottage pie here:

How long did it take? Really straightforward to prep; peel and chop potatoes, peel and chop onions. peel garlic, fry mince....10 minutes tops. 15 minutes in the oven to brown.

Will you be doing it again? This is a dish we have once a week already although there are some subtle changes on the recipe sheet sent.

General comments about the recipe: Never used tinned tomatoes in this recipe before so that's a new one on me. Nor tomato ketchup. It turned out well and all the family will eat this one.

Have I learnt anything else about potatoes? After doing this dish for years, I've never chopped the potatoes into small pieces! Weird, I know. Anyway, it certainly cut down on the cooking time and made it really easy to mash with a fork.

Any other comments? It's a dish that anyone can make when they get in from work or a student could do (even older children). I adapted the mash and put natural yoghurt into it instead of butter. The children ate it without a gripe and DH even commented it tasted lovely so must be fattening! I guess for veggies, you could swap the mince for Quorn mince. It's one I'll certainly be doing again.

[SantaIsAnAnagramOfSatan]

what are the best potatoes to use when you are thinly slicing them over a dish and baking in the oven? i have a lovely recipe for a fish pie done like this and have cooked it twice - the first time was very successful and i did not need to par boil the potatoes, the second time was ruined really because the potatoes took so long to cook and never ended up tasting very nice anyway. thank you.

[aristocat]

I have a fantastic slow cooker recipe for Spanish Potatoes here ...... Enjoy

[ClaimedByMe]

I also had Chicken and Potatoes in a White Wine and Tarragon Sauce

How long did it take you to cook the recipe?
It only took about 5 mins to prepare and and about 40 mins in the oven.

~ Will you be cooking it again?
Possibly but without the cream as it split and although it tasted good the look wasnt good.

~ Any other general comments about the recipes?
Just as above with the split cream, it was a really nice dish, easy and quite mess free.

~ Since taking part in this activity have you found anything surprising about potatoes that you were unaware of before?
Not yet, i wait to surprised by a potato!

[zipzap]

Just want to apologise for not posting yet, I've had problems with getting my pc online and have held off from posting fromy phone as Ive got lots to say about the midweek roast.

Hope to have it sorted this evening and then will be able to post properly.

[PrettyCandles]

I have a question, or rather, a set of questions.

What makes a potato 'waxy' or 'floury'?
Can you tell which the potato will be without cooking it? How?
Are different (waxy/floury) potatoes better for different purposes?

And what sort are Marfona? Apart from being the best potatoes for everything!

[zipzap]

I did the mid week roast

~ How long did it take you to cook the recipe?
It probably took about 10-15 minutes to prepare the dish (about right) and then a good 40 minutes to cook it (10 mins longer than suggested). I also started the potatoes off by zapping them in the microwave for 5 minutes before cooking them, based on experience of previous recipes I've done for this when the potatoes have all come out undercooked when done for the specified time.


~ Will you be cooking it again?
Probably - given I already do something very similar, but using more Mediterranean vegetables (and whatever's on offer at the supermarket or market!) and using a pork fillet a loosely scrunched bit of foil on top to keep it from drying out. I don't often do leeks in it as we all love onions, it was nice to be reminded that we like them too!

And it would be tweaked a bit as DH isn't keen on parsnips through choice so would probably substitute squash or sweet potato, plus would add more apple than the recipe states (I had two small ones in it as I already had them in and we could have done with more).

I liked the bacon on the pork - I used non-smoked as none of us like smokey bacon. And it was streaky bacon, left over from christmas - not sure how well lean (back) bacon would have kept it moist.


~ Any other general comments about the recipes?
Oh so many - where to begin...

• Was a bit fazed by the potato info - I always think of Charlotte potatoes being bigger than small new potatoes, more like the size of 'normal' new potatoes. Maybe this is because it is now possible to get bags of small new potatoes from the market/supermarket that are all significantly under an inch in diameter as standard whereas what they are calling 'standard' new potatoes are what you are thinking of as small new potatoes. But 4 small new potatoes each would not be enough (plus given they were going to be quartered) so going by the picture I used regular new potatoes and quartered them. Was probably about right - but dh could have done with more as he's a potato lover and would usually expect to fill up on the potatoes in his meal.
  

• Order of the points in the recipe could be changed around to make it easier. It was a hassle to make all the meaty stuff and have raw meat things hanging around to then have to think about chopping veg and tossing them in oil. If you did that point after the veg were done and on the baking tray you could just do the meat and then pop it straight on top of the veg ready to go in, instead of needing somewhere to put it.
  

• It's also a pain to toss veg in oil if you have them on a baking sheet with little or no sides to stop them from falling off the edge. As I'd cooked the chopped potatoes in the microwave for 5 minutes before cooking them in the oven, I used the bowl and lid I'd used to cook them in to toss them all in oil, then used it to toss all the other veg which made it much easier. Alternatively doing it all in a plastic bag or using a spray oil can make it much easier too, especially when relatively little oil is being used to coat so much stuff.
  

• My garlic had gone off so I used some store cupboard standby ready crushed garlic in a tube. Added it to the oil and mixed it before mixing the oil and veg, worked very well to get garlic-y flavour throughout easily and didn't burn.
  

• Nothing was mentioned about checking the veg half way through to give them a shake or turn, which was needed. Also there was a lot of juice given off that collected on the baking sheet which needed draining half way through. Otherwise the veg would have been more boiled than roasted.
  

• Cooking time is given as 30 minutes at the top of the page but 25 minutes in the body of the instructions.
  

• Nothing was mentioned in the ingredients about 'seasonal green vegetables to serve' - didn't spot this until I was reading the method actually cooking it as had been in a hurry when copying down what I needed to buy. Would have been nice to have a mention of it at the top, especially as there was just a couple of sprigs of herbs across the meal in the picture, no greens shown to give a hint of it needing something to be served with. I had some frozen veg in but would have been better with something fresh I think and it's just a bit frustrating to get to the end and discover the problem when it would have been so easy to pick something up along with everything else.
  

• Would be nice for the picture to match the description - as per lacking veg as noted above plus it looked like the pork steak had been wrapped in a couple of streaky bits of bacon rather than a single lean (back) bit.
  

I know, I know, I'm too picky


~ Since taking part in this activity have you found anything surprising about potatoes that you were unaware of before?

Not yet - still waiting for a surprise...


~ Any other general comments
Where and when are the answers to the potato questions being answered? I asked on the first or second recipe about at what point green potatoes became dangerous - first hint of green and throw the whole potato or just chop out bits that get really green and eat the rest - or somewhere in between... But still haven't seen an answer (and I'm still wondering as I forever seem to discover my potatoes have gone slightly green as dh has put them away but left them in the light). Thank you.

[BlastOff]

My potatoes this week came with bits of red dye on, mainly where eyes had been trimmed. I'm assuming it's safe to eat, but would like clarification if possible, and to know what it is/ what purpose it serves please? Also would like to know how green and how 'sprouty' they can be before its not safe to eat please.

[AlmaMartyr]

I'm not a potato councillor, but my mum sometimes used to add crushed up crisps to the top of a cottage pie. A bit grim really.

I've always wondered how much nutrition there is in a potato. I've always been told that the skin is very healthy, is the flesh healthy too?

[DamselInDisarray]

For the chicken and tarragon recipe, would it not be a better idea to stir the cream in at the end (or at least to use double cream to make it less likely to go all horrible)?