Has anyone tried cooking potatoes in milk?

I have.... my two cents

Definitely keep it over low heat but I wasn't impressed enough with it to continue this method. Let's face it, it takes more liquid to cook them than you will need to make mashed potatoes so you either wind up pouring some off or trying to carefully reduce it down without burning it.

However, it's a little work (well not really especially not if you have a food processor) but if you want to cook them in a cream base try grating them. That way you can cook them quickly and easily with a minimum of liquid.

I grate potatoes into my stock/cream mixture when making potato soup. They cook quickly and thicken the broth as they disolve into it.

 
Thank you! I hadn't thought about the waste

Your right, he put less than a cup of the liquid back into it dish. I don't think I want to pour that much costly cream down the drain.

 
Yes and it's just delicious! Rec: Warm Grilled Potato Salad. Just saw Tyler at Copia

last weekend for a cooking demonstration/book-signing and he did this Warm Grilled Potato Salad recipe. This is a slight variation on the recipe you linked to as it calls for grilling the potato halves after cooking them whole in the cream/milk mixture. One of the things Tyler mentioned several times during the demo is "color equals flavor", so by grilling the cooked potato halves you gain more color and more flavor. He called it "potato salad" but in the end it's really more like chunky mashed potatoes to me. I came home that night and made them and think they're verrry tasty, a definite keeper....lovely comfort food. My neighbor made them also and is planning to serve them for Thanksgiving dinner.

Tyler mentioned the reason he likes to cook them in the cream/milk mixture is that normally when you cook potatoes you drain off the cooking water and alot of flavor within that cooked potato water gets tossed down the drain. His method incorporates some of that flavor back into the finished potato dish. The garlic, bay leaf and thyme infuse the cream with a nice flavor. The cream/milk mixture reduces down a little while the potatoes are cooking and in the end you do toss a little bit of the cream but really not that much. I personally think it's worth doing...give it a try yourself and see how you like the dish.

Warm Grilled Potato Salad

8 medium-sized Yukon gold potatoes
2 cups heavy cream
2 cups whole milk
4 cloves garlic, peeled and gently smashed
4 sprigs fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper
extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon whole grain mustard
2 scallions, for garnish
ice water

Add potatoes, cream, milk, garlic, thyme and bay leaf into a large sauce pan and gently boil for 15 minutes until potatoes are just tender and the tip of a pairing knife goes through with little resistance. Allow to cool in the cream mixture. Once cooled, strain potatoes and lay out in a single layer on a kitchen towel to drain. Cut the potatoes into large pieces then brown on a hot grill with a little olive oil for 4-5 minutes until they just get a little golden color. Place browned potatoes in a mixing bowl. Gently smash with a potato masher or large metal spoon. You want to smash the potatoes so they are broken up but there is still a lot of texture. Strain the cream mixture and add just enough to make the potato base creamy (about 1 1/2 cups). Add 1 large tablespoon of whole grain mustard and season with plenty of kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Garnish with curled scallion threads. Make these by cutting scallions on the bias into thin ribbons and soak in ice water until they curl up, about two minutes (Pat’s note: I didn’t soak in ice water, just sliced and garnished.)

Serves 4-6. Time: 45 minutes

Source: Tyler Florence appearance at Copia
http://copia.org/

Pat’s notes: Really delicious.

 
I tried

I tried a recipe that called for cooking (braising) a pork loin in milk. Wasn't anything special. Temp was low enough not to curdle, but a waste of milk as there was no discernible taste, texture or tenderness change.

 
nlb had a good recipe that cooked the potatoes in milk, but then the milk

was thickened and used in the recipe. I'm thinking it was a gratin. I'll dig around and see if I can find it back at that other scary place's archive. It definitely made a difference versus cooking the potatoes in water.

 
Okay...finally dug it up: nlb's Potato Gratin (using milk with potatoes

Date: Mon, 17 Apr 2000 01:40:52 GMT
From: nlb
Hi kj, rec. Potato Gratin
Yes you do! LOL!!!

Potato Gratin

3 lbs. Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled
whole milk, to cook potatoes
freshly grated nutmeg
salt
3 T butter
1 1/2 c grated Gruyère
white pepper, to taste
2 cloves fresh garlic, cut in half lengthwise
1 c heavy cream

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Slice the potatoes into coins between 1/8 and 1/4-inch thick. In a large sauce pot combine the potatoes, milk, a little nutmeg, salt and 1 1/2 tablespoons butter. Bring to a boil over moderate heat, stirring occasionally to keep potatoes from sticking to the bottom and scorching. Lower heat and cook another 10 minutes or less until potatoes are tender, but not falling apart. Check the potatoes as soon as the milk boils, as they may be ready before you expect. Remove potatoes from the hot milk.

Rub the bottom of the gratin dish with the garlic and the remaining butter. Transfer half the potatoes to the baking dish, sprinkle with very little nutmeg, pepper, half the cheese and cream. Top with remaining potatoes and top potatoes with the remaining cheese and cream. Bake 45 minutes covered then remove cover and bake about another 15 minutes until they are crisp and golden on top.

Recipe courtesy Janos Wilder, Janos Restaurant

nlb

http://web.archive.org/web/20020827233916/food4.epicurious.com/HyperNews/get/archive_swap31601-31700/31640/1/1.html

 
What I seem to remember is this is fabulous first time, but reheated portions went greasy.

Not sure why that is...maybe something with the cheese getting overheated?

Anyway, I can definitely recommend it if it will all be eaten in one meal.

 
So after fantasizing all day about these darn potatoes

I gave in and we had them with dinner. They were unbelievably good. The texture is rich, the flavors deep.

Sad that my life has been reduced to fantasizing about potatoes...but oh, baby. These lived up to the fantasy.

 
I've been asked to bring them for Thanksgiving dinner at a friend's house. Just bought 15 lbs. of

yukons. Hope it's enough. ;o)

 
Potatoes au gratin...Gratin Dauphinois...

Required the potatoes sliced 1/8 inch and simmered in milk... I ended up scooping the potato slices out with a strainer, and saving the remainder of the milk for "leftover milk soup." It worked fabulously, and the guilt went AWAY! Now...with mustard added in, I'm not so sure, but still as a seasoned cream base, I'm sure it would work well with something.

 
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