Our round-up of classic, ever-popular potato dishes and tips on how to make them great every time.
Creamy mashed potatoes
There are two secrets to achieving a perfectly smooth, creamy potato mash. The first thing is to have the potatoes as dry as possible before mashing them, secondly it's the addition of a boiling hot mix of either milk or cream, depending on how rich you like your mash — and, of course, some butter.
To ensure there are no lumps and to achieve a lovely creamy texture, put potatoes through a fine sieve instead of using a potato masher.
Get the Creamy Mashed Potato recipe.
Peter Gordon's perfect French fries
Chips, once considered unhealthy fodder for badly fed folk, are now one of the most revered dishes for the foodie.
These days there are even thrice-cooked chips. You can emulate these chips pretty well at home.
Choose the flouriest potato you can as these make better chips, such as King Edward, Laura, Marabel, Maris Piper, Red Rascal, IIam Hardy, Agria, Fianna and Victoria.
Get Peter's perfect French fries recipe.
Salt potatoes
The excess salt in the water in this recipe allows them to boil at a higher temperature, forming a crust on the skin which seals the potatoes and cooks them to a fluffier, almost creamy texture.
Get the salt potatoes recipe.
Sauerkraut potato salad
This recipe is a variation of Aaron Brunet's favourite traditional Slovenian potato salad. With plenty of richness from the garlic and olive oil, he adds sauerkraut and red onion to give the dish a deeper flavour and to provide a contrast. When he is boiling chopped potatoes, Aaron sometimes adds a cup of sauerkraut to the pot as well. The acidity keeps the potatoes firmer on the outside even when they are soft inside, a nice surprise and a great taste.
Get the sauerkraut potato salad recipe.
Duck fat potatoes
Buy duck fat from good butchers and specialty food stores. If you don't want to use this, substitute for olive oil. But it won't be nearly as good, says Grant Allen.
Get the Duck fat potatoes recipe
Fondant potatoes
Cooking the potatoes in a good-quality stock (chicken or vegetable) gives these fondant potatoes plenty of flavour, and the roasting them in the oven with butter produces a golden and crispy result.
Nadia Lim had this to say about them: "It's hard to say in words just how delicious these potatoes are. The word fondant means "to melt" in French. The original fondant potatoes are cooked in copious amounts of butter until they are melt-in-your-mouth tender, but I've found a much healthier and equally delicious way to do the same."
Get the fondant potatoes recipe.
Potato gratin
The texture and flavour of the potatoes in Geoff Scott's gratin, having been very slowly cooked in garlic and cream, make this a comforting French winner. It is the perfect winter side and very satisfying to eat when you're after some comfort food. Geoff serves this with almost anything, although it's just great on its own.
Get Geoff's potato gratin recipe.
Mashed potato and kumara fritters
Warren Elwin takes on an interesting twist with these baked potatoes.
Once boiled and mashed with butter and seasoning (including orange zest), the potato and kumara mixture is oven-baked to golden perfection. They're great as a side or serve them on their own with sour cream and apple sauce.
Get the mashed potato and kumara fritter recipe.
Oven-roasted potato wedges with rosemary and thyme herb salt
Nadia Lim's potato wedges are as simple as they come; thick cuts of agria potato are baked with a little turmeric for that added golden-yellow colour. A tasty salt with rosemary and thyme finishes it off with gorgeous herby notes... make extra herb salt, it's a great condiment to have on-hand to perk up your meals.
Get Nadia's oven-roasted wedges recipe.
Crispy roasted potatoes
Geoff Scott says:"The perfect roast potato should have a crispy, golden outside and a light, fluffy interior. Use a floury potato such as agria, red rascal, fianna and ilam hardy. I always handpick my potatoes to get the perfect size, either small ones about the size of eggs or larger ones that can be cut in half. When serving these potatoes with a roast, I like to cook them in the roasting pan so that the fat from the roast can be used for basting and give them that extra delicious flavour. Once cooked, keep them uncovered (or they will go soggy) in a warm oven until you are ready to eat."
Get the crispy roast potatoes recipe.
Crispy roast potatoes with black olives and garlic
A firm, waxy potato is used in this recipe and once steamed or boiled, a potato masher smashes them to smaller chunks. Use either olive oil or duck fat to drizzle over the potatoes before roasting in a hot oven.
The adddition of the classic Mediterranean flavours of garlic, rosemary and olives makes this a popular choice as an accompaniment to Italian dishes.
Get the crispy roast potato with olive and garlic recipe.
Pan-fried potatoes
These potatoes will sit quite happily in the frying pan ready to be crisped up. Choose small to medium-sized potatoes as these are easier to boil whole. If the potatoes are thin-skinned there is no need to peel them. If you have leftover cooked potatoes in the fridge, use those.
Get the pan-fried potato recipe
Chippies
Whether you serve them as a pre-dinner snack or a crispy addition to the meal, these oven-baked potato chips will be loved by all.
Play around with the seasoning: salt and pepper or herbs like thyme or rosemary, spices like paprika or cumin, or a favourite rub you have lurking in the pantry.
Get the oven baked potato chip recipe.
Baked potatoes
Ray McVinnie's no-fuss baked potatoes doesn't get any simpler... sliced agria potatoes are baked with salt, pepper and butter, and that's it. It's a side that can go with most meals, just be sure to use a good-quality butter for the best tasting result.
Get Ray's baked potato recipe.
Hasselback potatoes
This dish hails from Sweden and it's proving very popular in food circles around the world. The backs of the potatoes are "hassled", meaning they're cut to produce thin slices.
Fan open the slices and drizzle liberally with an olive oil or butter slurry seasoned with salt, pepper, herbs and/or spices.
Get the Hasselback potatoes recipe.
