A Taster’s Journey

A couple weeks ago I ran a marathon.  A friend asked me if I eat pasta the night before the big race to carbo-load.  Although I love pasta, I prefer a  baked potato for my pre-race meal because it’s easier for me to digest. Actually I ate a steak, carrots, and a huge baked potato the size of my shoe. As I ate it, it  reminded me of my youth because baked potatoes were a weekly staple in my house. Today I rarely eat a baked potato, but I consume other types of potatoes at least three times a week. I love potatoes.

My favorite potato is a fingerling (or yukon) roasted with olive oil, salt, pepper, and fresh rosemary. So simple, but the essence of the potato screams deliciousness.

For special occasions I am torn between two more decadent potato dishes: scalloped potatoes (sometimes called potatoes gratin) and twice baked potatoes. My mother served scalloped potatoes for festive occasions. Although there are different variations, you basically bake sliced russet potatoes in milk and cream. I add sliced onions and some garlic between the potato slices, but it’s the cream that makes the dish so rich and tasty.

Have you ever made twice baked potatoes? After baking russet potatoes for an hour or so,  scoop the potato out of the skin and mix with butter and sour cream. Put the mixture back in the potato and top with grated parmigiano reggiano and bake for another half hour.

I am crazy about potatoes. I could eat them almost every day, except for boiled potatoes. Did you every eat a boiled potato? It has to be one of the most tasteless and boring dished ever invented.

So, if you had one last meal and it had to include a potato…what potato would you pick?