Potato help!

I'm retreating... I've come to the conclusion that there's no scalloped potato recipe that will satisfy my family's preference for low-fat fare, so I want to ask:

Do you know any potato recipe suitable for a low-fat Canadian Thanksgiving? Besides skim-milk mashed taters, of course, which are a bit boring.

Get small potatoes - fingerlings if you can find them. Wash them (don't peel), slice them in half (if you can only find large potatoes, you'll have to cut them into chunks about 1/2 inch thick).

Toss them in olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. Place them skin side up on a baking sheet and bake them at 350 F for about 45 minutes until the undersides are crispy and the potatoes are tender all the way through.

You could also boil little red-skinned potatoes and either toss them in a little butter or oil and herbs of your choice (parsley is nice), or smash them with a bottle, salt and pepper them, and fry them with a little oil (I'd use non-stick) until slightly crispy on one side.

You could also make sweet potatoes. I don't know if sweet potato casserole is a traditional dish in Canadian Thanksgiving - if it is, baking or roasting sweet potatoes is probably overkill, but I love them baked plain, and I saw this recipe that I want to try: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/30/dining/301m rex.html?ref=dining. The dressing calls for a lot of oil, but maybe you could cut that back?

Good luck!

I agree with kriklaf.  Only I'd go with any kind of baby potatoes cut in half, tossed with herbed olive oil (good old parsley sage rosemary and thyme).  Add some peeled garlic cloves to the mixture and roast as kriklaf describes, turning half way through.

You can do modification on this: http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/recip e.php?recipeId=1302

To reduce calories use skim milk instead of whole oil, a less butter and a bit more white truffle oil, and mix in some cauliflower to replace some of the potatoes. The key is to use some quality white truffle oil, it will add a lot of flavor with less quantity.

UD

You could just splurge once during the year and make the high calorie recipe your family loves?

My family always has "cheesy mashed" potato casorole for holiday dinners. Basically mashed potatos whipped in with cream cheese (light) and sour cream (low fat) and onion salt or garlic salt and ground pepper. No... it is not low cal - but we make the lighter choices where we can in the recipe and only eat it 2 or 3 times a year. They're great because you make them the day before and then reheat them in the oven when you need them! 

Here are a few ideas:

Potato string fries:

• Slice into very thin strips (or use manderlin) to make fry shapes (or make chips or whatever other shape you like)
• Toss with a light coat of EVOO or spray with oil
• Add spices (if you use sweet potatoes, brown sugar works great here)
• put on baking sheet and in oven at 350F for 10-15 minutes until lightly browned

Red Potato Salad: (greek style, but still yummy):

• Cube and Boil red potatoes (I usually do 1-2 per person) with skins on (wash first)
• While potatoes cook: cut up kalamata olives (2-3 per potato if you really like them - according to taste), roma tomato (or 2 or 3, up to you)
• When potatoes are done, add to big bowl with olives, tomatos...add in feta cheese, EVOO, balsamic vinegar, basil, salt, pepper and toss together...serve warm or cold

Roasted potatoes as suggested already are a great fall back as well...

You can also make some other mixed "salad" with appropriate spices for the season, herbs, greek yogurt...

and of course, once a year, a fatty yummy dish is also ok

How about a low fat 'Duchesse'-style potatoes.  All you do is make skimmed-milk mash.... transfer to a wide piping bag... pipe in swirls on well-greased baking parchment..... roast until toasted all over.   You could flavour with chopped parsley, crushed garlic & black pepper to make them more special.   (Some freshly grated parmesan adds a lot of cheesy flavour for very few extra calories and fat)   A spot of butter in the mix helps with the browning. 

 http://iweb.cooking.com/images/recipe/Recipe/ detail/RE_Tstedilledpotatoesv.jpg

Original Post by pixiechick8321:

and of course, once a year, a fatty yummy dish is also ok

 

 I agree with you, but my parents believe in never deviating from what they consider a healthy diet. Which, for them, is a diet very low in fat.

I've decided to go with Clairelaine's herbed roast potatoes. Should be really good. Our Thanksgiving dinner is tomorrow so I'll see how they go over!

roasted garlic mashed potatoes. party in my mouth.

just normal mashed potatoes, but you wrap a head of garlic in tinfoil and bake it, then mash the garlic into the potatoes with a bit of skim milk. you could probably also add some onion and herbs.

soooo gooooood.

Original Post by eidolah:

roasted garlic mashed potatoes. party in my mouth.

just normal mashed potatoes, but you wrap a head of garlic in tinfoil and bake it, then mash the garlic into the potatoes with a bit of skim milk. you could probably also add some onion and herbs.

soooo gooooood.

 Sounds delicious!

 Julia Child has a recipe for garlic mashed potatoes that calls for 2 heads of garlic... and of course loads of butter and heavy cream. Yours sounds more practical:)

This is a recipe I've used a few times. If you like tangy potatoes it's really good. Also, the ingredient amounts can be played with to get it to taste. In fact, the original recipe calls for a cup of olive oil, but that was too much for me. Sometimes I do away with the olive oil entirely and add extra lemon juice and vinegar or I'll use balsamic vinegar instead of red wine vinegar or drizzle the potatoes with a little dab truffle oil.

1 pound potatoes, halved with the skin on
5 garlic cloves
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (this comes out to about 4 tbsp)
Salt and pepper

Bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil. Add the potatoes and cook 15 minutes, or until tender. Drain well and cool. Peel the potatoes. Mash the potatoes in a bowl. Smash the garlic with the knife and chop it up really small (you can use roasted garlic for this, but I personally like to use raw garlic). Add the garlic to the potatoes and stir well. Gradually add the vinegar, lemon juice, and the oil. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Cook some small redskins in hot water until they're tender. (don't let water boil and the skins won't split open. Drain and cool. This part can be done the day before.

Slice the potatoes thinly into a roasting pan that's been sprayed with cooking spray. Do in layers. Season each layer with salt, pepper & garlic power. Sprinkle each layer with small amount of parmesan cheese.

Barely cover the potatoe layer with skim milk and top with a thin layer of parmesan cheese and bread crumbs. Pop into slow oven 275 - 300 until top part browns. (a hot oven will curdle the milk too much)

Should taste almost like the real thing.

I'm late but here's my new favorite potato recipe:

two small red potatoes for each person

clean

boil until tender but not falling apart (i.e. you can stick a fork in easily and pull them out of the water whole) about ten or twelve minutes depending on size and number

spread a thin layer of olive oil (or use nonstick spray, but oil tastes better) and seasonings to complement your meal (rosemary and black pepper, steak seasoning, lemon pepper and touch of salt, whatever you like, dill would be good too) on a baking sheet

place the boiled tender whole red potatoes on your oiled seasoned baking sheet about two inches apart

use a serving fork or potato masher to smash each potato flat (kinda like peanut butter cookies)

spread a touch more oil and seasonings on top of taters

bake at 350 for 30 to 35 minutes

YUMMO--they are crispy like french fries and smooshy like mashed.  the best of both worlds!