Purple potatoes in potato salad

Subject: Purple potatoes in potato salad
Newsgroups: rec.food.cooking

From: Kathleen (khhfmdelete at thischarter.net)
Date: Wed, 21 Dec 2005 10:02:58 -0600
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I'm planning to make potato salad to take to a family party over the holidays and I was intrigued by the purple spuds at the store. If I make the salad with a mixture of red skinned and purple potatoes, will the purple ones do anything rude, like turning the entire dish gray?

From: Karen MacInerney (macinerney at sbcglobal.net)
Date: 21 Dec 2005 08:08:15 -0800
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I've looked at them in the store longingly myself, but I've heard they turn gray when you cook them. :(

WOuld love to hear anything to the contrary!

From: kilikini (kilikini at NOSPAMtampabay.rr.com)
Date: Wed, 21 Dec 2005 16:55:13 GMT
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Karen MacInerney wrote:
> I've looked at them in the store longingly myself, but I've heard they
> turn gray when you cook them. :(

They don't turn gray, they stay purple! I first discovered them back around, gosh, 1984? When I was young and one of my cousins sent us a big box of potatoes for Christmas. (I know, weird present, but we ate potatoes for weeks.)

My mom made purple mashed potatoes. They were awesome. They stayed purple!

From: King's Crown (qoe at earthlink.net)
Date: Wed, 21 Dec 2005 18:11:17 GMT
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kili wrote"
> They don't turn gray, they stay purple!

My daughter asked me to make mashed potatoes out of them about a year ago. They were indeed purple. Nothing gray about them.

Lynne

From: OmManiPadmeOmelet (Omelet at brokenegz.com)
Date: Wed, 21 Dec 2005 13:50:01 -0600
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Kathleen wrote:
> I'm planning to make potato salad to take to a family party over the
> holidays and I was intrigued by the purple spuds at the store. If I
> make the salad with a mixture of red skinned and purple potatoes, will
> the purple ones do anything rude, like turning the entire dish gray?

Don't.

Might be "cute" but purple potatoes are the most disgusting spuds on the market.

They taste just like dirt. :-P

Just MHO.....

From: tert in seattle (tert at ftupet.com)
Date: Wed, 21 Dec 2005 23:06:07 +0000 (UTC)
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Omelet writes:
>Might be "cute" but purple potatoes are the most disgusting spuds on the
>market.

if they were all blue potatoes, they must have been old or improperly stored

or maybe you forgot to wash them

the all blues I got from Alden Farms of Monroe, WA, were great, very flavorful... not the dirt kind of flavor... it probably helps that they are organic

From: OmManiPadmeOmelet (Omelet at brokenegz.com)
Date: Wed, 21 Dec 2005 20:46:10 -0600
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tert in seattle wrote:

> if they were all blue potatoes, they must have been old or improperly
> stored

Could have been old.
They were a bit pricey so may have sat in the store awhile.

> or maybe you forgot to wash them

I don't think so. ;-)

> the all blues I got from Alden Farms of Monroe, WA, were great, very
> flavorful... not the dirt kind of flavor... it probably helps that they
> are organic

Might give them another try then, only had them once.
I prefer Yukon golds over Russets.

From: Elaine Parrish (esp at ebicom.net)
Date: Wed, 21 Dec 2005 14:49:58 -0600
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Kathleen wrote:
> I'm planning to make potato salad to take to a family party over the
> holidays and I was intrigued by the purple spuds at the store. If I
> make the salad with a mixture of red skinned and purple potatoes, will
> the purple ones do anything rude, like turning the entire dish gray?

Oh, wow. I never saw a purple potato. Is just the outside purple? Do they stay purple after they are cooked?

What beautiful potato salad they would make if they stay purple. I'm always trying to add things to potato salad that will give it some color. White on white on white is not very pretty to look at.

From: OmManiPadmeOmelet (Omelet at brokenegz.com)
Date: Wed, 21 Dec 2005 14:57:13 -0600
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Elaine Parrish wrote:
> Oh, wow. I never saw a purple potato. Is just the outside purple? Do
> they stay purple after they are cooked?

Slice red onions and a mix of red, yellow and green bell peppers can make it festive. :-) You don't even have to mix them in. Just top it with a few for decoration.

From: Elaine Parrish (esp at ebicom.net)
Date: Thu, 22 Dec 2005 00:04:29 -0600
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OmManiPadmeOmelet wrote:
> Slice red onions and a mix of red, yellow and green bell peppers can
> make it festive. :-) You don't even have to mix them in. Just top it
> with a few for decoration.

Hey Om,

I use the red onions and the colored bells, but I hadn't thought about decorating the top. Duh! Thanks.

I make mine too creamy, maybe, because it hides all the colored things. I add crumbled bacon and some thinly shaved carrots and green [sweet] pickles, and boiled eggs.

It's getting a little better because I am cutting everything a tad bigger and in one variation, I'm leaving the red jackets on some of the potatoes.

Now, it will be decorated on top, too! Thanks.

From: OmManiPadmeOmelet (Omelet at brokenegz.com)
Date: Thu, 22 Dec 2005 09:46:33 -0600
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Elaine Parrish wrote:

> I use the red onions and the colored bells, but I hadn't thought about
> decorating the top. Duh! Thanks.

:-)

> Now, it will be decorated on top, too! Thanks.

Most welcome!
Glad I could toss an idea your way...

From: Ranee Mueller (raneemdonot at spamharbornet.com)
Date: Fri, 23 Dec 2005 09:42:09 -0800
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Elaine Parrish wrote:
> What beautiful potato salad they would make if they stay purple. I'm
> always trying to add things to potato salad that will give it some color.
> White on white on white is not very pretty to look at.

Around the 4th of July, I make a red white and blue potato salad with mixed potatoes. They stay red and blue and white. I use a vinaigrette, rather than a mayonaise based dressing, and it is very cool looking.

From: The Ranger (cuhulain__98 at yahoo.com)
Date: Fri, 23 Dec 2005 10:17:17 -0800
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Ranee Mueller replied:
> Around the 4th of July, I make a red white and blue potato
> salad with mixed potatoes. They stay red and blue and
> white. I use a vinaigrette, rather than a mayonaise based
> dressing, and it is very cool looking.

So how do you keep the potatoes from "bleeding" into the vinaigrette or mayo?

From: Ranee Mueller (raneemdonot at spamharbornet.com)
Date: Fri, 23 Dec 2005 13:40:12 -0800
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The Ranger wrote:
> So how do you keep the potatoes from "bleeding" into the
> vinaigrette or mayo?

I didn't know you had to do anything special to keep it from doing so. It might be like those cartoons walking on air until they look down. Now, the next time I make this, it will bleed all over the place.

From: Ken (threeriversguy_2000 at yahoo.com)
Date: 23 Dec 2005 14:38:59 -0800
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Ranee wrote:
>Around the 4th of July, I make a red white and blue potato salad with
>mixed potatoes. They stay red and blue and white. I use a vinaigrette,
>rather than a mayonaise based dressing, and it is very cool looking.

Ranee,

White is easy. The purple potatoes are purple/blue all the way through. But what variety do you use for the red?

TIA,
Ken

From: Ranee Mueller (raneemdonot at spamharbornet.com)
Date: Fri, 23 Dec 2005 22:34:10 -0800
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Ken wrote:
> White is easy. The purple potatoes are purple/blue all the way
> through. But what variety do you use for the red?

To be honest, I don't know. I buy a bag of them at the grocery store and it has all three in there. However, my seed catalogues tell me that there is a variety called All Red, much like All Blue, only red. When we get our potato patch ready, I'm planting some of those, some fingerlings, some blues, and Yukon Golds. :)

From: Elaine Parrish (esp at ebicom.net)
Date: Fri, 23 Dec 2005 17:47:31 -0600
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Ranee Mueller wrote:
> Around the 4th of July, I make a red white and blue potato salad with
> mixed potatoes. They stay red and blue and white. I use a vinaigrette,
> rather than a mayonaise based dressing, and it is very cool looking.

What a neat idea! Are the red potatoes red because of leaving the jackets on? And white by taking the jackets off or do you use a white baking potato?

These blue/purple potatoes... Do they come in varying shades or is this like calling a "red" onion, a purple onion (no difference, just terminology)?

Do they have a name, like "Russet" or "Idaho Baking Potato" or something that I can ask my grocer about?

I've been experimenting with vinaigrettes. (I have an "aw, man, where's the mayonnaise????" family <g>). Do you have one you really like with potato salad that you'd share?

Thank you!

From: The Cook (susan_r23666 at yahoo.com)
Date: Fri, 23 Dec 2005 19:18:10 -0500
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Elaine Parrish wrote:
>These blue/purple potatoes... Do they come in varying shades or is this
>like calling a "red" onion, a purple onion (no difference, just
>terminology)?

I just checked Pinetree Nurseries and they have "All Blue" and "All Red." There may be many others. http://www.superseeds.com

Check under Spring Items.

From: Ken (threeriversguy_2000 at yahoo.com)
Date: 23 Dec 2005 18:19:53 -0800
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The Cook wrote:
>I just checked Pinetree Nurseries and they have "All Blue" and "All
>Red." There may be many others.
>http://www.superseeds.com

Susan,

I just went to the link and saw the red potatoes. Has anybody ever seen any of this type of potato available in stores? I've never seen these in stores or at a farmers' market. Do I have to grow my own?

From: Ken (threeriversguy_2000 at yahoo.com)
Date: 23 Dec 2005 18:25:44 -0800
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>Do they have a name, like "Russet" or "Idaho Baking Potato" or something
>that I can ask my grocer about?

Elaine,

I'm far from a potato expert, but I've only seen them sold as purple potatoes, never an exact variety. So the produce guy should know just by "purple potato". I don't know if there is only one variety or just like everything else, the stores have dropped the variety names. (You use to buy Haas or Bacon or Fuerte avocadoes, now they're just labeled an avocado with no variety. Same with peaches, plums, you name it, and maybe even potatoes.)

Wish I could be more help,

Ken

From: Ranee Mueller (raneemdonot at spamharbornet.com)
Date: Fri, 23 Dec 2005 22:36:59 -0800
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Elaine Parrish wrote:

> What a neat idea! Are the red potatoes red because of leaving the jackets
> on? And white by taking the jackets off or do you use a white baking
> potato?

No, white potatoes, and red all the way through. :)

> These blue/purple potatoes... Do they come in varying shades or is this
> like calling a "red" onion, a purple onion (no difference, just
> terminology)?

The one's I get are pretty blue, though there are some that are more purpley.

> Do they have a name, like "Russet" or "Idaho Baking Potato" or something
> that I can ask my grocer about?

Our grocer gets these in little three pound bags. You can get the seed potatoes from a nursery or a catalogue, though. All Red, All Blue.

> I've been experimenting with vinaigrettes. (I have an "aw, man, where's
> the mayonnaise????" family <g>). Do you have one you really like with
> potato salad that you'd share?

I use lots of lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper, tons of garlic, and dill. I toss the cooked potatoes with that, and scallions and pitted and chopped kalamatas (actually, pitted and split in two, because I am too lazy to chop them). This is my standard recipe, I normally use regular red skinned potatoes at other times of the year.

From: aem (aem_again at yahoo.com)
Date: 23 Dec 2005 22:54:49 -0800
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Ranee Mueller wrote:
> Our grocer gets these in little three pound bags. You can get the
> seed potatoes from a nursery or a catalogue, though. All Red, All Blue.

A nursery called Irish Eyes somewhat specializes in potatoes. In addition to the All Red and All Blue, they have a fingerling called Purple Peruvian, which they say is the only purple fingerling. -aem