Once again the storage potatoes have not lasted as long as expected. I'm keeping them in complete darkness in a bin in the basement, but I was unable to get the humidity down in the fall, and it wasn't very cool either. Consequently, the entire remaining crop has softened and sprouted. But they do not need to go to waste. Once peeled and trimmed, while you wouldn't serve them baked, they are just fine for many other purposes. On Sunday The Kitchen Goddess did a marathon salvage operation.
First, some were sliced and put into the dehydrator. The resulting "chips" are perfect for au gratin or scalloped recipes, and seem to keep forever.
Also, some were cubed and dehydrated. These are great in soups. Being thicker, they take much longer to dry, but again should keep indefinitely.
Then a whole bunch were riced and "magically" (from my perspective!) turned into a huge quantity of gnocchi. After rolling and shaping, she froze them on trays, then they are dusted with cornmeal and placed in freezer bags for use anytime. I love gnocchi!
Some of the riced potatoes are being kept aside for adding to soups, or mashing.
So while it is disappointing that the whole potatoes would not keep any longer, they can still be put to good use, and provide lots of food value. This gives you the opportunity to continue to enjoy the fruits of the garden, even when the ground is frozen solid!
Thanks for reading, and thanks to Michelle for guest-hosting Harvest Monday.
OMG, the Kitchen Goddess should be knighted and sainted too. All those gnocchi! You lucky man! And I know all the work it takes to stuff a dehydrator. It is disappointing when your "storage" veggies don't store well. I've still got a few sprouting onions to use and softening winter squash.
ReplyDeleteSome good ideas to bear in mind when our potatoes start to sprout. We don't have a dehydrator so maybe we could freeze potato slices.
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