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Miscellaneous: The Right Spud for the Job

Source of Recipe

Ladies' Home Journal

Some potatoes work better than others in certain recipes.

-- A Potato Primer --

• For baking, choose russets (sometimes called Idaho potatoes), or long white potatoes (sometimes called white rose potatoes).

• Boiling potatoes include round white and round red potatoes, Yukon Gold potatoes, and All-Blue Potatoes (an heirloom variety that's celebrating a revival in markets).

• For French Fries, the russet's the choice.

• For potato salads, choose a variety that keeps its shape when cooked, including those classified as "waxy," such as long whites and round reds. To add color to the salad, use yellow potatoes, such as Yukon Gold or Yellow Finn.

(The term "new potatoes" does not refer to a particular variety of potato. Rather, they are a young, small potato of any variety and are available in spring and early summer.)