What do I do with a can of potatoes?

[Love Bug]

Since I've become unemployed I've been using a church foodshelf which has helped with my food bill quite a bit. As in the nature of such things, I do occasionally get items that I can't or won't ordinarily eat and I either give those away or donate them back.

In my most recent trip I received a 15 oz. can of whole, new potatoes. I remember eating canned potatoes as a child and being less than impressed. At first I was tempted to donate them back but then I thought, why not try to find a way to use them?

So, I'm here to cast out a challenge: Any ideas on what I should do with these? Potato salad? diced and put in hash? There much be some way to make these edible.

The ingredients list on the can is: potatoes, water, salt and calcium chloride (I assume that last is to keep them from turning brown)

Help!

[hippywife]

1. I don't know what else you have or what

you can afford to buy but this was always very good.

Pepperoni Soup

2 small sticks or 1 large stick of pepperoni
2 12 oz. cans of tomato juice
1 can garbanzo beans, undrained
1 can sliced new potatoes, undrained
1 can green beans, undrained
1 bunch of green onions, diced
1 green pepper, diced

Slice the pepperoni into 1/2"- 3/4" slices. Quarter the slices.
Dump everything in the crock pot and cook on low all day or on high for 5 hours.

I always left out the green pepper because I don't like it.

Hope this helps. :hug:

[Love Bug]

2. Thanks!

That sounds intriguing. I don't think I've ever used pepperoni on anything other than pizza. I would probably drain the veg first to keep the salt content down but stewing all of that together in a crock pot would probably meld everything together quite nicely.

[hippywife]

12. If I hadn't tasted it before I got the recipe

I would never have made it coz it sounded really odd to me, too. But someone I worked with a long time ago made it and brought it in for everyone. I thought it was really good.

[pengillian101]

14. That sounds really different and interesting, hippywife!

Well I might like to try this with green pepper but minus garbanzo beans - because I don't like those; what do think - would that work? Oh, and fresh potatoes would work OK don't you think? :hi:

Love Bug - best wishes for a new job! :hug:

[hippywife]

15. Hi, gilli...

I imagine that would work fine. :hi:

[Tesha]

3. Some ideas here...

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/461218

but I'd make home fries -
or add chopped meat if you have leftovers of ham or beef and call it hash

saute lots of onions (in bacon grease if like)
maybe a little garlic
add in the potatoes, roughly chopped
then add parsley and paprika, and whatever spices you feel like
and pepper and salt (if the potatoes are low salt)

and slowly fry, flip and fry until crispy brown
top with a poached egg

[Vinca]

4. Puree them, toss in some milk or light cream and use it as a base

for a chowder or cream soup. It's a good way to use up dribs and drabs of frozen vegetables in the freezer.

[japple]

5. I think I would dice them in small pieces and fry with

onion and/or green pepper. Or make German potato salad with them. Slice them about 1/4" thick and saute with garlic and/onion. Then dress them with vinegar, sugar, dijon (or dry mustard powder). I'm sure there are many recipes for German potato salad on the internet.

I remember eating canned potatoes as a child, too, and really hating them. On the other hand, my sister loved them!

Good luck in your search for a job. I wish you the best.

[Warpy]

6. I used to get those once in a blue moon, too, back in my impoverished 70s

only the ones I got were sliced. I used to drain and dry them and then use them in hash. I was always less than impressed, too, and wondered why anyone would go to the expense of canning a root veggie that was such a great keeper it could be had fresh nearly everywhere.

I guess canned potatoes were the original convenience food. All you had to do was open the can, no peeling or long cooking required.

As for the whole potatoes, I might suggest the butter, black pepper and parsley treatment if you weren't unemployed. Since those items are probably in short supply, hash seems like the best idea to me.

(the calcium chloride is used as a firming agent, preventing the potatoes from turning to mush during the high temperature canning process. It's probably why they've got that odd consistency)

[cbayer]

7. I like them.

I don't have access to fresh veggies for long period of time, and always keep canned potatoes around. They are great for throwing into stews or roast. I also sometimes just squash them and fry them. They are convenient, fast, and pretty darn tasty, IMO.

:hi:

[MajorChode]

8. Red potatoes have less starch than russets

They will hold up better when cooked. They are nice for grinding up and using for hash browns. You can add them in a 50/50 mix with russets in mashed potatoes for better texture. You can dice them up finely and add them to potato soup which also gives it better texture.

I've never tried roasting the canned ones, but that might be worth a try. Just slice them into smaller pieces, coat them in olive oil, herbs, salt and pepper, and roast them in a very hot oven until brown.

[Gormy Cuss]

9. Use them for cooking, not potato salad.

I remember them as weirdly textured and bland compared to a freshly cooked potato (we got them the same way as you did -- donated.)

Frying them with onions dresses them up a bit. Hash is a good use too. I'd also use them in soups.

[AwakeAtLast]

17. I've used them in soups, too

The flavor of whatever soup you are making is taken on by the potatoes, thus making them palatable. :D

[Arkansas Granny]

10. Dice them and add them to a cream sauce along with some fresh or frozen peas and

sauteed onions and/or mushrooms. If you wanted, you could put it in a casserole with a buttered bread crumb topping or some grated cheese and bake until it was lightly browned and bubbly.

[Love Bug]

11. These are some great ideas! Thanks for the suggestions

I'll definitely find a use for them, now!

[marybourg]

13. I love them for a quick potato salad. Cut each in thirds, toss w,

olive oil (and parsley if you have), refrigerate for 1 hr, then dress w. mayo. More than adequate as far as I'm concerned.

[eleny]

16. I've used the sliced on for scalloped potatoes