The background–dinner had been declared to be steak, scalloped potatos and some sort of veggie. Then Mom left. Leaving me unofficially in charge of the potatos. So, I start fixing the potatos, and realize that the recipe calls for the finished dish to bake for 50 minutes at 350? degrees covered, and then for 10-15 minutes uncovered.
People get impatient, and the potatos are served not quite tender.
My question for you is how I could have timed things better. Would turning up the heat on the oven have been a good idea? Or popping the filled casserole in the microwave for 5 minutes to start things off?
Assume the goal is to trim overall cooking time by 20 minutes or so, and not to convert the recipe to one suitable for use entirely in the microwave.
The correct answer is not to start cooking the steaks until the potatoes are done, not removing the potatoes from the oven until they are done, and responding to impatient people with the single digit courtesy they deserve.
Yeah, you can nuke the potatoes, but they’re not as good that way.
I’m one of those “don’t eff with me” people when in the kitchen… :o
In this case, the steaks were mostly done–frozen, but mostly cooked on the grill in warmer weather.
And the single most impatient person was me, who had a committment early enough in the evening that I should have started the potatoes a half hour earlier.
Still, I’m mostly just interested in how else I could have done things, for next time.
When I’m making pan-fried potatoes 'n onions, I always kick-start the potatoes by slicing them and putting them in the microwave for 3 or 4 minutes - otherwise the centers aren’t done yet when the outsides are browned. My cite is the cooking show America’s Test Kitchen.
If you were attempting this approach with scalloped potatoes, which is a much wetter recipe with cheese or other liquidy ingredients, you might need to reduce the liquid to accommodate the shorter cooking time.
I par-boil my sliced potatoes for about 5 minutes. Drain them, pour them in the casserole, and toss with salt and pepper. Add the white/cheese sauce and bake for about 30 minutes.
This would be my suggestion. Parcook the potatoes in the microwave (the microwave is quite a good tool in this regard. The other time I ever use the microwave in my kitchen, other than reheating, is steaming vegetables.) Then cook them uncovered in the casserole until tops brown.
I usually par-boil potatoes for scalloped or au gratin. Mix your potatoes/onions and liquid and cook them on the stove for 10-15 minutes or until almost done. Then put them in the oven, add any toppings, and bake for another 15-20 minutes or until done.
I have no objection to par-boiling but it seems that you end up with more work for the same results. by the time you’ve brought the water to boiling, then the draining off at the end and all, you’ve spent about the same amount of time as if you’d just popped them in the oven and shut the door.
Your main lesson from this isn’t how to cook potatoes faster but how to plan meal prep, look first to see what takes the longest. And for the starving impatient people, salad is good while you wait for the hot stuff.