# Prick potatoes before microwaving **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [November 11, 2023, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prick-potatoes-before-microwaving/992983 "2023-11-11T13:59:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2023, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prick-potatoes-before-microwaving/992983/81 "2023-11-13T19:26:10Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > As a foreigner, I often see references to “biscuits and gravy” is this the same gravy? Sausage gravy. Just fry up your sausage and then use the reduced fat to make a roux. Cook the flour to just golden brown and then add milk or half milk half cream. Stir until it thickens up. Incidentally, it’s also great if you do the sausage with onions and green pepper and use it as a topping for baked potatoes. > **[Best Homemade Sausage Gravy](https://www.asouthernsoul.com/best-homemade-sausage-gravy/)** > > Sausage Gravy is simple, delicious dish, made with just 3-ingredients in 20 minutes and the very best way to start the day! Y’all made me cook potatoes for breakfast this morning! I wasn’t willing to wait for baked though. I sliced them into steak fries. Then I microwaved them for five minutes to get their insides steaming. Then tossed with light olive oil and salt and fresh cracked pepper and into the oven at 500F (fan). Done in 15 minutes and scrumptious. I should have taken a photo for you. The surfaces were perfectly blistered with browned, crispy bubbles. Nom! ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2023, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prick-potatoes-before-microwaving/992983/82 "2023-11-13T19:27:38Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I’m not sure I follow. They’re both non-flour noodles, and you don’t like both. Texture would be the major difference from the noodles you like. Sorry. It doesn’t follow. Just a comment that popped into my head. ---
**Author:** ![Common\_Tater](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/common_tater/32/13846_2.png) [@Common\_Tater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Common_Tater)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2023, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prick-potatoes-before-microwaving/992983/83 "2023-11-13T21:34:37Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > Just fry up your sausage and then use the reduced fat to make a roux. The only caveat to this, retail breakfast sausage today might be called “Jimmy Lean”, there generally isn’t near enough fat to make a standard “batch” of gravy. 1 lb sausage, 2 cups Milk, etc. rounding with butter or fat is necessary, I think. It sure is tasty and easy to make. A little (or a lot!) white pepper and fennel for an authentic greasy spoon truck stop authentic diner experience. Sometimes called “4 calendar Cafe” quality. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2023, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prick-potatoes-before-microwaving/992983/84 "2023-11-13T23:11:05Z")
Every time I see the title to this thread, my mind starts trying to come up with a recipe for a dish that could be called prick potatoes. The lazy part of me is against the idea of carving them into the obvious shape. But I know that those potatoes need to be served with a white sauce. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2023, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prick-potatoes-before-microwaving/992983/85 "2023-11-13T23:24:07Z")
Is fennel really typical? Sage, yes. But fennel puts me in mind of Italian sausage. I mean, it would work fine, I’m just not used to it. Then again, I’m a Yankee. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2023, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prick-potatoes-before-microwaving/992983/86 "2023-11-13T23:48:12Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > my mind starts trying to come up with a recipe for a dish that could be called prick potatoes. Seems to me you could just boil or steam up some fingerlings and call them “prock potatoes” as a slightly raunchy joke. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2023, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prick-potatoes-before-microwaving/992983/87 "2023-11-14T02:13:45Z")
Speaking as a Yankee, i wouldn’t recognize “white gravy” as gravy, if i hadn’t been explicitly told it’s called that. I would have called it a white sauce. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2023, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prick-potatoes-before-microwaving/992983/88 "2023-11-14T03:12:57Z")
> [@Common\_Tater](#): > > retail breakfast sausage today might be called “Jimmy Lean”, there generally isn’t near enough fat to make a standard “batch” of gravy. There is very little overlap between the universes of people who who buy lean “sausage” and people who make sausage gravy. Just sayin’. Them as knows buys [country sausage f](https://ngmeat.com/pork-country-sausage-1-lb-pack/)or breakfast purposes. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2023, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prick-potatoes-before-microwaving/992983/89 "2023-11-14T03:14:16Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Speaking as a Yankee, i wouldn’t recognize “white gravy” as gravy, if i hadn’t been explicitly told it’s called that. I would have called it a white sauce. Well, it begins with a roux, so unless it’s gumbo, it’s gravy. ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2023, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prick-potatoes-before-microwaving/992983/90 "2023-11-14T03:38:58Z")
Isn’t white sauce made with butter? ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2023, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prick-potatoes-before-microwaving/992983/91 "2023-11-14T03:52:59Z")
Whereas i think of a roux as the start of many different sauces. Even some dishes that aren’t sauces. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2023, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prick-potatoes-before-microwaving/992983/92 "2023-11-14T03:56:48Z")
Hmm, i didn’t realize that “white sauce” was a specific thing. But you’re right, and it’s made with butter. I was just thinking “some random sauce that’s white”. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2023, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prick-potatoes-before-microwaving/992983/93 "2023-11-14T04:08:24Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Seems to me you could just boil or steam up some fingerlings and call them “prock potatoes” as a slightly raunchy joke. YES! Now I only need to find some fingerling potatoes. I’m sure one of the local stores has some. Thank you! ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2023, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prick-potatoes-before-microwaving/992983/94 "2023-11-14T12:32:16Z")
Of course I typo the punchline of my joke. 🤦‍♂️ ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2023, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prick-potatoes-before-microwaving/992983/95 "2023-11-14T13:03:24Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > Sausage gravy. Just fry up your sausage and then use the reduced fat to make a roux. After watching a video, I see that “sausage” refers to sausage meat. In England, a sausage comes wrapped in a skin (originally intestines). In Scotland, it is more often a square patty. Cream comes in three varieties: cream, double cream, or thickened. Milk comes as skimmed, semi-skimmed and full-fat. it can also be extra creamy, almost as fatty as cream. Gravy over here is exclusively the brown sauce variety which can be made from scratch by adding water to the roasting pan and thickening it with a roux. More often it is instant, made with Bisto or other granules. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2023, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prick-potatoes-before-microwaving/992983/96 "2023-11-14T13:13:49Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > Well, it begins with a roux, so unless it’s gumbo, it’s gravy. I mean, so many Cajun/Creole dishes start with a roux (I mean, that’s the joke about that sort of cooking: “First, you make a roux” as the start of every recipe). It’s not just gumbo. > [@puzzlegal](#): > > Speaking as a Yankee, i wouldn’t recognize “white gravy” as gravy, if i hadn’t been explicitly told it’s called that. I would have called it a white sauce. What are your thoughts about pasta sauce being called “gravy” in certain quarters? 😉 But, you’re right, as a Yankee, on first account I probably would not have called that a gravy. I’d probably call it a sausage sauce or sausage cream sauce or something like that. Maybe, just maybe, I’d call it a white-ish gravy with sausage in it, but more likely a sauce. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2023, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prick-potatoes-before-microwaving/992983/97 "2023-11-14T13:23:58Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > What are your thoughts about pasta sauce being called “gravy” in certain quarters? I think that feels about as much like “gravy” as the gravy that comes with biscuits, honestly. Especially if the pasta sauce is a meat sauce. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2023, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prick-potatoes-before-microwaving/992983/98 "2023-11-14T13:54:13Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I mean, so many Cajun/Creole dishes start with a roux (I mean, that’s the joke about that sort of cooking: “First, you make a roux” as the start of every recipe). It’s not just gumbo. Well, now you’re getting into the [French mother sauces](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FFpaDRXXsAcaamD?format=jpg&name=900x900), and that’s just a whole other universe. I have made them all at least once, as my Mother considered that a necessary part of my education. But they were not part of the “Southern Cooking” repertory. Perhaps they are in Louisiana, but this is Virginia. > [@puzzlegal](#): > > Hmm, i didn’t realize that “white sauce” was a specific thing. Bechamel. But it doesn’t start with pan drippings. The roux for Bechamel is made with butter. ---
**Author:** ![Common\_Tater](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/common_tater/32/13846_2.png) [@Common\_Tater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Common_Tater)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2023, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prick-potatoes-before-microwaving/992983/99 "2023-11-14T22:17:57Z")
Eh, I think it’s OK. Just a little. A chicken bouillon cube or two is typical. Lots of black pepper. Some recipes suggest a small amount of freeze-dried coffee. Sort of one stop breakfast shopping. I also like Cayenne. I call it “3 pepper” Sausage gravy. I don’t make it regularly as I once did, it is pretty stout. Start adding in eggs - 3 or 4 poached, hash browns, side of bacon it starts bumping into the 4k calorie range. LOL. ---
**Author:** ![Common\_Tater](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/common_tater/32/13846_2.png) [@Common\_Tater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Common_Tater)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2023, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prick-potatoes-before-microwaving/992983/100 "2023-11-14T22:25:34Z")
Eh, I seem to remember (you kids get off my lawn!) when sausage was pretty fatty. Hamburger is excellent around here generally, but it sort of seems the 70/30 or 80/20 or whatever is only loosely followed. Sometimes the meatloaf starts looking like a stew. Fat is tricky in that there needs to be enough, for flavor, though no more. One thing I noticed, while most varieties of “milk” will work to make a “white sauce”, non-fat dry powdered is not a good choice. It’s pretty tough to improve on whole fresh milk as the base. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prick-potatoes-before-microwaving/992983.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prick-potatoes-before-microwaving/992983.md?page=6)