Purple Potatoes: what to do with them? (paprika, butter, vegetables)

[allforcats]

I've just been gifted with several purple potatoes, of all sizes from little baby-type ones to large baking Idaho size. They came out of a local garden a few hours ago, damp dirt and all.

I've washed the dirt from them and set them correctly to dry completely.

Now what do I do with purple potatoes? Do they have a different flavor from the usual pots?

I love potatoes, in any form except cold potato salad. Can anyone please give me some advice? Thank you!

[findinghope]

you can use them any way you like i think. i think a cold salad would be great with these. mashed or baked with some of the skin still on would also be good.

[Maine Writer]

Mashed turns out as an unappetizing gray but it does still taste good. I cut them into bite sized pieces, coat with a little olive oil, sprinkle on garlic and onion powders, paprika and whatever else sounds good, and bake. They're good in roasted vegetables such as potatoes, carrots, turnip and winter squash.

[Rickers]

Make french fries !

[allforcats]

Purple french fries! If I had children around, that would be a trip!

Thanks for your ideas. So you're all basically implying that the flavor isn't very different from other potatoes. Well then, I'll try them out today and let you know! Thanks again.

[jrmontag]

Eat them.

[Nomadicus]

I like the idea of purple french fries with some of the old purple ketchup. I think I have a bottle saved as a collector's item. Any way let us know. I may want to plant some myself one day soon.

[cb at sea]

Just have them buttered! It's true--they don't mash very well, but are ok for chunky recipes.

[Jaxson]

I was raised to never wash the dirt off new potatoes just brush them off as in washing quickens the rotting of them. Laying them out on an old screen in your garage for a couple of days will help 'season' them for storing if you have too many to use right away.

Good advice you have been given and I can agree purple mashed are not eye appealing at all.

[allforcats]

Jaxson, thanks for the advice about not washing new potatoes. I didn't know that. On the Connecticut farm where I grew up, we were able to grow just about everything -- except potatoes.

So I went first with Findinghope's idea -- baked a couple of these purples, so I'd be able to taste the potato clearly, as Cb at sea said, just with butter. Very nice. Very nice indeed. Oddly, a bit more bland than, say, Russets (didn't know that was possible...), and a slightly earthy flavor. But they're just potatoes. I guess I was expecting something exotic in the flavor...

Rickers and Nomadicus, I'm going to french fry some this week
Thanks for all your help