Potato forms.......

Occasionally it's more than agreeable to just take the cooking out of your own hands and put your trust in some good old fashioned pre-prepared frozen comfort food.

I don't mind admitting that sometimes myself, and I'm guessing even the most hardy of home cooks will at some point just say....."I can't be bothered this evening".

Peas and potatoes are my main vices. I do love spending the time shelling fresh peas from their pods, they taste so much sweeter and firmer this way but frozen peas are perfectly acceptable too.

I'd never use that horrid frozen mixed veg though because I find it completely vile. I actually got some served up to me once at a restaurant and I was truly disgusted and I've never set food in the place since. It was La Fontana in Twyford by the way. I have no problem naming and shaming them because of this. Fancy living in a village surrounded by fields and serving up cheap, sweaty and nasty frozen veg, it's just not cricket I tell thee.

Potatoes are where I think frozen food does well. I often contemplate and change the order in which I rank my top 4 frozen potato forms. Current order is thus -

1. Potato croquettes
2. Hash browns
3. Potato waffles
4. Chips

The order changes each time I try a new variety.



Tesco's and Aunt Bessie's come out tops on the croquette front. I quite like Waitrose ones too but they tend to split when you cook them and I prefer them to keep their shape.




Hash Browns too can be hit and miss with own brand versions so I just stick to McCains as they get nice and crispy but still have a loose chunky inside. For absolute nirvana though you simply cannot get better than a piping hot McDonald's Hash Brown.





Potato waffles can only be from Birds Eye. Grilled until crispy and topped with a couple of free range, organic fried eggs they make a perfect breakfast.



Frozen chips can be a bit disappointing, especially the cheap ones. Personally I'll either got for an Aunt Bessie's homesytle or perhaps some McCains crinkle cut chips because they seem to crisp up more but still remain fluffy inside. Both of those though still come out quite dry. For ultimate frozen chip heaven though you have to go for McCains simply gorgeous chips. They really are the ultimate, cut from real spuds and cooked in beef dripping........worth the extra cost? absobloominlutely.

Are there any other frozen potato forms I should be checking out?

Toodlepip xx