The humble potato is a culinary powerhouse and inspires adventurous and tantalizing fare.

A "desert island" vegetable if ever there was one, the potato appeals to all of us, whether in the form of traditional comfort dishes or in the guise of the new and exotic. Versatile, nutritious, inexpensive and unfailingly delicious, no other vegetable, and few foods in general, can make those claims.

These are just some of the delicious possibilities that the humble potato offers in this wide and varied assortment of recipes:

• Classic mash de luxe
• Garlic roasties with rosemary
• Real English chips
• Gnocchi-roni and cheese
• Saffron potato cakes
• All-American potato pancakes
• Sweet potato-crusted shrimp
• East Coast chowder
• Creole potato salad
• French potato galette
• Fennel, potato and white bean stew
• Potato lasagna
• Oyster pie with top mash
• Sweet potato gnocchi
• Mennonite country potato doughnuts
• Potato fudge.

Appetizers and snacks, soups and salads, side dishes, main courses, hearty vegetarian main dishes, baked goods and desserts make up this vast and colorful collection of recipes. The author also includes a complete history and origins of potatoes as well as a comprehensive chapter that covers hundreds of potato varieties.

Kathleen Sloan-McIntosh has been writing about food and drink for 20 years. Her work has appeared in national newspapers and magazines. In addition, she is the author of Rustic Italian Cooking, The Global Grill, co-author of the Cuisine Canada`s Silver Award-winning The Sticks & Stones Cookbook, and co-author of The Wine Lover Cooks. Her most recent books include Great Potatoes, A Year in Niagara: The People and Food of Wine Country and contributions to The Cook`s Garden.

Kathleen Sloan-McIntosh's profile page

Sloan-McIntosh has scoured the world and dug up dozens of recipes that introduce the potato in every ethnic variation and in every part of a meal from breakfast through appetizer, main course, and even dessert.... The author provides a detailed guide to the wealth of potato varieties and to their many uses. Recipes lean toward Sloan-McIntosh's own Irish heritage, but she overlooks scarcely a tradition.... Even potatoes' South American roots are acknowledged with a Peruvian casserole of potatoes, cheeses, and chile pepper.

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