Steam Oven Insiders Volume 1, The One About Steamed Potatoes

Please note: I’m still working through the best way to make all the info from each newsletter searchable, printable and simple to refer to; please be patient as you see things moving around in your Insiders membership area over the coming weeks and months. I promise it will come together and I thank you again for joining me as a founding member.

A little reminder that these newsletters will drop into your inbox on the 15th and 30th of each month, so you can expect the next one in a couple of weeks.

Editor’s note

Welcome to the very first ever edition of Steam Oven Insiders! I am thrilled to explore this new format for bringing you more specific, more helpful and (hopefully) inspirational steam oven cooking content. Today’s intro is a little wordier than I’ll usually make it, but indulge me while I share how this whole idea came about…

Over the past couple of years I’ve seen a number of writers in the food space start their own regular newsletters. Some are free, many are not, and I have signed up to more than my fair share of ones written by foodies I respect and admire.

I notice two major things about the newsletters I look forward to. First, they’re friendly and conversational. When a writer gets to write about the things they’re really passionate about, to a group of people who are interested in what they have to say, there’s a lovely personal tone that develops. It’s not one you’ll find in their content that’s written for a larger audience or for big publications, and it feels very special.

The second, critical thing about good newsletters? Smaller chunks of information, straight to my inbox. This doesn’t mean the best newsletters are always short (although sometimes they are, and that’s great). Just that they focus on a small number of things in each issue.

I (and likely you) don’t have time to surf the internet, hoping to stumble on things I like to read. I don’t even have time to cruise websites I love! Rather, I visit to search for a specific recipe, article or topic I know is there. That means I never know what other good stuff might be around that I haven’t thought to search for. In a world of content overload, I’ve come to deeply value well-curated nuggets of gold, delivered in a format I can absorb at my own pace.

And that, friends, is how we ended up here. Steam Oven Insiders is where I share content that dives deeper than a quick ‘here’s a new recipe’ email. Content that’s not squished into a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it Facebook post or a clunky Patreon page (all you ex-Patreon supporters, I see you there!). Content that, sometimes, I’ve already created and published, and which just needs to be highlighted in a different setting to be valuable.

I’m thankful and flattered that you’ve chosen to sign up to Insiders, and hope you get a lot from being a member.

Emily x

A note about newsletter themes

Today I’ve themed the newsletter around a single ingredient. I won’t always; sometimes we’ll discuss a technique or issue specific to steam oven cooking, sometimes we’ll have a seasonal or occasion-specific focus. I expect the format to evolve over time, which gives all of us a chance to turn Insiders into the most useful membership you’ve ever been part of.

Topic of Interest: The Humble Steamed Potato

When I thought about the very first newsletter for the Insiders membership, I wanted to explore an ingredient or a food that would cover almost everyone’s interests and needs. Easier said than done! I won’t cater to every dietary eventuality in every newsletter, but I want to try to include everyone this time around.

So. What can I talk about that’s gluten-free, vegetarian/vegan, dairy free, sugar-free and grain free?! Something that’s globally available all year round, and somewhat familiar to most of us?

I thought about it for such a long time (really; these are the kinds of things that keep me up at night) and eventually came back to the potato. It sometimes gets forgotten as a boring staple, but there is so much you can do with a steamed (or a combi steam roasted) potato.

I want to go way back to basics today, and focus just on steamed potatoes. They’re ridiculously easy to prepare using the steam-only function in your oven, and have loads of what I refer to as ‘kitchen opportunities’ where you can turn them into other dishes.

Some advantages of steaming potatoes

Nutrient retention: Steaming is a gentle cooking method that helps preserve the nutritional value of potatoes.
Texture: Steaming allows potato flesh to retain its firmness while still being cooked through and tender. And if you steam potatoes with the skin on, that skin becomes almost ‘snappy’ with a little chew.
Versatility: Mash, cube, slice, serve with butter or add to salads, soups, casseroles, and stir-fries. Steaming gives you perfectly cooked potatoes that are ready to be incorporated into countless different recipes.
Flavor: If you’ve never eaten a steamed potato you’re probably thinking they’re basically tasteless and serve only as a vehicle for other flavors. But steamed potatoes have a purer, more pronounced potato flavor that’s hard to describe until you’ve tried them.

How To Steam Potatoes

You don’t need a recipe for this, but here are the basics so you turn out perfect potatoes every time you steam them.

Start by preheating your steam oven to the Steam setting, 212°F/100°C (100% humidity). Some manufacturers would have you start from a cold oven when cooking, but I find preheating to give the most repeatable, consistent results.
Potatoes can be steamed with the skin on or off, depending on what you’re going to do with them later.
For sliced or diced potatoes (skin on or skin off, it doesn’t matter), first make sure you’re cutting the potatoes into even sized pieces so they all cook at the same time. As you cut, drop the potatoes into a bowl of water. This rinses off excess starch and stops the potatoes from becoming gummy on the outside when you steam them.
Drain the water from the potatoes and arrange them in a single layer in a lightweight stainless steel tray. I prefer a solid tray here, or a perforated set over a solid. Otherwise you end up with potato starch dripping into the bottom of the oven as they steam.
If you’d like salted steamed potatoes, sprinkle them with salt now. I use half a teaspoon of fine salt to a pound (500g) potatoes.
Cook the potatoes until they can be easily pierced with a knife. 1-inch (2.5cm) diced pieces take around 20 minutes, smaller pieces will take less time and larger more.
For whole, skin on potatoes, just put the potatoes in a single layer in a lightweight stainless steel tray. If you have a perforated pan with your oven, this is a great time to use it. Steam the potatoes until a knife easily pierces the flesh and there’s no resistance; depending on size, this will take anywhere from 30-60 minutes.
That’s it! Dress and serve the potatoes as a side dish or use them as an ingredient in another dish.

Recipe: Bombay Potatoes

I cannot lay claim to any authenticity or connection to a particular region with this tasty potato dish. But I can guarantee you a completely delicious recipe made from steamed potatoes! It’s adapted from an old magazine-clipped article from the 1990’s, and with minimal tweaking I find it perfectly suited to combi steam.

I generally make Bombay Potatoes with leftover steamed potatoes straight from the fridge. It’ll be the best leftovers you’ve had in a long time.

Serves 2 as a light meal, 4 as a side dish

Prep Time 10 minutes (if you already have steamed potatoes on hand)

Cooking Time approx 30 minutes

Ingredients

4 Tbsp butter, divided in half
1 onion, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
2 tsp garam masala (Indian style blend of spices, available in good supermarkets and Indian grocers)
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1 lb (500g) steamed potatoes, cut into 1 ½ inch (3-4cm) pieces
Salt and black pepper
Sliced red onion and green onion, to serve (optional)

Instructions

Preheat your oven to Combi Steam, 400°F/200°C, 50% (medium) steam.
Put half of the butter in a large baking dish and scatter the chopped onions over the top. Place in the oven and cook for 10-15 minutes, stirring a few times, until the onions are soft and turning golden. Add the garlic and spices and return the dish to the oven for 2 minutes.
Add the potatoes to the dish, mixing to coat them in the aromatics and spices. Put the dish back in the oven and cook for 10 minutes, then toss the potatoes around, crushing them slightly with the back of the spoon. Add the rest of the butter at this point if it’s looking a little dry.
Return to the oven again and continue cooking for a further 10-15 minutes, until the potatoes are very soft and and beginning to brown at the edges. The onions and garlic should be golden.
Season everything well with salt and pepper and serve warm, making sure you scrape any golden crusty bits from the dish as you’re serving up. Scatter the red and green onions over the top.

Notes

I generally make Bombay Potatoes with leftover steamed potatoes straight from the fridge. Warm, freshly steamed potatoes will work fine though.
If you’d like to spin this into a balanced meal rather than a side dish, mix through a few good handfuls of spinach and a cup of frozen peas at the end of cooking, letting the spinach wilt into the potatoes and the peas warm through. A crispy fried egg on top will add protein and a lovely extra textural element. Mango chutney alongside is optional but highly recommended.

Nutrition

I generally make Bombay Potatoes with leftover steamed potatoes straight from the fridge. It’ll be the best leftovers you’ve had in a long time.

The Season Flip

Other things to do with steamed potatoes, whatever your location and season!

Southern Hemisphere

Potato soup

Combine steamed potatoes, broth, sautéed onions or leeks, garlic, salt and pepper. Blend the mixture until smooth and creamy, then heat it gently. Add a little cream if you’d like it to be extra indulgent. Snipped chives, grated cheese, or sour cream would be welcome toppings, and crusty bread alongside is non-negotiable.

Northern Hemisphere

Potato salad

Allow diced steamed potatoes to cool a little, then toss them with a dressing of mayonnaise, mustard, vinegar, and herbs. Add finely chopped celery, onions, pickles, and hard-boiled eggs. Cooked bacon is optional, but we never have potato salad without it.

A Thing I'm Loving

There are lots of things I use in the kitchen that aren’t specifically related to steam ovens! Perhaps you’d like to know about some of them?

Today, I want to share about my absolute favorite cookware, Solidteknics. I bought a Solidteknics fry pan not long after they entered the market, and I love it like a fourth child. It’s indestructible and goes from freezer to oven to table and even outside to the barbecue. It’s hefty but nowhere near the weight of my cast iron cookware, so I can move it around easily. Oh, and there’s no chemical-laden coating to scratch or flake off.

Solidteknics are lifetime-investment kind of pieces, but they really will last a lifetime (and the brand has a warranty to back that up). They’re available in many parts of the world now, and I can’t recommend them enough if you’re in the market for a pot or pan splurge.

*note: some of the links to A Thing I’m Loving are affiliate links, meaning I make a small commission if you make a purchase from that business. But rest assured I will never, ever share something I don’t personally recommend.

Ask Me Anything (AMA)

Here’s your opportunity to ask me anything you like related to combi steam cooking!

I really encourage you to submit questions, and will do my best to answer as many as possible. Though I may not be able to get to every single question, I will carefully curate ones which are relevant and represent a variety of topics. We all learn from each other, and I often learn new things based on questions from all of you!

If you have an AMA question, please email it to [email protected]. Make sure you include the phrase INSIDERS AMA in the subject line so I can collate and read all your submissions.

That’s it for this edition of Insiders, folks. They won’t all be this long but I hope you’ve enjoyed it, and will return to the information whenever you need it again!