Mashed Potatoes

In a great advance in cooking convenience, you now can buy potato shells in the frozen-food section of your supermarket. No more scrubbing, baking or scooping.But this luxury comes at a price. A frozen potato skin is at least triple the cost of a whole potato. What's more, if you rely on prepared products, you'll never learn the simple art of baking a potato -- a skill everyone should have.So, before you rush to your supermarket freezer case, try baking a couple of potatoes. Use the flesh for mashed potatoes or potato soup, and use the shells as dippers for a tangy salsa and a gutsy, garlicky Tzatziki Sauce.

This week's menusEach day of the week offers a menu aimed at a different aspect of meal planning. There's a family meal, a kids' menu aimed at younger tastes, a heat-and-eat meal that recycles leftovers, a budget meal that employs a cost- cutting strategy, a meatless or "less meat" dish for people who may not be strict vegetarians but are trying to cut down on meat, an express meal that requires little or no preparation, and an entertaining menu that's quick.Sunday/FamilyHead...

Each day of the week offers a menu aimed at a different aspect of meal planning. There's a family meal, a kids' menu aimed at younger tastes, a heat-and-eat meal that recycles leftovers, a budget meal that employs a cost- cutting strategy, a meatless or "less meat" dish for people who may not be strict vegetarians but are trying to cut down on meat, an express meal that requires little or no preparation, and an entertaining menu that's quick.Sunday/FamilyMake it a relaxing family day and prepare Crunchy Baked Chicken (see recipe)

RESTON, Va. - It ain't over until the Lunch Lady sings.Gooood morning or good afternoon! begins the Lunch Lady, whose Grand Ol' Opryish voice can be heard weekdays on a phone recording hailing from a government cafeteria here in Northern Virginia.Today the soup of the day will be beef barley. For the "Market Carver," we are going to feature chicken piccata, and for the "Balance Choice Option," linguine, with broccoli, peppers and carrots ...For lo these five years, the Lunch Lady has been a cult figure around Washington - and way beyond.

"Do you want half?" my sister asked as she pushed her plate in my direction.Mumbling thanks, I declined.We were working. Once again my editor had called upon the Dvorak Girls to venture forth in search of cheap eats for two (under $50). Our motto: Free meals, no dishes to wash, we're there.Yet seated in the boldly colorful and cheerful new Glen Burnie restaurant, Platters, we were both unexpectedly glum.We had arrived at the restaurant for an early Saturday dinner in the weeks after the restaurant opened.

THE OTHER NIGHT we celebrated a birthday at our house. In keeping with tradition, we all dined on the favorite meal of the celebrant.It was roast beef, "brown potatoes" -- peeled potatoes cooked with the roast beef -- and gravy. Some asparagus and a Caesar salad were tossed in, but this "greenery" was added to please my wife and me. The kid was primarily interested in the brown goods. "Make sure there is plenty of gravy," he told his mother before the meal, "usually we run out."This menu choice was somewhat predictable.

With baby cacti on the tables and a giant papier mache lizard guarding the bar, Geckos has brought the desert to Canton.In April, chefs Jim Smith and Tim Walter partnered with Nick Marrero and John Turner to open this Southwestern eatery in the building Fins used to occupy. They didn't even have to change the paint. The Caribbean pastels work as Santa Fe colors now that the palm tree and Jimmy Buffett T-shirts are gone, but the atmosphere is Buffett-style - laid back and friendly.The menu is laid back, too. It's moderately priced and full of casual fare like sandwiches, quesadillas and enchiladas.

Mikie's is the kind of place where you go for the other food but stay for the desserts.It's a local hangout where the waitresses know the regulars by name, the tablecloths have red and white checks and the meatloaf is from a recipe by Uncle Bruce.In their advertisements, the owners, a father and son, say of their Glen Burnie diner: "You'll like everything" and boast of "the best desserts in the whole wide world."Service is fast and friendly, portions are large and worth the price, and the food is down-home, deep-fat-fried good.

* Item: Inland Valley Homestyle Mashed Potatoes* What you get: 4 servings* Cost: About $2.50* Preparation time: 10 to 14 minutes microwaved, 51 to 62 minutes in the oven* Review: A reader sent a rave review of these frozen mashed potatoes after we published a positive review of another brand last fall. "You'll love them," she promised. And she was right. We tried Inland Valley's plain and seasoned versions. Both taste better than instant potatoes and are easier to make. Just pop the tray in a conventional or microwave oven, heat and serve.

Suddenly, everyone is talking about a restaurant in Sykesville called Baldwin's Station. Baltimoreans who normally find it too .. much trouble to go down to the Inner Harbor to eat are driving 45 minutes to a renovated train station where they indulge in wild mushroom ratatouille and scallops with pine nuts and sun-dried tomatoes.The renovation of the antique building is getting glowing reviews, although it actually happened almost a decade ago under different owners. But the new-as-of-last-August owners, Stewart Dearie and Austin Isemann, can take the credit for the contemporary American cuisine.

The general consensus on Dining@Large was that potatoes would be the way to go in honor of St. Patrick's Day last Tuesday, so here's a list of the best potato dishes I've had in recent memory in area restaurants. Note: The list is in alphabetical order: 1 Crisp, salty house-made chips at Abbey Burger Bistro in Federal Hill 2 Truffle potatoes at Crush in Belvedere Square 3 Frites with parsley, minced garlic and lemon zest at the Grill at Harryman House in Reisterstown 4 The golden wedge of potatoes au gratin, creamy and rich, at Henninger's Tavern in Upper Fells Point 5 Fingerling potato salad with dill at Ixia in Mount Vernon 6 Mashed potatoes with butter and cream at Lucy's Irish Pub near Lexington Market 7 The potato puree finished with brown butter at Pazo in Harbor East 8 Lobster, bacon and potato hash at Peter's Inn in Fells Point 9 Greenberg potato skins at the Prime Rib (downtown north)

The sweet potato is an often-neglected spud, regularly pushed out of the culinary limelight by mashed potatoes, its renown not even close to that of the famous french fry. The sweet potato did not help its reputation when, for prior years, it regularly showed up at the supper table, tarted up, dotted with marshmallows and calling itself "candied." There was also the problem of being orange, not a fetching color. Despite these limitations, the sweet potato is, I think, a food this fella could fall for. The sweet potato happens to be a favorite of Deborah Madison.

Trinidad Gourmet 418 E. 31st St. -- 410-243-0072 Hours --7 a.m.-8:30 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays Restaurant's estimate --5 minutes Ready in --16 minutes BEST BITE The stewed oxtail with rice and peas, $10.49, was almost too much food for one person. We ordered a side of mashed pumpkin, which was deliciously rich. A large mound of rice and peas and a couple of slices of plantain also accompanied the meat. BEST BARGAIN With cooked spinach, green beans and pumpkin covering mashed potatoes and chickpeas, the vegetarian roti, $6.30, was a solid deal.

Propped up on her aunt's lap, 1--year-old Kayla Boblett was in heaven when she dipped her tiny fingers into a pool of mashed potatoes, retrieved a sufficient glob and stuck it into her mouth. She then used her fork to spear a chuck of gravy-soaked turkey. She was in her own world and wasn't paying attention to the hundreds of people around her eating, serving up meals and giving thanks yesterday at the annual Bea Gaddy Thanksgiving dinner at the Patterson Park Recreation Center. "Mashed potatoes, that's her favorite," said her aunt Donna White of Dundalk.

Kathy Brown said the meal wouldn't be complete without mashed potatoes, gravy and stuffing. "You have to have mashed potatoes, and they want that homemade gravy and stuffing, just like you do at home with the celery and onions," said Brown, director of the Shepherd's Staff, a Westminster-based ecumenical ministry. She admitted, however, that the mashed potatoes are now boxed, rather than freshly peeled tubers. "We do everything like homemade, except the potatoes - it was just too much," she said.

There was a time I refused to discuss chains. If I did that now, half the restaurants that survive and flourish in Baltimore would never get reviewed by me. Not to mention the fact that these days they often have better food, better service and better prices than comparable locally owned places -- much as it pains me to admit it. If nothing else, the well-known chains have a better chance of surviving in spots where others have failed. Case in point, the pleasant but out-of-the-way space behind the Power Plant on Pier 4. A Houlihan's recently opened there and seems to be doing well, and my guess is the name recognition factor (the chain has been around since the early '70s)

Poaching fish in liquid is an age-old method that ensures moist, tender results. But chefs of late have been experimenting with poaching seafood in olive oil, claiming you get the same moist results but with the boost of flavor that comes from the oil. We tried the method with a salmon fillet. The key is low heat and slow cooking. The fillet came out moist throughout with an almost but not quite flaky texture. Any type of sturdy fish fillets or steaks may be cooked with this simple method.

Which potato makes the best mashed potatoes? Yukon golds or russets? In On Cooking: Techniques From Expert Chefs, a reference book often used in culinary schools, the authors call for waxy potatoes. In The America's Test Kitchen Cookbook, from the editors of Cook's Illustrated magazine, the authors cite the assets of both. "Russet potatoes make fluffier mashed potatoes," they write. "But Yukon golds have an appealing buttery flavor." So we weren't surprised when our own unofficial tasting yielded much the same results.

Sitting at a crowded cafeteria table, eating a plate of turkey and mashed potatoes at 10:30 in the morning, Dwight Sweatt made a vow. He was so moved by the experience that he promised he would attend as many school events as he could in the future. "That's my goal," he said. On Thursday, Sweatt was attending the second Meals with Magnificent Men lunch at Cradlerock School, an event that is part Thanksgiving feast, part opportunity for kindergartners to share their school with the men in their lives.

Whatever happened to the roast chicken dinner? The one your mother made on Sunday, when the preacher came for supper or when the out-of-town cousins came to visit? The one Mother made for the parents of the boy Sis hoped to marry or when her son came home on leave from the Army? Whatever happened to the roast chicken dinner? The one that filled the house with that unmistakable aroma for most of a hot summer afternoon? The smell that also heralded pan gravy, corn bread, mashed potatoes, Grandma's beans and maybe apple pie for dessert?