Your Basic Guide to Potato Recipes
         Baked potatoes are an excellent starchy side dish to any nice dinner, and they make great reheatable lunches, too.

Potatoes don't have to be limited to baking or mashing, though. There are countless delicious dishes you can make out of potatoes! Just make sure you get the right potato for the right job.

Here are the three most common kinds of cooked potatoes:

Cooking Russet Potatoes

Russet potatoes are probably the variety that first come to mind. These brown, oval-shaped potatoes have white, starchy innards and a coarse feel to them. They are the ideal baking potatoes, so if you're looking to learn how to bake a potato, pick up some russets! Russet potatoes also lend themselves to French frying and mashing.

Cooking Red Gold Potatoes

Red gold potatoes are named for both their reddish-brown
skins and their golden insides. They're smaller, rounder, and smoother than russet potatoes, and they are at their best when they're oven roasted. Red golds are also good for mashing and boiling.

Cooking Sweet Potatoes

Although there are a number of varieties of sweet potatoes, the ones you're most likely to see at the supermarket are reddish, oblong potatoes ending in a narrow tip at one end – kind of like a squat carrot in shape. Their flesh is orange and has a natural sweetness to its taste. Sweet potatoes are typically baked or roasted, but French frying them is also a popular method of preparation.