Discussion Forum | A Way with Words http://www.waywordradio.org/discussion/episodes-1/we-cook-off-our-potatoes-minicast/ Simple:Press Forum Version 4.2.2 Rachel on We Cook Off Our Potatoes (minicast) http://www.waywordradio.org/discussion/episodes-1/we-cook-off-our-potatoes-minicast/#p6145 Episodes http://www.waywordradio.org/discussion/episodes-1/we-cook-off-our-potatoes-minicast/#p6145 I think Sandra50 is on the right track. My mother often said that whenever my dad commented on how good the potatoes tasted, it was when they had boiled dry. One of my aunts recently told me that if you are going to mash potatoes, you should cook them till the liquid is gone - that way they will be fluffier. So I'm guessing that "cooking them off" means cooking till the liquid is gone.

sandra50 said:

Sorry about that last post. I hit go accidentally. Anyway, I wonder if the potatoes were mashed. Our family drains the cooked potatoes and then sets them back on the burner and turns it off (electric) to "cook them off" before mashing them. This keeps them from being watery.

]]> Mon, 30 Nov 2009 06:49:39 +0000 Gemma on We Cook Off Our Potatoes (minicast) http://www.waywordradio.org/discussion/episodes-1/we-cook-off-our-potatoes-minicast/#p6017 Episodes http://www.waywordradio.org/discussion/episodes-1/we-cook-off-our-potatoes-minicast/#p6017 Mightn't "cook off" just be a synonym for "cook", a bit like "cook up a batch of"?

In that case the sign would presumably be saying that they cook their own potatoes on site and/or from raw.... as opposed to buying in frozen potato products, perhaps?

I'm basing this guess just on googling, e.g. "cook off some potatoes" and "cook off potatoes". These (very few) results don't seem to show anything like potatoes being held around in a pan all day.

]]> Mon, 02 Nov 2009 18:15:14 +0000 martha on We Cook Off Our Potatoes (minicast) http://www.waywordradio.org/discussion/episodes-1/we-cook-off-our-potatoes-minicast/#p5879 Episodes http://www.waywordradio.org/discussion/episodes-1/we-cook-off-our-potatoes-minicast/#p5879 Tromboniator, I have to say I'm with Ron on this. And I have to wonder if you're from the West Coast. I never met so many people who hated cilantro until I moved out here. Although I did have a pal back in Kentucky who described the taste of cilantro as the taste of "cheap crayons." But he actually LIKED that taste. De gustibus non disputandum, eh?

]]> Mon, 19 Oct 2009 19:58:37 +0000 Ron Draney on We Cook Off Our Potatoes (minicast) http://www.waywordradio.org/discussion/episodes-1/we-cook-off-our-potatoes-minicast/#p5867 Episodes http://www.waywordradio.org/discussion/episodes-1/we-cook-off-our-potatoes-minicast/#p5867
tromboniator said:

I'm wondering "what in the heck" anybody finds edible in cilantro. Yuck.

Apparently there's a genetic thing wherein some people can taste it properly and some can't. Those with the defective form of the gene are unable to distinguish it from soap, while those of use with an intact sense of taste love the stuff.

(I'm an extreme case. I use so much cilantro when I cook that it qualifies as a vegetable rather than an herb.)

]]> Sun, 18 Oct 2009 02:27:14 +0000 tromboniator on We Cook Off Our Potatoes (minicast) http://www.waywordradio.org/discussion/episodes-1/we-cook-off-our-potatoes-minicast/#p5866 Episodes http://www.waywordradio.org/discussion/episodes-1/we-cook-off-our-potatoes-minicast/#p5866 I'm wondering "what in the heck" anybody finds edible in cilantro. Yuck.

]]> Sun, 18 Oct 2009 00:56:54 +0000 Stephen on We Cook Off Our Potatoes (minicast) http://www.waywordradio.org/discussion/episodes-1/we-cook-off-our-potatoes-minicast/#p5865 Episodes http://www.waywordradio.org/discussion/episodes-1/we-cook-off-our-potatoes-minicast/#p5865 I haven't run into "cook off" in this context, but I have run into the sister of the waitress who the truck driver encountered. Eons ago I stopped at a small, rural eatery on Saipan that had tofu with about everything. Tofu was not in my lexicon so I asked that waitress what tofu was. She gave me a look similar to what the truck driver got and explained to me that tofu was tofu. I have tried to remember this when someone asks me a question that sounds obvious to me. It is not obvious to the asker.

]]> Sat, 17 Oct 2009 12:32:18 +0000 Glenn on We Cook Off Our Potatoes (minicast) http://www.waywordradio.org/discussion/episodes-1/we-cook-off-our-potatoes-minicast/#p5860 Episodes http://www.waywordradio.org/discussion/episodes-1/we-cook-off-our-potatoes-minicast/#p5860 I found several examples of cook the moisture off x and cook off the moisture (from x). But the examples of cook off the x do not logically fit those moist meanings because these are done after the thing is cooked through, but the context of cook off x always comes before the item is cooked through. I think it means something else, but I'm still not sure what.

]]> Fri, 16 Oct 2009 05:36:50 +0000 Goheels on We Cook Off Our Potatoes (minicast) http://www.waywordradio.org/discussion/episodes-1/we-cook-off-our-potatoes-minicast/#p5859 Episodes http://www.waywordradio.org/discussion/episodes-1/we-cook-off-our-potatoes-minicast/#p5859 I've heard the phrase "cook off" but usually in reference to something like bacon, as in to cook off the fat.

]]> Thu, 15 Oct 2009 19:43:51 +0000 johng423 on We Cook Off Our Potatoes (minicast) http://www.waywordradio.org/discussion/episodes-1/we-cook-off-our-potatoes-minicast/#p5854 Episodes http://www.waywordradio.org/discussion/episodes-1/we-cook-off-our-potatoes-minicast/#p5854 Probably off-topic: WHAT _IN_ THE HECK - In iTunes, the description for this podcast episode says, "...what in the heck does that mean?" I have heard both "What the hell..." and "What in hell..." and "What the heck..." but not "What _in_ heck..." or "What _in the_ heck..." Can you tell us about that usage?

]]> Thu, 15 Oct 2009 11:53:50 +0000 sandra50 on We Cook Off Our Potatoes (minicast) http://www.waywordradio.org/discussion/episodes-1/we-cook-off-our-potatoes-minicast/#p5850 Episodes http://www.waywordradio.org/discussion/episodes-1/we-cook-off-our-potatoes-minicast/#p5850 Sorry about that last post. I hit go accidentally. Anyway, I wonder if the potatoes were mashed. Our family drains the cooked potatoes and then sets them back on the burner and turns it off (electric) to "cook them off" before mashing them. This keeps them from being watery.

]]> Wed, 14 Oct 2009 12:47:07 +0000 sandra50 on We Cook Off Our Potatoes (minicast) http://www.waywordradio.org/discussion/episodes-1/we-cook-off-our-potatoes-minicast/#p5849 Episodes http://www.waywordradio.org/discussion/episodes-1/we-cook-off-our-potatoes-minicast/#p5849
Grant Barrett said:

If a restaurant menu states, "We cook off our potatoes," what in the heck does that mean? A truck driver who encountered such an announcement at a roadside cafe is still puzzling over what it means to "cook off" a tuber. He phones in to hash it out.

Listen here:

[audio:http://feeds.waywordradio.org/~r/awwwpodcast/~5/WTrGszqWuig/091013-AWWW-cook-off-potatoes-minicast.mp3]

Download the MP3 here (3.37 MB).

To be automatically notified when audio is available, subscribe to the podcast using iTunes or another podcatching program.

]]> Wed, 14 Oct 2009 12:44:17 +0000 Grant Barrett on We Cook Off Our Potatoes (minicast) http://www.waywordradio.org/discussion/episodes-1/we-cook-off-our-potatoes-minicast/#p5840 Episodes http://www.waywordradio.org/discussion/episodes-1/we-cook-off-our-potatoes-minicast/#p5840 If a restaurant menu states, "We cook off our potatoes," what in the heck does that mean? A truck driver who encountered such an announcement at a roadside cafe is still puzzling over what it means to "cook off" a tuber. He phones in to hash it out.

Listen here:

[audio:http://feeds.waywordradio.org/~r/awwwpodcast/~5/WTrGszqWuig/091013-AWWW-cook-off-potatoes-minicast.mp3]

Download the MP3 here (3.37 MB).

To be automatically notified when audio is available, subscribe to the podcast using iTunes or another podcatching program.

]]> Tue, 13 Oct 2009 08:15:45 +0000