By MARY ANN LIENHART CROSS
County Extension Director, Purdue Extension Elkhart County

February is National Potato Month.

The potato is versatile, economical, and loaded with important nutrients. For you to make the most of your food dollars you have to prepare potatoes in their raw form, which means that you buy them in the produce section, not the deli, freezer, or packaged food isle.

Potatoes are nutritious and are a good source of vitamins. A medium-size potato, which is three potatoes per pound, provides almost one half the vitamin C recommended daily for an average adult. Potatoes also supply B-1 and niacin to the diet. No single food can provide all the iron needed every day. Therefore, it is essential to eat several iron-rich foods daily. Potatoes, because of their popularity, actually provide more iron to the American diet than any other vegetable, even though lima beans, Brussels sprouts, and peas, for example, contain more iron per serving. Ninety-three percent of the iron in potatoes is usable by the body.

Carbohydrates are essential to the body but are often misunderstood as meaning fat. The body needs more than three times as much carbohydrates as protein in order to provide necessary energy to the brain, heart, lungs and muscles. In addition, the potato gives good nutritional return for every gram of carbohydrate it contains.

Now, more about these parmesan baked potato strips. You can use any kind of pan but if you have cast iron skillets or griddles use them. You can use a glass baking pan or a cookie sheet if you don’t have the cast iron skillets but these baked potato strips are the best prepared in the cast iron.

Begin by setting the oven for 450 degrees and place your skillet in the oven to warm. Meanwhile, scrub the potatoes, pat dry, and with a sharp knife, cut in strips, lengthwise. The smaller you cut them the quicker they will bake. Now cut each of these pieces in half.

Place the cut up potatoes in a flat-bottomed bowl and sprinkle a little oil on them and stir or toss to coat. Next, create your favorite seasoning mix; I like using parmesan cheese, coarse cracked pepper and a little seasoning salt. Mix this together and then sprinkle on the potatoes and toss. Now pour the seasoned potatoes into the hot skillet and place the skillet or pan back in the oven. Set the timer for 10 minutes then remove the skillet and use a metal spatula and flip the fries over. Return the fries to the oven and bake until fork-tender, about seven minutes or more.

These baked potato strips are best if eaten warm. You can also hold them on a baking stone or in a casserole but don’t tightly cover them as they will steam and become soggy. The potato strips are great served with cocktail sauce, warm cheese sauce and of course ketchup.