Lou's Clues: Scratch Kitchen staples -- potatoes

I suppose it's a little unfair of me to keep extolling the virtues of my "Scratch Kitchen" concept without really telling you the staple ingredients you need to have on hand for this method to work. So, starting the week, I'm going to tell you about a Scratch Kitchen staple, the potato, and give you a great example of how to use it to create flavorful savings in your life.

As a chef, and business turnaround pro, I'm often brought into restaurants to evaluate the menu and figure out how to maximize profits. The biggest trash can for profits, (or in the case of your home kitchen, savings) is the amount of prepared foods ordered from the various purveyors. One of the best examples: fries.