I have learned many different techniques from my husband, a classically trained chef.  One is a method to cook potatoes when using them in mashed potatoes, gnocchi, potato salad, fries, home fries, etc.  Boil them whole in their jackets.  This keeps the flavor and nutrients inside while reducing the water from making them soggy. 

Bring evenly sized, clean potatoes to a boil then reduce and keep them on an easy, medium boil (so they’re not getting banged about, water spilling over, etc).  Cook them until they’re soft (which depends on their size– anywhere from 20 to 40 minutes usually).  Use a skewer to check doneness. 

Potatoes boiled in their skins (jackets).

They’re so easy to peal this way too!  Strain them and if you need plunge them into cold water to stop cooking.  Using a cloth (and you might want a glove if they’re hot) take a paring knife and scrape off or peel off the skin.  It should just peel away. 

And you can then do whatever you need with the cooked potatoes.  

I made some German Style Potato Soup (which is fine use peeled-cooked potatoes since you can use the water they were cooked in) and home fries. 

Later I’ll post the recipe for the soup– so nice and refreshing in summer.