Easy Fixes for 8 Common Kitchen Mishaps

How to salvage overcooked chicken, a crumbly cake, mushy vegetables, and more.

How to Fix Mushy Potatoes

Problem: You intended to boil those new potatoes just until fork-tender. But when you drained them, they collapsed into mush.

Solution: "Make mashed potatoes,'" Rozanne Gold, a chef and author of the 1-2-3 series of cookbooks, says. Not in the mood for a mash, make home fries: Drain the potatoes and fry them in a skillet with a small amount of fat―olive or peanut oil, butter, or bacon drippings―stirring occasionally, until golden and crisp, about 20 minutes.

Next time: Gently simmer the potatoes instead of boiling them. The lower temperature causes the starch in them to swell more slowly. As a result, only a bit of the gummy starch leaks out of the potatoes and into the cooking water, says Shirley O. Corriher, a food scientist and the author of CookWise: The Secrets of Cooking Revealed ($35, amazon.com).