Make the Most of New Potatoes while they are in Season!
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My real man and I buy a sack of potatoes every few months and, keeping them happy in the cool and dark, we easily get them all eaten before they go off.
This week we needed a new sack but were tempted by 12kg sack Cornish New Potatoes instead of our normal 25kg of our favourites, Wilja.
Of course, new potatoes are not such good keepers as old potatoes but, luckily, they are quite muddy which will protect them from deterioration.
We are, however, going to have to eat even more potatoes that we usually do to get through them. Not a problem!
Boiled New Potatoes
~ There is no need to peel new potatoes; their skins are tender, tasty and nutritious. You must, of course, wash off all the dirt before cooking.
~ Tiny potatoes can be cooked whole, large ones should be cut to a similar size so that they all cook at once.
~ Put the clean potatoes into a pan of lightly salted cold water, enough to cover the potatoes. Maybe add a sprig or two of fresh mint if you have such a thing – makes them taste even more summery!
~ Bring to a boil over high heat, turn the heat right down, cover the pan and simmer till tender. Whole, tiny baby potatoes will take about 10 minutes, larger potatoes or pieces of potato a little longer. Check for doneness with a small sharp knife, if they feel tender they are ready, if not carry on cooking.
~ Strain, allow to steam dry a few minutes then do with them what you will, such as …
~ Add a knob of butter (perhaps a delicious flavoured butter – lots of ideas here) and serve alongside lovely summery dishes.
~ Toss freshly cooked new potatoes in melted brown butter with maybe some fresh herbs – read here about how to make delicious brown butter and lots of ideas for using it including Laphroaig & Brown Butter Ice Cream!
Potato Salad
~ New potatoes are perfect for making potato salad – if this is your intention do dress the potatoes with mayonnaise or dressing whilst they are still warm; they will absorb some of the dressing and become even more delicious. Here’s further details plus lots of potato salad recipes and ideas.
Crispy Crushed New Potatoes ~ a slight recipe!
~ Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/180ºC fan/gas 6.
~ Once the potatoes are cooked and drained arrange them in a single layer in a baking dish.
~ Using a potato masher crush each potato so that it has a broken skin and ragged top.
~ Drizzle with melted butter, brown butter or olive oil, sprinkle with herbs, spices or what have you and bake till golden and crisp.
Ideas for new potatoes, other than
boiling them …
New Potato & Spring Onion Pizza
Before we start, here is an easy and flexible pizza dough recipe which is enough for two pizzas but you can, of course, use a bought in pizza bases.
1 small red onion
½ tablespoon olive oil
1 medium new potato
2 eggs (or 3 if you are a greedy bugger)
salt and pepper
a knob of butter
60g mature cheddar cheese
~ Coarsely chop the spring onions and cooking them in the olive oil in accordance with my instructions for the best way to cook onions.
~ When the onions are tender thinly slice the potatoes and stir into the onions together with a fair bit of black pepper, to taste.
~ Spread the oniony potatoes over the pizza bases and manually arrange attractively.
~ Sprinkle with grated Cheddar and bake till the potato is tender and the pizza is crisp, golden and fragrant.
Potato and Hot Smoked Salmon Gratin
This is so lovely – here’s the recipe.
New Potato, Caramelised Onion & Cheddar Omelette
This has long been a favourite of mine and here’s a photo of one I ate yesterday. Use lovely strong, punchy cheddar cheese for this.
Per person
~ Prepare and cook the onion my favourite way!
~ When utterly tender thinly slice the potato and stir into the onions. Add a tablespoon of water, cover the pan and cook till the potatoes are tender (you may need to add a little more water if they start to stick to the pan).
~ Grate the cheese.
~ When the potatoes are tender make the omelette in accordance with my omelette making instructions here.
~ Add the potatoes and onions when the omelette is just moist on top and sprinkle with the cheese.
~ Fold in half and serve immediately.
So go for it and make the most of lovely new potatoes now while they are in season!
Suzy Bowler
Having been a somewhat itinerant chef for over 30 years I was amazed, on my return to the UK, at the blatant food waste that now seems to be rife in the country; amazed and irritated. So much so that I decided to start a blog about spontaneous cooking from leftovers to show people that there are great alternatives to throwing food away.
