A Simple Yet Delicious Potato Dish

This very easy potato dish is a must try for all potato lovers or even just potato likers.  But before I get into the dish, let us first have a little potato discussion, specifically little potatoes – I apologize if I’ve posted this before.

When potatoes grow the plant puts on several potatoes but one at a time, so when they are dug there will be everything from fully grown to pea sized tubers on the root system and commercial growers harvest them all at the same time.  Therefore, when you see them in the grocery store and the small ones are labeled as new potatoes, they almost never are and are likely the same age as the big ones setting beside them.  These are larger than I like for the dish but all I had on hand - note the places where the skin was damaged during harvesting but healed over (yellowish places).

About the only way to get new potatoes (just a couple of days out of the ground) is to get them from a local grower you know or at a farmers market.  You can tell if you have new potatoes as some of the skin will come off when you wash them.  This is before washing and note the skin has rubbed off just from harvesting and transporting them.  These are larger ones left after using the smaller ones below.

And why should you care, you asked – good question.  The answer is that the new ones taste better – why you asked.  Like corn, the sugar begins turning to starch as soon as they are removed from the plant so the new potatoes are a little sweeter and perhaps a little creamier – enough so that you can tell the difference – maybe a taste test is in order.  The following recipe works for new or just small potatoes - it's pretty complicated so read carefully J

New Potatoes Browned in Butter

3-4 potatoes per person, smaller than a golf ball or cut in half if larger

1 stick of butter – more or less depending on potato quantity

1. Gently wash the potatoes, trying not to remove the skin (if new potatoes), and cut in half if needed.

2. Par boil in salted water until fork tender and drain well in a colander.

3. Melt butter over medium high heat and add potatoes in a single layer.  Lightly brown and turn, repeating until they are browned on all sides - the crispy outside is the key to the dish.

4. Garnish with your favorite and serve.

I forgot to get a shot in the pan, but these are the leftovers from our first batch.  The leftovers work really well with eggs the next morning.

For the next batch, we tossed in some green onion bottoms then tops and served them with some onion smothered pork chops.

I’d never had this until I met Beverly and as simple as it is, it is one of my favorite potato dishes and I’ve grown potatoes just so we can have it.  If you like potatoes, I know you will like it and if you can get your hands on some new potatoes, you’ll like it even better.  If all you can get is large new potatoes just cube them about golf ball size.

Photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry

5/30/14 event date