"new potatoes" news and stories

Is it possible that the most satisfying meals are those that are not meals at all?

Thick-sliced charcuterie and slabs of cheese pressed into rough-hewn bread gnawed porchside; three spoonfuls of warm leftover risotto punchy with mushrooms; the last drumstick of the chicken drowned in a slick of pan-swirled gravy. It's messy, it's everywhere and man is it good.

Orangette takes us there -- to a long-ago Sunday supper and a cook over the moon about the arrival of new potatoes at the market. Garlic aioli was whipped up in a flurry. Friends were called. Wine was chilled. Potatoes were dished up just warm, sparkling with sea salt and ready for dunking: an astonishing triumvirate of starch, fat and salt. Molly Wizenberg applied her sauce gribiche (a glorified homemade mayo) with a liberal hand to cold chicken, asparagus and anything else within reach. In an era when the thought of a dinner party can provoke a gourmand-sized headache, it's hard not to love the notion of one sauce for all, and the most un-meal-like of meals.

[Via Orangette]

• Recipe: Pesto for New Potatoes.
• A restaurant review full of great food, sharing with friendly neighbors, and wacky outside entertainment at Two Chefs and a Table.
• Some Jersey cow, cheesy goodness with L'Hercule de Charlevoix.
• Anthony Bourdain they're not! Canadian Olympians have their own chefs and caterers along for the ride, rather than diving into Chinese cuisine at the next Olympics.
• It's mighty convenient, but there are some things to think about when ordering wine by the glass.
• Restaurant Review: The Bread Bar -- not bread, but "very nearly the best Indian food I've encountered in Canada" according to reviewer Chris Nuttall-Smith.
• A chat with Raymond Blanc.
• Recipe: Watermelon panzanella.
• The woes of finding a good burger.

In addition to all the wonderful greens, fresh onions and fragrant herbs that have been showing up in my CSA box recently, the last few weeks have been bringing with them bags of new potatoes, so recently dug that the dirt still clings to them. I tend to think of potatoes as a fall and winter type of vegetable, but I'm learning that that is because the store well, they still ripen in the summer and early fall like much of the rest of the produce.

I've been treating these potatoes simply, just cutting them into chunks, tossing them with a little olive oil, salt, pepper and some fresh rosemary and roasting them at high heat until they are tender. They are absolutely wonderful straight out of the oven, and if you have leftovers (I rarely do when I roast potatoes like this), they are also delicious cold the next day, reheated and scrambled with eggs or cut smaller and added to salad like a tender crouton.

• Grilled cheese - without the bread.
• How to make corn salad (video).
• Behind the scenes of the American Cheese Society conference.
• Should Sheryl buy a vacuum sealer for her fruits and fish?
• Tonight we're gonna party like it's 1959.
• This week's recipes: Mediterranean Chicken and Orzo Salad, Spicy Gazpacho, New Potatoes with Capers and Basil, Crab and Avocado Verrine, and Buttery Almond Crisps.

Over the past few years, the potato has fallen out of fashion with those who watch their weight, due to the popularity of low carb diets. One medium spud, with skin on, has no fat, about 110 calories and 23 grams of carbohydrates. In low carb diet plans, like Atkins, the maximum number of carbs “allowed” daily could be as low as 20 grams. Potatoes were to low carb-ers what heavy cream is to low fat dieters: feared and forbidden. But potatoes are back on the menu now.

Scientists in the UK have developed a low carb potato, the Vivaldi. With a creamy texture, the potato has 38% fewer carbohydrates and 56% fewer calories than a traditional potato. The potatoes are currently available at Sainsbury markets, but it’s only a matter of time before they make their way to the U.S. side of the Atlantic. Carb-conscious french fries could be on menus in the near future, too.

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