New Potatoes

It may come as a surprise to find that old and new potatoes are often treated differently by professional chefs when boiling them. The differences are subtle, but important

When cooking new potatoes try to match them in size as much as possible. They are delicate little things and do not take too kindly to over-cooking.

Scrub the potatoes well, but do not peel them, and put them in the bottom of a dry saucepan with 1 tsp of salt and a sprig each of parsley and mint. Cover them with boiling water, put the lid on the pan and cook for about 20 minutes.

Check they are done by pushing a skewer or thin bladed knife through one of the potatoes and lifting it. It should slide gracefully back into the water under its own weight. If it doesn't lift, it's overcooked; if it sticks to the skewer it's underdone.

One you can cook for a bit longer, the other is going to end up as mash.

Okay. Drain the potatoes and reserve the cooking liquid to make soup or gravy. Return them to a dry pan over a low heat and cover them with a clean cloth. Allow them to remain like that for about 4 minutes while you do something else.

Finally, remove the cloth, add a little butter and some chopped mint and parsley. Turn the potatoes in this to coat them with the mixture and then serve them in a lordly dish.

This is easily the best way of cooking those first, early potatoes to preserve all their flavor and most of their nutrients.

For a professional method of boiling old potatoes, follow this link; Old Potatoes

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