On The Side #2 | Baby Potatoes
'new', 'baby', 'mini' ... whatever you call them, they're a super side
Probably as a hangover from writing a book of side dishes (and thus ruminating too long over carbs that are excellent but not obvious), I am frequently guilty of overlooking the potato. My wife hates me for it (one of many legitimate gripes tbh), and no longer even bothers to offer a poker face in response to the gourmet items I bring to the table. Apparently most would be better if they’d started life as a spud.
She has a point: what a versatile, nutritious, adaptable, embellish-able, and deceptively delicious-in-it’s-own-right vegetable this is. Albeit too versatile and adaptable for a feature of this length and nature; it needs a book, really.
Indeed I wasn't going to turn to the potato quite so soon. However, last week I spied, cooked and ate some outstanding baby potatoes from Anna Jones’ new book Easy Wins, and was reminded not only that my my wife is right (about us needing to eat more potatoes), but also that ‘new’ or ‘baby’ potatoes would be a good subset to get stuck into. So here we go.
Anna’s squashed and roasted cheese and pickle baby potatoes — the recipe that sparked this column — is included (with permission!) in a set of 4 (four!) ideas below.
Top image credit: Matt Russell
Final nudge that my Good Eggs preorder competition closes midnight today (UK). The prize is a year’s supply of Clarence Court eggs and a trio of KitchenAid gadgets. Details are in this post.
Same same but occasionally different
‘Baby’, ‘Mini’, ‘Micro’ … are words splashed on bags of potatoes in UK Supermarkets as a description of what are classically known as ‘new’ potatoes. These are small potatoes (c.3cm-6cm) that have been harvested before they reach maturity. And this means that their taste is relatively sweet and skin is thin. Also: no hairs on their chest.
In some cases new/baby potatoes are literally just small versions of the potatoes they would have grown to become. Most shops sell, for example, baby Charlotte potatoes (the classic waxy salad potato) and Desirees (the red skinned allrounder). There are also loads of other cultivars that are generally only sold as new potatoes.
If you look closely you’ll see names like Vivaldi, Accent, Jazzy and Casablanca. And I started writing this feature with the aim of suggesting which of them are best for which method of cooking. But then realised that although some definitely roast a little better than others, and others are slightly better when crushed or seem ideal for boiling … it’s just not a very practical way to approach it. Not least because those names are in the small print, choice isn’t always there and, ultimately, if one stops nitpicking, they are all fine at most things.
That said, a handful of small potato varieties are often singled out and relatively easy to get hold of when in season (in the UK at least):
Some notable small spuds:`
Jersey Royals — the prince of new potatoes are only grown on the island of Jersey and have PDO designation. Nutty, sweet and thin skinned, you do see recipes suggesting that they’re roasted or baked or generally messed around with. But really they’re perfect just boiled, then dressed with salt, pepper, butter, perhaps a hint of fresh mint. End of March-July.
Pink Fir Apples — long, knobbly potato. Waxy and creamy and have, relative to other small potatoes, a fairly thick skin — which is particularly good baked or roast.
Anya — a variety developed for the supermarket brand Sainsbury’s, and a cross between a Pink Fir and Desiree potato. So there’s the knobbly, enjoyably thick skin of the pink fir, but also the all rounder qualities (not fully waxy nor fully flour) of a Desiree.
La Ratte — curvy, knobbly and long, these are quite buttery to taste and (to my mind) slightly more floury than they are waxy. Great when boiled and crushed, or par-boiled, squashed and roast. See the recipes below!
New/baby potatoes go especially well with
Essentially, pretty much any time you’d consider another form of potato, baby potatoes work well. But the excel as accompaniments:
to any fish (something to do with their size, but also their sweetness);
next to smaller cuts of meat that have been grilled or fried (steaks, pork and lamb chops, neck fillets;
when there’s a sauce in which they can roll or be swooshed through (this could be a sauce that’s integral to the dish (a stew or casserole), one that’s a condiment (romesco sauce or aioli, for eg), or something creamy and clingy relating to the centrepiece (like a pepper or blue cheese sauce paired with a steak); and
in summer. A Sunday roast on a warm day? New potatoes. A barbecue? New potatoes. Some salads and dips for picking at but need a bit of bulk? New potatoes.
Serve alongside
Too many things to write a definitive list. But it’s often good to have:
something that’ll pop — both in colour and flavour — such as peas, sweetcorn, broad beans, roast peppers, tomatoes, fennel; and/or
something green and luscious, such as wilted to creamed spinach, slightly overcooked broccoli, kale, chard or cavolo nero, or a really generously dressed green or bitter leaf salad.
Useful condiments and seasonings
If the potato is served without embellishment, I think it’s pretty important for there to be a condiment or sauce nearby. The aforementioned romesco sauce and aioli are standouts. See also salsa verde, chimchurri, pesto, minted yoghurt, spiced yoghurt (whether sweet spices like nutmeg and fennel seeds, or the likes of cumin and turmeric). Could also spike some mayonnaise with Sriracha, gochujang or a hot sauce.
If the potatoes are boiled, then butter or an oil-based vinaigrette, both added while the potatoes are still steaming, are dressings that are worthy of their classic status. It’s important to be heavy-handed with salt. Black pepper is good too. Fresh soft herbs (basil, dill, parsley, tarragon, chives). And something sharp, such as lemon juice, a splash of sherry vinegar, or things like olives, capers, gherkins/cornichons or pickled, finely sliced onions.
If you’ve roasted the potatoes, then garlic and/or thyme or rosemary are obvious additions during the cooking stage (NB best added half way through roasting). Also consider spices such as bashed but not fully ground coriander, cumin or fennel. Or finishing with a glaze, such as honey, maple syrup, melting cured meats (nduja, sobrasada), sesame oil and seeds.
How to cook baby potatoes
To prepare:
don’t peel, ever. Just wash thoroughly, scrubbing if necceasary;
if there’s disparity between sizes, halve those that are particularly big (so they cook in the same amount of time).
And then choose the style you fancy. Plain and ‘clean’? Boil them in well salted water. And consider adding a dressing or at least a little butter at the end. Crunchy and satisfying? Roast them.
There are other methods (steam, deep-fry) and subtle variations (see for example the crushed boiled potatoes in the recipes), and cooking times are size-dependent, but broadly:
Boiled — start in cold, well-salted water, then 10-20 minutes until fully tender. Because many are waxy, they’re typically quite forgiving and better over-cooked than under. There are some little tests like seeing how quickly they slip of the point of a knife … but really the best way to check it cooked, is to try one.
Roasted — often recipes suggest simply rolling the potatoes in olive oil or cold-pressed rapeseed oil, then putting the potatoes straight in the oven and roasting at 180-200C fan. This works. But will probably take longer than you think (50 mins? 1 hour?), and needs occasional shuffling. I like … but the potatoes tend to shrivel as they cool, often never fully crisp or bronze, and to my mind are not as good as…
Par-boiled, squashed and roasted — which is the best way to get soft inner, and truly crispy, crunchy, chewy skins. Start in cold, well-salted water, then 8-15 minutes of cooking, removing only a little before you’d take them out to eat if boiling. Drain then leave to steam dry and cool a little (even until no longer hot/refrigerated). Doing so helps them stick together when you squash them to about 1cm thick with a fish slice/masher/your palm/thumb. Good glug of olive oil or cold-pressed rapeseed oil; roast (180-200C) for 25 minutes; then turn each potato over, and roast for around 15-20 minutes more until properly golden and crisp. Season liberally with salt at this point (or add an alternative embellishment).
Finally, quantity: you need more per person if roasting (moisture is lost. Also: moreish), and people’s appetite for boiled baby potatoes seems to vary wildly (and depend on what else is on the table). But as a general rule: 250-300g per person if roast; 150-200g per person if boiled/steamed.
The Recipes
The possibilities are infinite. But recipes and video samples for 4 excellent embellishments follow. None go much beyond sprinkling, drizzling or stirring-through, yet the tiny extra effort is worth it.
Brown butter, sage and chilli crushed baby potatoes
Boiled baby potatoes with salsa verde oil, capers and lemon
Crispy squashed sobrasada and hot honey baby potatoes
Cheese and pickle baby potatoes (extracted from Anna Jones’s super new book Easy Wins (4th Estate; image by Matt Russell)
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