Robin's Outdoors

New potatoes are an early summer treat we look forward to each year. Salmon, fresh peas and new potatoes are traditional Fourth of July fare.

New potatoes aren’t a variety or certain color, common misconceptions. They are literally new potatoes — immature potatoes that are large enough to be worth the effort it takes to harvest them, but nowhere near being full grown.

New potatoes hide in the soil.

They have all the flavor of a mature potato and, according to some folks, taste even better. I’ll take new potatoes, mashed with a fork and served with a little butter, salt and pepper any day.

Potato blossoms white, light blue, lavender or pink depending on the variety.

Potato blossoms are beautiful. In Fort Fairfield, potatoes are celebrated at the Maine Potato Blossom Festival in mid-July. Potato lovers, growers and processors get together for a street dance, a Saturday morning parade and a beauty pageant where they crown a new Potato Blossom Festival Queen each year. There aren’t many places that lay claim to mashed potato wrestling.

It’s time to harvest new potatoes when the plants blossom. Notice I didn’t say “dig.” New potatoes are harvested by pushing away some of the mounded soil from one side of the plant. I harvest when the soil is dry. It’s easier to find the potatoes in dry soil than in mud; they are cleaner when you pull them out and easier to clean without damaging the very thin skin.

A new potato, still attached to its plant.

Reach in and feel around until you find the baby potatoes. They break from the stem easily. Take one or two and push the soil back against the stem. There aren’t many potatoes to choose from this soon. Don’t be discouraged if you don’t find any; just move on to the next plant. They might be there but deeper or on the opposite side from where you’ve been searching.

The thin skins on new potatoes are easily damaged during the harvest and washing. Don’t scrub these tiny potatoes. Stick them under the kitchen faucet and gently wash away the soil with your fingers. New potatoes should be used quickly as they don’t store well.

New potatoes have thin, delicate skin.

New potatoes are too moist to fry or bake well. They’re great in potato salad and don’t take a lot of prep time because they’re already small. They cook faster than a full-size potato, so watch them closely. Cut them into bite size pieces and simmer until fork tender, then make your salad the same way as usual.

For a surprisingly good taste, add fresh mint to the water when boiling the potatoes. I didn’t think I’d like it. Potatoes and mint? Delicious! Potatoes cooked with mint and fresh peas is simple and delicious. Use mint leaves and discard the woody stem.

It’s easy to steam them in aluminum foil on the grill. Add a small amount of herbs or spices if you’d like, enough olive oil to keep them from sticking to the foil, and close the foil tightly. Plan for about half the cooking time you’d expect with a mature potato. The higher moisture content means they cook faster.

You can use small potatoes in kabobs. I place them toward the center of the kabob to be sure they get constant heat. Meats and vegetables you use will cook faster than potatoes so you’ll need to pre-cook the potatoes. Cook them half way through, drain and cool completely.

Roasted new potatoes are delicious. Dry them well after washing so that they can be coated with olive oil. New potatoes need help from the oil to brown well.

Roasted New Potatoes

3 to 4 pounds of new potatoes that have been cut into bite size pieces

4 tablespoons olive oil

1 12-inch-long garlic scape chopped finely or two minced cloves of garlic

2 tablespoons fresh minced rosemary or 3 tablespoons dried

Salt to taste

Spray a baking dish with cooking spray. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

In a bowl, mix the olive oil, garlic, rosemary and potatoes until the potatoes are well coated. Pour into the baking pan, drizzling any excess oil and rosemary over the potatoes. Sprinkle with salt. Bake uncovered for 30 to 40 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked.

I also like to use an Italian blend of spices instead of rosemary and garlic sea salt instead of salt. A package of dry ranch-style dressing or onion soup mix is also very good.

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