Riley Marie’s New Potatoes in Garlic Cream

Cathy, over at Noble Pig is hosting the first Potato Ho-Down on her blog this week. Here is the badge for participants:
Wild isn’t it? If you go to her site, you will see that all participants must have a Potato Ho-down name. Mine is Riley Marie – you have to go to her site yourself to find out why. Today is the last day I can post a recipe and have it be included and I am nothing if not procrastinacious, so Monday will be recipe day this week. Come back tomorrow if you were looking for the usual scintillating repartee I am sure you have come to expect.

This is a very timely event for me – we got potatoes people! Unfortunately, I was really busy yesterday, so there is only 1 photo, that of the finished product, so you will have to take my word for the fact that we have a lot of potatoes. I can’t even go down to the garden and take a photo there, because as you no doubt realize, potatoes grow under the ground and in the dirt and my underground lens is in the shop and besides it is pouring rain.

In fact, the potatoes are really impressing us this year and the ones I used can only really be termed new-ish. They are still new in the sense that Larry dug them about an hour before we ate them, but usually new potatoes are expected to be small. The rainy summer we are having is really revving up the garden and like everything else, the potatoes are bigger than normal for this time of year. Cooking potatoes this fresh is very much like watching Mario Batali whack some big fish in the head with a cleaver before he cooks it on Iron Chef. Well, except the potatoes don’t flop around nearly as much. You get the idea though. Anyway – I threw this together a couple weeks ago when we had the first potatoes from the garden this year. I tweaked it a bit and simplified the flavors and I think you are going to love it.

First – the potatoes. Little, fresh red potatoes are best, but really any potatoes are better than no potatoes, so whatever you have is going to be good. Wash well and cut them if necessary to get them all the same size so that they cook evenly. I used about 2 lbs here, but the sauce can be doubled or tripled to expand the number of servings. Leave the skins on unless they are in bad shape. Put them in a saucepan, throw in a teaspoon of kosher salt and put enough water in the pan so the potatoes are just short of being covered. Cook at a simmer until they are done, but not at all mushy. Drain.

Meanwhile, smash and mince up a couple cloves of garlic. We like garlic, so I used two large cloves – you can use less if you aren’t as big a fan. Or use more if you don’t have to talk to anyone face to face for the next couple days. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a small pan and add garlic. Keeping heat very low, sauté the garlic for a couple minutes. Do not let it get brown. Add about 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon all purpose flour and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Stir and cook for about 2 minutes. Very gradually, add 1/2 cup of half and half that has been mixed with 1/2 cup of 1% milk*, stirring constantly, until all the dairy has been added and the whole thing bubbles and thickens. [Any combo will work here, including all half and half or all milk – let your hips be your guide. Larry’s are narrow, mine are wider so I split the difference] Adjust the seasoning, adding salt and pepper to taste. The idea is to have a light cream sauce – not a thick bechamel. I wanted to keep the dish light and fresh.

Coarsely chop 1/4 cup of fresh flat leaf parsley.

Using a fairly wide serving dish, layer 1/2 of the potatoes, 1/2 of the parsley and 1/2 of the sauce. Repeat layers and finish with some coarsely ground pepper. It should look something like this

And here is something I am going to try and do from now on – the recipe without all the hogwash:
2 lbs new red potatoes
2 tablespoons butter
2 cloves fresh garlic, minced
1 tablespoon, plus 1 teaspoon all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup half and half
1/2 cup 1% milk
1/4 cup fresh flat leaf parsley, coarsely chopped
salt to taste
fresh coarsely ground pepper

Boil potatoes in salted water, just until done, drain.

Melt butter in small pan, add garlic and sauté over very low heat for about 2 minutes. Add flour and 1/2 teaspoon salt, sauté another 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Combine dairies and gradually add, 1/4 cup at a time, stirring constantly, until each addition is thickened. Taste and add salt if needed. To assemble, put 1/2 of the potatoes in a wide serving dish, sprinkle over half the parsley, pour over half the sauce and repeat layers. Finish with fresh coarsely ground pepper. makes about 4 servings as a side dish.

If you love potatoes, make sure you hit Cathy’s site on Wednesday and check out all the recipes.