Two weeks ago, on June 20, we harvested the potatoes from our test field.  We’d planted a small potato patch with several different varieties—about 25 total plants.  The potatoes tried valiantly to produce, but in digging them up it became clear how robust an enemy the ultra-clayey soil had been.   Most of the plants had been able to create little pockets of friable soil, but I mean little pockets.  Surrounding the pockets remained globs of clay the size of softballs, or even basketballs.  The plants that had created the little pockets were able to grow little potatoes.  We got three russets the size of large lemons, about half a grocery bag full of lime-sized potatoes, and the rest were really small, ranging in size from large marshmallows down to marbles.  Smallest of all were the purple Peruvians.

We cleaned our crop and set it out to dry, then after a day or so put the spuds into size-sorted paper bags and kept them in the dark.  In our family, Drew, I, and our two kids share the cooking, two nights each per week except for one person whose cooking duty is rounded down.  We decided the upcoming week’s cooking would include a Potato Challenge:  each meal would feature potatoes in some different way.

Potatoes have always been a difficult item for me to incorporate into a vegetarian meal.  It sounds silly, since they’re vegetables, but really, think about it—potatoes go with meat.  What else do they go with?  This was a stretch for us but we really did some great stuff with potatoes and I have to say, although these potatoes were small, they were TERRIFIC!  After the first couple of dinners, where everyone was saying, “Why is this potato recipe so delicious?” we came to the conclusion that, simply, these were really terribly delicious potatoes.

First up, Drew envisioned a simple vegetable soup with whole uncut baby potatoes of multiple varieties.  I made this soup, using homemade vegetable broth, leeks, carrots, and the baby potatoes, including some purples, then Dave suggested throwing in some red lentils and I tossed in a handful of Chinese Forbidden Rice (it’s black) as well.  The soup was rich and wonderful.

Next up, Drew added some oven roasted new potatoes with rosemary and whole peeled garlic cloves.  Tossed in olive oil and salt, then put into a baking dish for a slow roast of 45 minutes, this was a fabulous treatment of potatoes as a side.

Robin mashed up some microwave-steamed new potatoes for another wonderful addition to a meal, and then, on a subsequent night, faced with just 3 russets and four people, decided to go for twice baked potatoes.  She augmented the scraped-out russet filling with the leftover mashed potatoes and also boiled up some more to really create little heaping masterpieces with wonderful creamy texture and delicate top crusts.

David created a “Brinner” (breakfast dinner) with fried potatoes that are the best I’ve ever had.  Crispy, sweet, and a flavor not to be believed.

I followed with homemade pizza night featuring a whole-grained pizza with potatoes, smoked mozzerella, sundried tomatoes, and sage.

Last, I used the basil we’d also harvested to make a pesto, tossed it with some smaller-side fingerlings cut into 3/4” chunks, and oven roasted on a cookie sheet for a weekend snack.

Potato challenge was  a really fun idea and I am including the potato soup recipe we created.

NEW POTATO SOUP

8 cups vegetable stock

3 leeks, cleaned and sliced into open circles

3 carrots, thinly sliced

1 summer squash, thinly sliced and finely chopped

1-2 cups tiny new potatoes (sized ¾” diameter or smaller) - DON’T CUT THEM!

Handful red lentils

Handful Chinese black Forbidden Rice, rinsed

Dash of salt

Cook until the potatoes are tender and the lentils and rice are soft.

This makes a beautiful dark flavorful soup!

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