Recipe: Parsleyed New Potatoes

Parsleyed New Potatoes
From the American Institute for Cancer Research

Stores used to have just two bins of potatoes. One held all-purpose potatoes, used mostly for boiling. The other was heaped with baking potatoes, often called Idahoes. Then spuds became the fashionable favorite of chefs. Menus soon featured boutique or designer potatoes, like the long, curved Russian Banana, finger-shaped Ruby Crescent and the startling Purple Peruvian. Naturally, stores, including some supermarkets, are following suit, offering fancy and heirloom potatoes at two or three dollars a pound.

On a more down-to-earth level, thanks to this passion for potatoes, the average supermarket now carries five or six kinds, including:

Red Bliss, the red-skinned old standby for boiling and potato salad;
White Rose or other white-skinned, white-fleshed, all-purpose potato;
Russet, the long, flat, oval baking potato, also good for making light, fluffy mashed potatoes;
Yukon Gold or Yellow Finn, yellow-fleshed potatoes with a buttery taste that are equally good for boiling, mashing, roasting and salads;
Creamers, small, velvety-fleshed potatoes for boiling and roasting; and
Sweet potatoes, the bright orange-fleshed potatoes we usually call yams.

Around this time of year, "new potatoes" also start appearing. Usually, they are red- or white-skinned and two inches or less in size. To truly be new, they should be not only small but just harvested, too. You can tell if they are by looking at their skin.

Young, recently dug-up potatoes have a thin, almost translucent skin. When boiled, steamed, or roasted, this delicate covering seems to "pop" when you bite into the potato. Inside, the flesh is moist. It may even taste a bit sweet.

I prefer these tender, young potatoes steamed and drained, then returned to the hot, dry pot and shaken to roll them around with just enough sweet butter to make a glistening coat.

Parsleyed New Potatoes

1 lb. (about 24) Red Bliss or white-skinned creamer potatoes or fingerlings like Russian Banana or Ruby Crescent
1 tsp. salt
1 cup cold water
1 Tbsp. unsalted butter* at room temperature
1/4 cup finely chopped parsley
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste, if desired
4 lemon wedges (optional)

Scrub potatoes and place in large saucepan. Add salt and cold water to cover. Cover pot tightly and set over high heat. When water boils, reduce heat to medium. Cook 20 to 30 minutes, or until tender when pierced with sharp knife.

Drain potatoes. Immediately return to hot pot. Add butter, shaking pot to coat potatoes as butter melts. Sprinkle in parsley and shake again. Season potatoes to taste with salt and pepper, if desired. Serve immediately, accompanied by lemon wedges, if desired.

*Soft margarine may be used as a substitute.

Makes four servings.

Per serving: 127 calories, 3 g. fat (2 g. saturated fat), 23 g. carbohydrate, 2 g. protein, 2 g. dietary fiber, 202 mg. sodium.