FROM THE FARMERS

 Several years ago my grandmother asked me if I had graveled the potatoes, and I had absolutely no idea what she was talking about. After she explained graveling, I realized it’s one of the greatest temptations of raising potatoes. The basic idea is to check to see if the tubers are growing by removing dirt around the plant with your hand to prevent killing the plant if the potatoes aren’t ready. If you do find a couple large potatoes on the plant you can pluck those off while leaving the plant growing in the ground so the other potatoes get larger. Graveling on a large scale is impractical, but we’ve been graveling for several week now, trying to get an idea of our potential harvest. I like the idea of going slow, and testing along the way, but sometimes you just have to go for it… so we’re going to have red, white and blue new potatoes in the box this week. Happy Independence Day!

Bryce

THE PATH TO NO-TILL

Garlic Roasted New Potato Salad

In a large gratin dish, toss the potatoes, olive oil, rosemary, two-thirds of the garlic, and the salt and pepper until the garlic and oil are well distributed.  Spread the potatoes in a single layer with the skin sides facing down.  Preheat the oven to 450oF.  Place gratin dish in the oven and cook for about 45 minutes, or until potatoes begin to brown; shake pan after the first 20 minutes and again after 15 more minutes.  Take potatoes from the oven and let cool for 15 minutes.

Remove potatoes from the pan with a metal spatula to avoid breaking the potatoes and place them in a large bowl.

In a small bowl mix the mayonnaise with the remaining garlic and the parsley.  Squeeze the juice of the lemon halves, making sure to remove seeds, into the mayonnaise.  Stir until it is smooth.

Combine mayonnaise with the potatoes and serve.

From:  The Dean & DeLuca Cookbook, Random House, 1996