Summer’s here and the time is right for peeling off and cooking new potatoes, says Clare Latimer

THE early season English new potato is just the most exciting thing and it really makes you feel that summer is here.
It has popularly been taught that Sir Walter Ralegh was responsible for bringing the potato to England but Sir Francis Drake is a more likely candidate for bringing the vegetable back home after fighting the Spaniards in the Caribbean around 1586.
The Incas cultivated around 200 kinds of potato so our quite varied choice that we see in farmers’ markets and the like seems pathetic now, although there are many more varieties being used and cultivated for the various cooking methods.
For example when I was at the Chelsea Flower Show a few weeks ago I spoke to a potato grower who showed me some new varieties that were being tested on for making crisps as they were red on the outside and then speckled on the inside when sliced in half and another one was circled in various colours so watch out for patterned crisps as they are almost certainly soon to be on the market.
The potato was found to be easier to grow than wheat and oats and had more food energy so around 1650 it became the staple diet in Ireland and then this spread across Europe feeding both animals and people.
After all that time it still remains a favourite in most households. It is worth having a good look around for different flavoured and textured potatoes at Farmers Markets and supermarkets and if you look hard you will even find black new potatoes, which as far as I am aware were made famous by Prince Charles growing them on his estate.

NEW BOILED POTATOES
This is the perfect dish, even unaccompanied.
There are many arguments as to whether to serve them with their skins on, scraped off with a knife or sponge so that the surface is smooth, or whether they should be peeled in a potato peeler which leaves the surface with a scratched effect.
My preference is cleaning them with a knife to get that wonderful smooth surface but if you have many people to feed, well, then I can see the problem.
Serves 4
Ingredients
500g new English potatoes, washed and prepared as you wish;
Good sprig of mint;
Salt;
25g butter;
Handful chopped English parsley.

Method
Bring a pan of water to boiling point, add the mint and some salt and then add the potatoes

TOMATO, POTATO AND AVOCADO SALAD WITH CREAMY DRESSING
Potato salad is always very popular in the summer and this is just a bit more interesting than the usual one mixed with mayonnaise.
It has the excitement of the watercress and cheese and the creaminess of the yoghurt.
You could add cooked peas or mange tout or anything that you think may taste good from your fridge.
Remember to cut up the cherry tomatoes, as it can be very embarrassing if you put a whole one in your mouth in company and it explodes when bitten into.
This dish would go very well with poached salmon.
Serves 4
500g new potatoes, washed and prepared;
Salt and freshly ground black pepper;
250g cherry tomatoes, preferably on the vine;
One ripe avocado
50g watercress, washed.
DRESSING
50g Gorgonzola, rind removed;
50g plain yoghurt;
25g mayonnaise;
Juice of one lime.
Cook the potatoes in salted water, as above, and then cut into quarters if large. Leave to cool.
Halve or quarter the cherry tomatoes depending on size and put into a bowl.
Cut the avocado in half, remove the stone and then cut the flesh lengthways into five and crossways into six, not cutting through the skin.
Using a spoon, scoop out the flesh into the bowl. This way is very quick, easy and it prevents you handling the flesh.
Remove the tough ends from the watercress and then break up with your hands and add to the bowl.
To make the dressing, put the cheese into a bowl and break up with a spoon.
Add the yoghurt and mash again.
Then add the mayonnaise, salt and freshly ground black pepper and lime juice and stir well.
Mix the salad and dressing in either bowl depending which is easier and then put into a salad dish and serve.

Clare’s Kitchen
41 Chalcot Road
Primrose Hill
NW1
Tel: 020 7586 8433
www.clareskitchen.co.uk