Potatoes may have been in that first garden, or they might not have shown up until a year or two later. Point being, I'm pretty experienced at growing potatoes.
Potatoes are a staple of the American diet, They can be boiled, baked, roasted, fried, mashed, scalloped. . . They are very versatile. They also take fairly easily to seasoning. And, in my opinion, they also taste decent raw. A fond childhood memory is of eating, raw, the littlest potatoes from my grandparents' garden. Bite-sized snacks, as it were.
Despite this appreciation for, and experience with growing potatoes, it wasn't until a few years ago that I discovered fingering potatoes. These skinny little potato morsels are awesome roasted. A little oil, a little sea salt, your favorite herbs, a bit of time in a hot oven and you have something delicious to accompany just about any cut of meat. Or, let's be truthful, as a nice hot snack on a winter's day.
Not only are they tasty and easy to prepare, they are easy to grow. And prolific. I started with a few pounds of seed potatoes a couple of years ago, and I currently have over a bushel of the buggers--uh, I mean, fingering potatoes--still in my cellar from the 2016 harvest. My 'normal' potatoes are just about gone; down to the amount I am zealously guarding as my seed stock for 2017, but I have lots and lots of fingerings left.
So far, I've grown three varieties of fingerings: Papa Cacho, Rose Finn Apple, and Yellow Finn. A deep red skin with reddish flesh, a pale pink skin with white flesh, and a buttery yellow skin with yellow flesh. Each with a slightly different flavor.
Last year, on impulse, I picked up a sad looking little bag of purple potato seed on clearance at the farm store. I was quite surprised when those emaciated, unsprouted little potatoes actually grew after I planted them. I don't remember the name now, but they are a very dark, almost black skinned little round potato with purple-streaked flesh. I didn't get a huge yield of those (but then again, I had six 'seeds' to start with), and am saving about 75% for this year's seed.
A favorite dish this winter has become fingering and purple potatoes, mixed together into a potato rainbow of sorts, seasoned with rosemary, thyme, sea salt, garlic powder, black pepper and olive oil, and roasted in the oven until tender (roughly 40-45 min at about 400 degrees).
You know, once you get a taste of something other than your standard baking or mashing potato--the ones with the brown, white or red skins--and branch out into other potato types, it could become kind of an addiction. I mean, not only do I have these four 'weird' varieties of potato in my cellar waiting to be planted in the Spring, I've also ordered a few more varieties to try this year. What can I say? Food doesn't have to be boring. Nor does it have to be full of fat to be tasty.
Taste the tater rainbow. You'll like it.
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