Syracuse Salt Potatoes

We have been hard at work around here as usual. Matthew is a ruthless Executive, answering emails and setting up conference calls with his fancy little Bluetooth. This is how I found him this morning when I went upstairs to switch the laundry over. Shameless.


Paul and I made a glorious dinner on saturday night. For his birthday, Paul received a big pack of strip steaks from my parents. It is a running joke in my family that Paul does not get the chance to eat enough meat since I make our dinners meatless most of the time. Needless to say, Paul enjoys basking in the outpouring of pity surrounding his condition, especially when it results in a couple extra pounds of steak nestled away in our freezer. We finally broke into our bounty of red meat by making Pan-Seared Steaks with a Port Wine Sauce, Roasted Asparagus, and Syracuse Salt Potatoes.

With so many delicious elements on our plates, the surprising star of the show turned out to be the Syracuse Salt Potatoes.

They might not look like much, but they pack a lot of flavor.

The recipe is simple. Baby potatoes (or fingerlings) are boiled in an extremely salty water bath until tender. Once removed and allowed to dry over a wire rack for a minute or two, they develop a pale, salty crust which lends a delightful crunch once bitten. The insides are moist, creamy, and perfectly seasoned. When dipped in a chive butter, their flavor is ethereal. Paul and I could not get enough of them.

Matthew, on the other hand, thought the mini-potato was cute enough to hold and call "baby," but was unimpressed with the overall flavor, politely regurgitating his bite and handing it over to me for removal from his sight.

Lovely.

These potatoes make a quick and easy option for any meal and would even be a nice substitute for fries. They are my new favorite way to prepare potatoes.

Syracuse Salt Potatoes
from Entertaining Magazine

For the potatoes:
8 cups water
14 ounces table salt (approximately 1 1/4 cups)
3 pounds small white or red potatoes (or fingerlings)

For the chive butter sauce:
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
2 tablespoons minced fresh chives
1 teaspoon black pepper

Bring water to boil in Dutch oven over medium heat. Stir in salt and potatoes and cook until potatoes are just tender, 20-30 minutes. Drain potatoes and transfer to a wire rack set over a baking sheet. Cool until salty crust forms, about 1 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the chive butter sauce. Microwave the butter, chives and pepper in a medium bowl until melted, about 1 minutes. Transfer potatoes to large bowl and serve, passing melted butter at table.