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What’s for Dinner? Beat-Up Potatoes

By Margo True, Sunset Food Editor A few days ago, proud and beaming, Sunset test garden coordinator Johanna Silver came into the kitc...

Sunset

By Margo True, Sunset Food Editor

A few days ago, proud and beaming, Sunset test gardencoordinator Johanna Silver came into the kitchen with the whole One-Block Feast crop of YukonGolds in a box: 22 pounds of fresh spuds.

She also had a small bag of spade victims, which she’d accidentally mauled while digging around in the bed.

“You can still eat them,” she said. “But they’llonly last a couple of days.” That’sbecause bacteria love a freshly cut potato.

Determined to use any scrap of edibleness coming out of ourgarden, I took them home that night, cut off the blackened bits (Johanna wasn’tkidding—some were already starting to go), peeled them, and boiled them in salted water. When they were justtender (I could slide the tip of a sharp knife into them easily), I drainedthem and put them in a bowl with a hunkof butter. As the butter started melting, I sprinkled on some black pepper and chopped parsley and gave them a slow stir.

The whole thing took about 20 minutes. What great potatoes.They were unusually dense and slightly creamy, and they tasted—I don’t know howelse to put it—young. Not just fresh, but sweet and light. If the wreckedpotatoes can taste this good, I can’t wait to try the whole ones.