Desiree Potatoes with Blue Cheese and Garlic

Ranui Gardens CSA
Last Pick of the Season 2012

In her well-researched tome, Vegetables, from Amaranth to Zucchini,  Elizabeth Schneider  describes the Desiree potato as a European favorite that is best steamed because it turns pearly alabaster with its flesh waxy, satiny and sliceable. “Pure delicate flavor with a high note–like sparkling wine.” This simple presentation is meant to showcase the potato’s quality.

2 pounds Desiree potatoes

3 to 4 cloves garlic

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

4 ounces mild blue cheese

Chopped parsley leaves, optional

Scrub the potatoes very well with a vegetable brush. Place them on a steamer rack over plenty of boiling water. Cover. Reduce the heat so that the water boils gently and cook until the potatoes are tender in the center when pierced with a knife tip, about 25 minutes. Lift the steamer rack and let the potatoes cool slightly.

While the potatoes are cooking, slice the garlic into thin slivers. Heat the butter in a skillet on very low heat. Add the garlic and salt and cook, stirring often until the garlic softens. If the flame is good and low, this could take 10 minutes—just don’t let the garlic turn brown.

Mash potatoes slightly and arrange them in a warm serving dish. Drizzle the buttery garlic and blue cheese on top. Sprinkle with chopped parsley if you want more color.

Figuring about 1/2 pound of potatoes per person–this recipes serves 4.

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Escarole Cheese Packets

John’s pick list, the one he sends me after he walks the garden and decides, sometimes contains vegetables that we don’t see in our markets, Farmer’s or any other. Like today. John guesses escarole will be another item on the list most people will not know what to do with. I can take a hint—how about a recipe using escarole?

It’s not like escarole is a frequent visitor in my kitchen either, so I pull my vegetable “bible” from the shelf. With 500 recipes and 275 photos you can see why it belongs on my shelf, Vegetables from Amaranth to Zucchini: The Essential Reference, by Elizabeth Schneider.

Each vegetable entry has a complete description of the food, its Latin and common names, how to store and use, as well as a photo or two. Recipes are offered two ways, some with an ingredient list and numbered steps, and others that are simply well written recipe ideas suggested by professional chefs, under the heading “Pros Propose.”

For escarole there is Salad of Cooked and Raw Escarole with Garlic and Herbs. In the headnote Ms. Schneider describes how “the dark and chewy leaf tips are cut thin; sautéed with garlic, rosemary, and lemon zest; and then strewn over the pale, raw crunchy hearts, which have been drizzled with mustard-lemon-thyme dressing.”

But I am going to make Escarole Cheese Packets, a recipe suggested by chef  Charles Saunders, who wraps cheese in wilted escarole leaves.

Escarole Cheese Packets

Blanch large, fairly flat escarole leaves in boiling salted water, just until wilted, about 3 seconds. Gently tap the heavy bases to flatten and soften fibers. Wrap eggroll-style around soft white cheese, such as fresh mozzarella. Brush with oil and pre-heat the grill.

Escarole packets

almost gone escarole packets

Make a tomato and olive oil and balsamic vinegar sauce. (That’s what the pro proposes.)

I envision a sauce made in the Mexican salsa method: Puree one (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes with ¼ cup chopped onions and one minced garlic clove in a blender. If you have some sun-dried tomatoes, throw a few of those in. Heat a tablespoon or so of olive oil in a skillet. Pour the tomato puree into the oil and cook and stir for about 3 minutes. Season with about one tablespoon of balsamic vinegar and salt to taste.

Grill the escarole cheese packets briefly and serve with the sauce.

Make as many as you want—depending on how much cheese you have, how many you are serving, and whether it is a first or main course.

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