Une Petite Pomme: Potatoes and Green Beans for Primetime

This post goes out to all of you kind, generous souls humoring me by requesting prior knowledge of my next AM Northwest Primetime appearance. Well, I'm here to tell you that I will be on tomorrow, May 26, at their 7:00 pm time slot on: Channel 2.2, if you don't have cable, or Comcast Channel 302 or Verizon FIOS Channel 464. For those of you not in the Portland area who want to check out the "big event," I'll post the link to it on Thursday. My actual appearance will be in the mid- to second half of the show.

I'll be making green beans with caramelized shallots which are to die for. I can't get enough of them. And with green bean season almost upon us, this is a good recipe to have handy. You can find it here. I'll also be making the fingerling potato recipe I've listed below. Even my sweetie loves this dish and he's kind of like our "Mikey." You know if he likes it, well.....it's got to be good. Isn't that right, sweetie?

Fingerling Potatoes with an Apple Cider Vinaigrette
(A twist on the ole German Potato Salad)

I have alluded to making these potatoes before here but since I'll be showing how to make them on the show tomorrow, I needed to get an actual recipe down on paper. So here it is. I served them just last night with grilled sausages and steamed garlic spears and received rave reviews. As for the garlic spears, they were new to us. They had a mild taste like an artichoke. I don't think I would serve them as a side dish again but I think they would be fantastic as an appetizer with a little garlic aioli.

Ingredients:
3 lbs (or approx 8 cups) fingerling potatoes, cut into fairly uniform 1" sized chunks
1/4 tsp kosher salt (or sea salt or whatever salt you have on hand)
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp shallot, peeled and minced
1 tsp Dijon mustard
5-6 tbsp olive oil

Before you start doing anything with your potatoes, mix together the salt, vinegar and shallot in a medium-sized bowl (I like to use a 4 cup pyrex measuring cup.) Set aside and allow to "macerate" or "pickle" if you will, while you take care of the potatoes.

Put your potatoes in a large pot and fill with enough water to cover them completely. Add a pinch of salt if you'd like, cover and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce your heat a bit and cook for 10-12 minutes. Test with a fork at 10 minutes to see if the potatoes are tender.

Gently drain the potatoes into a colandar and let cool just a bit. While they are cooling, finish your vinaigrette. Mix in the dijon mustard. Then, while continuously whisking, slowing pour your olive oil into your vinegar and shallot mix. You want to do this slowly so the ingredients emulsify or blend together.

Transfer your potatoes to a large bowl (or back in the pot, which is what I do to cut down on dishes,) pour the vinaigrette over them and gently stir your potatoes just until they are evenly coated with the dressing. This recipe can easily be cut in half and it's just as tasty cold. Enjoy.

Yield: 8 servings

All original text and photographs copyright: Carrie Minns 2009-2010