Moloda Kartoplia v Smetani (молода картопля в сметані, new potatoes in smetana)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •A wide heavy pot with a lid
• •A small bowl for the smetana
• •A wooden spoon
• •A deep serving bowl

Instructions

1. 1

   Scrub the potatoes

   Choose potatoes no bigger than a walnut if you can. Rub them under running water with your fingers or a rough cloth; keep the skins, trim only green spots or bruises, and halve the few that are much larger than the rest. Equal size matters more than perfect shape, because they should finish together and stay whole when you fold them through the smetana.

   Don't peel them. The thin skin is the season speaking, and it helps the potatoes hold together.
2. 2

   Simmer in skins

   Put the potatoes in a wide pot, cover with cold water by a finger, and salt the water so it tastes plainly seasoned. Bring it up gently, then keep it at a lively simmer, not a furious boil, until a knife slides through the center and the skins look a little wrinkled at the edges. For most small potatoes this is 15 to 20 minutes, but the knife tells the truth. Reserve half a mug of cooking water, then drain.

3. 3

   Stir the smetana

   While the potatoes cook, crush the garlic with a pinch of salt until it goes juicy and sharp. Stir it into the smetana with black pepper and 2 tablespoons of the reserved cooking water, just enough to make it loose and spoonable. Chop the dill finely, including the tender stems; they carry more flavor than people give them credit for.

4. 4

   Dry and gloss

   Return the drained potatoes to the warm pot and set it over the lowest heat. Shake once or twice until the excess water disappears and you hear a dull, dry knock from the potatoes. Add the butter and sunflower oil, then roll the potatoes gently until the skins shine.

5. 5

   Fold in smetana

   Take the pot off the heat and pour in the garlic smetana. Fold with a wooden spoon, adding splashes of reserved cooking water until the sauce loosens and clings to the potatoes in a warm white gloss. Return the pot to the lowest heat only if it needs help warming through; if the smetana bubbles hard, pull it back at once.

   The reserved water is starch, not filler. It helps the smetana coat the potatoes instead of splitting.
6. 6

   Finish with dill

   Fold in most of the dill off the heat, put the lid on for a minute, and let the smell change from raw garlic to warm garden. Taste for salt and pepper. Serve in a deep bowl with the last dill over the top, a little more sunflower oil if you like, and enough spoons for people who said they only wanted a small helping.

Chef Tips

• •Full-fat smetana forgives gentle heat. Low-fat sour cream splits faster, so keep it off the boil and let the hot potatoes do the warming.
• •The amount of smetana forgives you; the heat does not. Add more if you want a saucier bowl, but never boil it hard.
• •Don't let parsley do dill's job. If your dill is tired, use more tender stems and chop them fine, or add a little spring onion for bite.
• •In January we'd eat small waxy potatoes with pelustka, "petal" cabbage fermented pink with beet, or sour tomatoes from the shelf. That's not a substitute for July; it's the winter branch of the same table.
• •For a picnic, cool the potatoes to warm room temperature, pack them chilled if you're travelling far, and bring them out shortly before eating. Smetana is dairy and deserves respect.

Advance Preparation

• •Scrub the potatoes up to 4 hours ahead and hold them in cold water; drain before cooking.
• •Mix the smetana and garlic up to 2 hours ahead, but chop and add the dill at the end so it stays green.
• •Leftovers keep 2 days in the fridge. Rewarm gently with a spoonful of water, never at a hard boil.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 280g)