Our potatoes are coming along nicely and this week we will have seven different potato varieties at market! They are: Red Norlands, Purple Viking, Russian Blue, Dakota Pearl, German Butterball, Lindzer Deleketess, and All Red. More info on these varieties are available on our website: www.urbansunflower.ca.
Our lucky CSA customers will be getting Dakota Pearl potatoes for their baskets this week. Try my gnocchi recipe adapted from Biba's Italian Kitchen.
Basic Gnocchi Recipe
makes two generous servings or four small servings
1 pound of floury potatoes, like Dakota Pearl or Russet Burbank
1 1/2 teaspoons of salt
1 large egg, lightly beaten in a small bowl
approx. 1 cup of all-purpose flour
Instructions:
1. Peel potatoes and put them in a pot of water. Boil them until you can poke a knife of skewer through them. Be careful not to overboil them.
2. Drain the potatoes and mash them thoroughly with a potato masher or fork. You can also put them through a potato ricer or a food mill for an extra smooth texture.
3. Put the potatoes in a large bowl and season with salt.
4. Mix in the egg and 3/4 cups of the flour. Mix it all together until the dough begins to stick together.
5. Transfer the mixture to a wooden board and knead lightly, gradually adding flour until the dough stops sticking to the board and to your hands. It should feel like smooth, pliable and just a bit sticky.
6. Divide the dough into quarters. Roll each quarter into a long strip with your hands, then cut the strip into 1-inch pieces. Poke each piece with your thumb to make a little dent in it.
7. Put the pieces on a lightly floured platter or cookie sheet. You can cook it right away or store it in the fridge for several hours.
To Cook the Gnocchi:
Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add 1 tablespoon of salt and the gnocchi. Cook uncovered, over high heat until the gnocchi rise to the surface of the water, approx. 1-2 minutes. Remove them with a slotted sppoon and toss with a little olive oil and grated Parmigiano cheese or with your favourite sauce.
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Potato Progress Report
Seeing these bugs on my potato plants sends me into a frenzy of destruction. I gleefully squish all the ones I can get my hands on and start thinking about nuking my potato field. Jerremie, on the other hand, is more level headed, and heads to his non-chemical arsenal to deal with them.
Fire, it turns out, is not a potato bug's friend. Jerremie used his Tiger Torch to flame all the infested potato plants. Potato plants can take a surprising amount of abuse, and didn't seem to mind the heat. The bugs popped like Jiffy-pop popcorn (yay!)
We also have beneficial insect allies. Ladybugs, Daddy-Long Legs, Spiny Soldier Beetles and two types of parasite flies love to feed on the squishy pink larvae. When Jerremie was flaming the potato plants, he said that the beneficial insect allies were scurrying away to safety. Potato beetles are incredibly slow and clumsy, so they got fried. (Did you know that potato beetles are so lazy and clumsy, that if you knock them off the potato plant three times in a row, they will be too tired to climb back up on to the plant and will die of starvation? It's a wonder that they are such a menace...)
We're also shipping in some nematodes to add to our soil. They will attack the potato bugs when they drop off the plants to molt and grow a new shell.
Between flaming the plants, using beneficial insect allies and mulching we hope to slow the beetles down as much as possible.
It's reflex to jump to chemical solutions when these things happen. Let's face it, chemicals seem easier and more thorough. But the reality is, in this case, it's the non-chemical alternatives that I think will win the day for us.
Besides, potato beetles will never be immune to squishing. :)
p.s. Here's a pic of our potato packaging. It's all 100% recyclable paper products :)
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