Stokes Sauces: New potato passions

The new potato - little bundles of joy

http://www.stokessauces.co.uk/category/mayonnaise

Boil them, roast them, crush them. Eat them hot, eat them cold. Smother them in mayonnaise, bake them in turmeric, slice them carefully for hasselbacks, or drown them in melted butter.

New potatoes of every size, shape, colour and British origin are available at the height of their season right now.

The king of the 'news' are surely 'the Royals' from Jersey. They are generally planted in early January for lifting by hand early in April.

Freshness is key to enjoying the Jerseys’ earthy flavour. The first potatoes can hit mainland supermarkets less than 24 hours after being plucked from the earth on the south facing hillsides of the island.

http://www.stokessauces.co.uk/page/sauces/ketchup-and-sauces

Passionate little pleasures

New potato canapés

There are many ways of using and presenting teeny tatties as warm and cold finger food for parties. Because they're generally waxy, they are firm enough to cut open and fill with all sorts of mini goodies.

These little beauties (right) combine lemon and mayonnaise for a lush mouthful of goodness.

Here's how:

Peel the potatoes once boiled and cooled to the touch and squeeze some lemon juice over them, then flake with a little sea salt.

Squeeze just a little lemon juice into Stokes Real Mayonnaise and add finely chopped chives.

Now dress each potato with the mayonnaise, Avruga caviar and a cooked asparagus tip.

Warm fennel and potato salad

You'll need:

3 lb of new potatoes
1 fennel bulb
1 red onion
10 cherry tomatoes
4 tbsp of olive oil
2 tbsp of Stokes Mustard & Dill Sauce
1 clove of garlic, grated

http://www.stokessauces.co.uk/product/special-sauces/mustard-and-dill-sauce

Here's how:

Cook the potatoes and allow them to cool, then slice them into the base of an earthenware bowl.

Finely slice the fennel and onion, halve the tomatoes and add all plus the garlic to the potatoes.

Combine well with the olive oil and mustard & dill sauce.

Season well and rest in a warm place for the flavours to marry.

Baked newbies with mozzarella

Stylised to create a deliciously attractive starter.

You'll need:

http://www.stokessauces.co.uk/product/relish-and-chutneys/chilli-jam

2 lb of new potatoes
4 medium sized tomatoes
2 large Buffalo mozzarella balls
Stokes Chilli Jam

Here's how:

Cook, cool and cut the potatoes into thick slices. Slice the tomatoes and mozzarella.

Using metal kitchen rings on a baking sheet, assemble the dish: potato, tomato, chilli jam (1/4 of a teaspoon), olive oil (just a drop), mozzarella - and repeat ending with a mozzarella slice on the top.

Bake in the middle of a medium hot oven until the mozzarella starts to bubble, then transfer to a plate - beautifully.

Vegetables, warmed
with cider & horseradish mustard

This is with Stokes Cider & Horseradish Mustard of course.

http://www.stokessauces.co.uk/product/traditional-condiments/cider-and-horseradish-wholegrain-mustard

Here's how:

Cook your new potatoes adding the julienned carrots after five minutes and the French beans half way through.

Now stop them cooking by running cold water into the pan. Strain and add a scattering of frozen peas.

This will now stand quite happily while you worry about whatever you're serving it with - in this case pork scallops in a creamy mustard sauce (Stokes Dijon Mustard).

When you're ready, calm and cleaned up - melt a knob of butter in a wok with a good tablespoon of cider & horseradish mustard then, in with the vegetables to heat through and serve - 5 minutes tops.