Given that we have potatoes coming for quite awhile, I thought you might like to have some basic info on them (below). This is from the Peconic Land trust, a BIG CSA in New York. If you want to look at the whole newsletter, you can probably get it at: jfargiano@peconiclandtrust.org.
Their newsletter this month is interesting as it reflects our happenings - we're on a smaller scale, of course - re: crops, what's up-coming, effects of weather conditions, etc. We also just heard of another large CSA farm near Kimberton whose whole crop of potatoes has been wiped out by a blight. Anyway, we're doing O.K. and thanks to all of you who are working with us!
As Deborah Madison, author of Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, writes, "Potatoes can be baffling." Some have a high-starch content. Harvested later in the season, they are good for baking and frying. Their dry mealy flesh makes a baked potato
fluffy and a fried one light and crisp.
Others have a low-starch content and they are waxy fleshed, moist, and dense. These steam and boil well, hold their shape and are the ones to use in salads, stews and gratins as they absorb liquid without falling apart.
Quail Hill's earliest harvested potatoes - Red Gold, Banana Fingerlingand All Red and many of the rest to come - contain very little starch and are best prepared roasted.
To determine if a potato is high or low in starch content, slice one with a sharp knife. If the knife is covered with a foamy substance or the potato grabs on to it, it's starchy and a baker. If not, it's a boiler. So-so, it's all purpose. Good luck!
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