Swedish New Potatoes with Fresh Dill

Potatoes are delicious boiled, the simplest and fastest preparation. In Sweden, they are customarily eaten on the same fork as gravlax (cured salmon) and mustard sauce. The combination is delectable. Potatoes are a traditional Swedish dish and served with just about every meal. Historically, Sweden’s fruit and vegetable choices were limited because it lies so far north. Potatoes were an important source of essential vitamins and minerals, preventing lethal deficiencies. Today that legacy continues.

Ingredients:
2 lbs. small thin-skinned “new” potatoes**
1 dill stalk
½ tsp salt
¼ stick butter (2 Tbsp)
2 Tbsp rock salt or Kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
Two to four Tbsp fresh clipped dill, to taste

Instructions:
1. Wash the potatoes. Just scrub them if you’d like to keep the skin on. Or scrape off the skins if you wish. Rinse the potatoes.
2. Place the larger potatoes over the base of a saucepan and pop the smaller ones on top. Pour in enough boiling water to not quite cover them, add some salt and the stalk of dill.
3. Cover with a tight-fitting lid and simmer gently for between 10 and 20 minutes. The cooking time depends on the variety and size. Test them with a skewer as they must be tender but still firm—overcooking really does spoil them.
4. Drain the potatoes and add the butter, the chopped fresh dill and a little pepper to the pan and then return the potatoes to the pan. Put the lid back on the pan and swirl the pan around to get each potato thoroughly coated.
5. Remove the lid, savor the delicious aroma and then sprinkle with a little rock or Kosher salt before serving them.

** “New” potatoes are freshly harvested young, or small, potatoes. They are the same varieties as their larger counterparts, but are harvested earlier in the season when they are sweet than their older counterparts. Also, because these potatoes are harvested young, their skins are very tender and flaky.