Recipe: Dressed-up mashed potatoes are easy to make
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St. Patrick’s Day in the U.S. is basically a celebration of all things green. If you’d like to serve something more authentically Irish than green beer, potato champ is the ideal recipe.
Champ is mashed potatoes with green onions in it, but the cooking method makes this a dish that’s even better than the ingredients list sounds. The chopped onions, including tops, are steeped in hot milk, which turns the milk and then the mashed potatoes a lovely light green. This is a good way to use those thinned-out onions from your garden, and not just on St. Patrick’s Day.
I slightly adapted this recipe, which is from “Irish Traditional Cooking” by Darina Allen, via the Epicurious website. It also can be make with other garden ingredients: parsley, chives or fresh green peas.
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Potato champ
Serves 4
Ingredients:
3 large russet potatoes, about 1 ½ pounds
¾ cup milk (or ¼ cup milk per ½ pound of potatoes)
1 bunch green onions
2 to 4 tablespoons butter
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions:
Peel the potatoes and cut them into quarters. Place in a pot with enough cold water to cover them, and boil until tender.
While the potatoes are cooking, finely chop the green onions, including the green tops. Place them in a small saucepan and add the cold milk. Bring the milk to a boil, simmer for 3 to 4 minutes, then turn off the heat and let the onions steep in the milk.
When the potatoes are cooked, drain them, then return them to the empty pot. Mash them a bit and, while they’re still hot, pour in the milk and green onion mixture. Mash a bit more, adding in about half the butter, but don’t let them get gluey.
Season to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper. Serve in a warmed bowl with the rest of the butter in a pat on the top.
Variations: Substitute 2 to 3 tablespoons of freshly chopped parsley or chives to the milk, boiling for only 2 to 3 minutes. For peas, shell them, then cook them in the milk with just a pinch of sugar, until tender. Proceed as above.
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Garden checklist for week of May 31
Remember to water early. No more rain is in the immediate forecast.
* It’s not too late to transplant tomatoes, peppers, eggplant or other summer favorites. Make sure they stay hydrated.
* From seed, plant corn, melons, pumpkins, radishes, squash and sunflowers.
* Plant basil to go with your tomatoes.
* Transplant summer annuals such as petunias, marigolds and zinnias.
* It’s also a good time to transplant perennial flowers including astilbe, columbine, coneflowers, coreopsis, dahlias, rudbeckia, salvia and verbena.
* Let the grass grow longer. Set the mower blades high to reduce stress on your lawn during summer heat. To cut down on evaporation, water your lawn deeply during the early hours of the morning, between 2 and 8 a.m.
* Tie up vines and stake tall plants such as gladiolus and lilies. That gives their heavy flowers some support.
* Dig and divide crowded bulbs after the tops have died down.
* Feed summer flowers with a slow-release fertilizer.
* Mulch, mulch, mulch! This “blanket” keeps moisture in the soil longer and helps your plants cope during hot weather.
* Cut back fruit-bearing canes on berries.
* Feed camellias, azaleas and other acid-loving plants. Mulch to conserve moisture and reduce heat stress.
* Cut back Shasta daisies after flowering to encourage a second bloom in the fall.
* Trim off dead flowers from rose bushes to keep them blooming through the summer. Roses also benefit from deep watering and feeding now. A top dressing of aged compost will keep them happy. It feeds as well as keeps roots moist.
* Pinch back chrysanthemums for bushier plants with many more flowers in September.
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Food in My Back Yard (FIMBY) Series
Lessons learned during a year of edible gardening
WINTER
Is edible gardening possible indoors?
Hints for choosing tomato seeds
Why winter is the perfect time to plant fruit trees
When to plant? Consider staggering your transplants
How to squeeze more food into less space
Plant a fruit tree now -- for later
Win the weed war by tackling them in winter
Tips for planting bare-root trees, shrubs and vegetables
Time to give vegetable seedlings some more space
Ways to win the fight against weeds
FALL
Dec. 16: Add asparagus to your edible garden
Dec. 9: Soggy soil and what to do about it
Dec. 2: Plant artichokes now; enjoy for years to come
Nov. 25: It's late November, and your peach tree needs spraying
Nov. 18: What to do with all those fallen leaves?
Nov. 11: Prepare now for colder weather in the edible garden
Nov. 4: Plant a pea patch for you and your garden
Oct. 27: As citrus season begins, advice for backyard growers
Oct. 20: Change is in the autumn air
Oct. 13: We don't talk (enough) about beets
Oct. 6: Fava beans do double duty
Sept. 30: Seeds or transplants for cool-season veggies?
Sept. 23: How to prolong the fall tomato harvest
SUMMER
Sept. 16: Time to shut it down?
Sept. 9: How to get the most out of your pumpkin patch
Sept. 2: Summer-to-fall transition time for evaluation, planning
Aug. 26: To pick or not to pick those tomatoes?
Aug. 19: Put worms to work for you
Aug. 12: Grow food while saving water
Aug. 5: Enhance your food with edible flowers
July 29: Why won't my tomatoes turn red?
July 22: A squash plant has mosaic virus, and it's not pretty
July 15: Does this plant need water?
July 8: Tear out that sad plant or baby it? Midsummer decisions
July 1: How to grow summer salad greens
June 24: Weird stuff that's perfectly normal
SPRING
June 17: Help pollinators help your garden
June 10: Battling early-season tomato pests
June 3: Make your own compost
May 27: Where are the bees when you need them?
May 20: How to help tomatoes thrive on hot days
May 13: Your plants can tell you more than any calendar can
May 6: Maintain soil moisture with mulch for garden success
April 29: What's (already) wrong with my tomato plants?
April 22: Should you stock up on fertilizer? (Yes!)
April 15: Grow culinary herbs in containers
April 8: When to plant summer vegetables
April 1: Don't be fooled by these garden myths
March 25: Fertilizer tips: How to 'feed' your vegetables for healthy growth
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