I bought some new potatoes at the farmers’ market a few days ago, and they are the best. The small, round potatoes were freshly harvested, and the skins scraped off easily. (They are different from the small potatoes typically sold in supermarkets, which are not freshly harvested and do not have skins that can be easily scraped off.) I love the delicate, moist firmness of new potatoes, so I was thrilled to find a hundred-year-old recipe for a classic recipe for creamed new potatoes.
The New Potatoes in Cream were wonderful. The potatoes were coated with a lovely cream sauce and flecked with bits of colorful red potato skin and parsley. I thoroughly enjoyed the new potatoes. I definitely will make this recipe again. New potatoes are such a fleeting summer food. In just a few weeks, I will only be able to buy mature potatoes, and I will need to wait until next year to again get new potatoes
Here is the original recipe for New Potatoes in Cream.
I used red potatoes when making this recipe. The bits of red skin clinging to the potatoes look nice when the potatoes are creamed.
If you don’t know how to scrape potatoes, you might find a post I previously did on how to scrape new potatoes with a knife helpful.
Here is the recipe for Cream Sauce that was in the same cookbook as the potato recipe:
The Cream Sauce recipe is really just a recipe for a basic thin white sauce.
Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:
New Potatoes in Cream
about 1 1/2 pounds small, round new potatoes
water and salt
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon flour
1 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
dash red or black pepper
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
Step 1. Scrape the new potatoes with a knife, then put them in a saucepan and cover with water and add a little salt; boil until the potatoes are tender (about 20-25 minutes), then drain potatoes.
Step 2. In the meantime, melt the butter in another saucepan using medium heat, then stir in the flour. Slowly add the milk, while stirring constantly. Continue stirring and cook until the mixture thickens. Stir in the salt, pepper, and parsley.
Step 3. Add the boiled potatoes to the cream sauce and gently roll the potatoes to coat them with the sauce. Place the potatoes and sauce in the serving dish.
This is very similar to a dish my mom made when I was small…New potatoes and peas creamed. The main difference was that the potatoes were cut into small cubes and cooked with the peas until tender. Then the creaming took place right in the pot by adding a mixture of milk and cornstarch or flour. The only seasonings were salt and ground black pepper.
A regular in my grandmother’s kitchen, too!
Yummmm!
Always…if not peas, green beans, but the peas were my favorite.
New potatoes in a cream sauce is a classic.
Yes, ate plenty of those also, but really loved them with the peas.
I’ve never had new potatoes with peas. I’m going to have to give it a try. The combination sounds lovely.
If you like peas, you will probably like it.
Your mother’s method sounds lovely. Peas would be a nice addition, and I like how she made the entire recipe using just one pot.
So simple and delicious looking. Easily made with plant milk too.
Good suggestion – Either dairy milk or plant-based milk would work well in this recipe.
When I used to have a have a garden and used to plant potatoes I would dig out the early ones and wash and not even peel them they were so tender.
mmm. . . the early potatoes right out your garden sound wonderful.
One of my favorite sides that my grandmothers and mother made. The potatoes taste so delicious and have a wonderful texture. The cream sauce adds a lovely richness. They all called them creamed potatoes, but it is the same basic recipe.
No one in my family used parsley in the creamed potatoes, but I loved the black pepper they put in. Now I want some! Oh, I could’ve used the potatoes I grew. Well, there’s next year!
To peel new potatoes, my dad’s mother would use the back of the knife. She’s the only one I saw preparing them. She would sit in her rocking chair, on the back porch with a her cobalt blue and white swirl enamel tub, scrapping potatoes. She used that tub for shelling various peas and snapping beans. When she canned tomatoes, the tub was called into use in the kitchen. You’ve brought back some lovely memories.
It’s nice to hear that this post brought back some warm memories. And, your description of your father’s mother using a blue and white swirl enamel tub when scrapping potatoes, shelling beans, etc. brought back memories of my mother in law. She also always used a blue and white swirl enamel tub when prepping vegetables.
It is always wonderful when good connects us to good memories. I hope you have good memories of your mother-in-law.
I have wonderful memories of my mother in law. I learned so much about cooking, parenting, and other things from her. I was very fortunate.
I also have good memories of my mother-in-law. She and my mother were a great help when my daughter was little.
I love potatoes. This recipe looks great.
It’s tasty.
New potatoes are so good! This recipe reminds me of one that my auntie used to make. Such a classic and so yummy. Thanks for sharing your find. 😊
You’re welcome. It’s nice to hear that this recipe brought back some good food memories.
Looks Yummy
Thanks for the recipe 🙏 🙏
The Fab Four of Cley
🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
It’s tasty.
In the older recipes there is the assumption of the cook/housewife knowing how long to cook the potatoes since a time is not given. I see this in many recipes in older cookbooks.
Years ago cookbook authors generally assumed that cooks had a high baseline of knowledge about the basics of food preparation. Back then, most meals were prepared from scratch at home, so cooks were often quite skilled. It’s good that recipes today usually provide more details so that people with less experience can successfully prepare the dishes.
Oh yes.. so good!! Only I never scrape my potatoes.. 😳😀
As you noted, the potatoes don’t need to be scraped. It’s a matter of personal preference.
This looks un-peel-ievably good!
🙂 Love the play on words.