preparing new potatoes

[happy_face]

I love new potatoes but hate having to scrape them. Some new potatoes aren't too bad but some others have really difficult peel to scrape off. I usually get New Jersey Royals. Does anyone now of a good alternative to scraping or an easy way of doing it.
I don't want to boil them with the skin on and then peel as by the time I peel the skin off my potato has gone cold.

Any suggestions much appreciated

[happy_face]

Hi In A Pickle.
I would be quite happy doing that too but I have a very fussy eater other half and he would refuse to eat them with the peel on.
Also when making potato salad it's nicer not having the peel on the spuds.

Thanks for your answer though

[Ethel]

All the nutrtional goodness is immediately under the skin - I only wash my new pots.

You used to be able to buy a glove that was ribbed - put it on and roll the new potato in the gloved hand and all the skin came away.

I don't know if they are still available.

[hammerman]

Why would you want to peel your new potatoes. tescos do some lovely pre-packed Charlotte, Exquisita and baby new potatoes which just need a quick rinse then boil or stem with fresh mint.

The skins are also the best bit of the potato for you....full of fibre !!!

[happy_face]

Wow, Ethel!! I have never heard of that. Would love to get something like that. Might have a search on Google

[YvonneM]

We've just had new potatoes, for Sunday lunch they scrapped very easily but they had only travelled 50 yds from the back garden The secret is to get them as fresh as possible. Next week baby carrots beetroot and raspberries you can't beat growing your own.

[n00dles]

HI happy_face,

Ditto to the answers about leaving the peel on, (once cooked it comes away easily - for your salad), but additional to Ethel's gloves, (if you can't get them), try a small veg brush (a nail brush will do), it only needs a gentle rub.

Looks like its all round to Yvonne's for lunch next week!!

[ACB312]

I've used a kitchen scourer, either the green pad type or the non soapy wire wool (stainless steel) type to good effect. Give one a try!

[YvonneM]

Hammerman
Until you have tasted real home grown you don't know what fresh veg and fruit is like. Its ahrd work - formy husband (I do the flower beds) to totally worthwhile. I even make my own jam. Do I sound boring? I am not a domestic godess cos I can't stand housework who's with me on this?

[happy_face]

I think Yvonne M should from now on be referred to as Barbara Good ;-)

I'd love to grow my own veg but I haven't got a garden to grow in I'm afraid.

I have found the gloves on Google. It's a Danish company who makes them and as luck would have it I'm going to Denmark in August so I shall pick up a pair.
Until then I might just try the hard brush effect.

Thank you all for your answers

[n00dles]

No Y, not at all.

We have a PYO nearby and until we gave up the car we used to pick lots of different fruit: blackcurrants, raspberries, plums, gooseberries, blackberries, loganberries and redcurrants. I made lots and lots of jams - packed with fruit, unlike some shop bought varieties that appear to have the fruit thrown in from the attic. Now alas, I rely on Rhubarb (and Ginger), apricots and plums in the shops, to make my own jam.

I hate dusting!! Quite enjoy 'hoovering' tho!!

[YvonneM]

I wish I had Felicity's figure don't keep animals only a dog but I get my eggs from a neighbour. Don't worry I know I am very lucky living where I do, in the field behind my bungalow they grow asparagus.

[lady_p_gold]

I remember my ex mother in law having a potato peeling machine .... ??????

[curiosity]

I agree with Yvonne M we got an allotment last year (well other half & brother in law do all the work) it's only �16 per year and the food tastes great. Allotments are the new big thing. Oh and your potatoes, I use a nail brush or baby bottle brush for the ones with "too much skin on"

[alijangra]

Mmmmm I can remember the pots fresh out the ground back home, with some butter and white pepper. Heaven!!

[YvonneM]

Just made my first batch of raspberry jam

[janetsflower]

I wash mine with one of those green scouring sponges - a clean one of course - takes the skin off much easier than scraping with a knife

[janetsflower]

I bet those exfoliating gloves would work just as well - 99p a pair in our local superdrug

[WendyS]

Yvonne - no you're definitely not boring. We don't have an enormous back garden but grow as many of our own veg as possible. As well as the veggie plot, I have beans and tomatoes growing along another fence, interspersed with geraniums, climbing cucumbers, and all the decorative lettuces and parsley so although it's a quirky garden, it's very productive with its annual dose of manure. And we freeze a lot of our beans and make lots of bags of purree with our tomatoes for soups and sauces. And most of the shrubs in our front garden consist of soft fruit bushes as I ran out of space in the back garden and these provide fruit for jam and fruit compotes..Even the compost heap is used for growing a few potatoes.

[Summo]

scraping new potatoes removes the flaky or top later of skin. If you do the job correctly the translucent layer of skin is exposed and the potato looks peeled but it still has its skin on so none of the goodness is lost. This is why scraping and not peeling new potatoes is the way to go. However when you have to do large volumes a soft brush that leaves the under-skin in tact works on most varieties.