Ecstasy for dummies: Roasted new potatoes

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If you look at the scrape underneath the rosemary sprig, you can see the skins of new potatoes detach easily.

Here’s a recipe guaranteed to allow anyone - even the truly kitchen-phobic - to turn out a stunning dish.

There is only one step of any difficulty. It is the first: Get new potatoes. That means potatoes from this year’s plantings, from .75 to 1.5 inch across.

At supermarkets and farmer’s markets, little potatoes on sale aren’t new potatoes unless they’re specifically marked so. I bought these at the Syracuse farmer’s market, where I saw stand after stand filling quart baskets with little potatoes picked out of bags of last season’s spuds. I looked around until I saw a sign for new potatoes, and paid $4 for two quarts.

If you’re uncertain, ask a sales clerk with an honest face: Are these new? This year’s potatoes?

New potatoes usually have a bit of dirt on them. Their thinner-than-paper skins make farmers wary about scrubbing them.

They’re usually marked well because they command a premium. There’s a reason; their impossibly thin skins and creamy insides are a joy to behold. Now, little potatoes, roasted or boiled in salt water, are a treat, too. But get your mitts on some new potatoes and you’ll see why they command 50 cents a pound more.

Just clean them with a soft hand, roll them in oil, salt and pepper, and place them in a 400 degree oven, on a single layer in a baking dish. Sprinkle them with sprigs of fresh herbs if you want - thyme, rosemary, sage.

That’s it - there’s your recipe. Turn them over in the pan every 15 minutes or so, and when they’re a bit shriveled and easily pierced, they’re done. Throw a pat of butter on them and let the potatoes’ heat suck the dairy fat down into their ranks.

Once the oozing is over, give them a careful stir to distribute the buttery happiness.

If you can mess up new potatoes, you should probably not attempt to seal an envelope. A man has to know his limits.

My kids and my mother-in-law ate two quarts of these potatoes for dinner, alongside a not inconsequential amount of sirloin steak. When it comes to new potatoes, it usually pays to overdo it, rather than risk leaving your hungry asking for more.

These didn’t last long - and you have to like a potato you don’t have to peel.

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