August went by quickly. I took a vacation with family, and it ended up being a “vacation” from this site as well. It has not, however, been a vacation from cooking. In fact, as the summer has been winding down, I’ve been experimenting with entirely new techniques to add to my repertoire. Expect more to come on those soon!

I’ve been cooking with dill a lot lately. It all started with an experiment I have been planning to write about for some time. A bunch of dill, while not too pricey in my neck of the woods, is large. I split a bunch with a friend and I still had more fresh dill than I knew what to do with. After using as much of it as I could in my mysterious experiments, I still had plenty left for a fresh batch of tzatziki  sauce. I only used the fuzzy little leaves in the sauce, but I didn’t want to throw away the stems. I took a taste of one and the dilly flavor was intense. I just couldn’t throw away such flavorful stems, so I reserved them until I could figure out what to do with them.

The day, shortly after, when tiny red potatoes were on sale.  I thought of the dill stems and came up with this simple dish to make the most of the flavor. Since the recipe is so simple, I’m not going to post amounts, just general guidelines.

Recipe: Dilly Potatoes

For each serving (multiply as necessary):

• 4-6 small whole potatoes, skins on
• 2 tsps of a fat (olive oil, vegetable oil, butter, margarine, or whatever you prefer)
• Enough of your broth of choice to cover the potatoes halfway (depends on the size of container as well as the number of potatoes)
• 2 tbsps of dill stems, chopped
• dill leaves as garnish
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Wash the potatoes thoroughly. Place in a dish you can fit all of the potatoes in without layering. You can try piling the potatoes on top of each other, of course; I just don’t know what will happen if you do. I use a casserole dish that was 8-inches in diameter. A pie plate or a brownie pan would probably work as well.
2. Add the fat, the broth and the dill stems. Stir to coat the potatoes in liquid and make sure the liquid reaches at least halfway up the potatoes. The potatoes will release some water of their own while cooking. Cover and place in the oven.
3. Stir or flip the potatoes after 15-20 minutes. After about 30-45 minutes the potatoes should be ready. To test, poke with a fork. It should slide in and out like butter.
4. Toss in the dill leaves and salt and pepper. Mix well. Allow to cool uncovered for a few minutes, then enjoy the dilly, creamy goodness. Sop up the juice with the pieces of potato.