New potato goes cocktail!

When it comes to food, my family's fussiness is nothing short of legendary. Even my Niece and Nephew, at their respective and ever so respectable ages of 10 and 6 have adopted this family strain. Only dish (in addition to those oat cookies) I'm allowed to cook them is spaghetti with mince, as long as they can first be convinced that it doesn't have either chilli OR chocolate (?!)

I thought I had heard them all by my Sister's latest confession blew me away. She can't stand new potatos.

Yep, those midsummer treats I look forward to like nothing else. 

As good as they are the classic Scandinavian way with a knob of butter and a bit of herring on the side, they're even better roasted in the oven. At a girls' trip some years back I remember someone basting them with BBQ-flavoured oil and tossing them on the grill. And they were still fantastic.

Brush the potatos, cut in half and toss in olive oil  generously seasoned with salt and black pepper. Roast at 200° until done and gloriously golden and crunchy on the outside . depending on the size 30-40 minutes. If you want, you can toss a couple of crushed cloves f garlic into the oven with them - A sprig (or two!) of rosemary works wonders too. 

First batch was a take on that classic tapas dish that has been made on the blog too - Pulpo a la Gallega, Galician octopus. I cooked the octopus (these were small, so 40 minutes was enough), cut into chunks and tossed them in a pan in pimento-garlic oil and served with mayonnaise. 

We continued with rather Spanish theme. The next batch came topped with artichokes preserved in oil and chorizo. If the artichokes are large, cut them in half before spearing with the chorizo slices.

And of course there had to be a version with pickled fish too... though these were made with those home-made boquerones. Which were probably my favourites. Just goes to show - you can take the girl out of Finland but the palate is a different matter...