Friday, July 10, 2020

Sauteed Hailstones from @MaddieDayAuthor plus #GIVEAWAY

MADDIE here. Hailstones, you might ask? Wouldn't they just...melt? Grab a cup of tea or a glass of wine, kids, and I'll tell you a story.




My sister used to live and tend bees (lots of them) in Quebec with a Quebecois man. He grew up in a farmhouse in the countryside, and while he was (still is) a college-educated biologist, Pierrot spoke both French and English with a heavy Quebec accent (still does). They had a big garden and grew lots of their own food.

When I visited them in July one year, Pierrot was rolling the tiniest potatoes I'd ever seen in butter in a pan on their beautiful old wood cookstove. He said they were les petits grêlons. My sister said the word meant hailstones. The little hailstones. 

Freshly dug potatoes are swoon-worthy enough. But little hailstones smaller than a ping-pong ball? Truly heavenly. So when I saw a box of new potatoes (really new) of various sizes at my local farm stand this week, I had to root around and pick out a bagful of grêlons.

Because they are tiny, they are a little more work to scrub (no need in the world to peel), but it's worth it and they barely need cooking. We had some leftover salmon, and mushrooms and a pepper that needed using up, plus fresh herbs in the garden, so I made a great side dish. But seriously? I could have eaten just the potatoes for dinner!

Sauteed Hailstones



Ingredients
Olive oil
4 cups tiny potatoes, scrubbed
1 onion, diced
1 green pepper, diced,
12 ounces mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
Butter
2 cloves garlic, pressed
Fresh basil, parsley, and rosemary, minced

Directions
Cut larger potatoes in half. Steam all in microwave until tender, for about eight minutes.


Heat olive oil in cast iron skillet.
Sautee onion and green pepper until mostly tender. 



Add mushrooms until wilted and remove to a bowl. 


Add a chunk of butter, potatoes, and garlic and and heat until warm. Add herbs and season with salt and pepper.



Combine with other veggies and serve hot.


We enjoyed it with a piece of salmon, a green salad, and a glass of white wine!



Readers: What's your favorite way to enjoy new potatoes? I'd love to send one of you an audiobook code for Nacho Average Murder!

My next book is my alter-ego's Taken Too Soon, the sixth Quaker Midwife (written by Edith Maxwell), up for preorder now!


In this book, releasing September 8, midwife Rose Carroll travels to Cape Cod with her freshly minted husband on a modest honeymoon - which turns into an investigation into the murder of her aunt's ward.


Following on its coattails is Candy Slain Murder, the eighth Country Store mystery - also up for preorder and releasing September 29. You guessed it, the story takes place at Christmas, with Robbie Jordan back in South Lick, Indiana. She digs into the mysterious skeleton of a woman who went missing a decade earlier, and then the woman's twin's murder nearly right in front of Robbie's eyes.



Isn't that a fun cover! You'll be hearing more here about the recipes in the back.

I hope you'll visit Edith Maxwell and me on our web site, sign up for our monthly newsletter, visit us on social media, and check our all our books and short stories.

Maddie Day (aka Edith Maxwell) is a talented amateur chef and holds a PhD in Linguistics from Indiana University. An Agatha Award-winning and bestselling author, she is a member of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America and also writes award-winning short crime fiction. She lives with her beau north of Boston, where she’s currently working on her next mystery when she isn’t cooking up something delectable in the kitchen.


16 comments:

  1. Love that recipe jcook22@yahoo.com

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  2. Mashed potatoes with lots of butter in them.
    Kitten143(at) Verizon (dot) net

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  3. This sounds fabulous, Edith, and a great way to use all the goodies coming from the garden right now.

    I also like to roast them, with olive oil, garlic, rosemary, and lots of sea salt. Especially good with pork dishes.

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  4. Yum yum yummy -my most favorite food is Hot Potatoe
    With a smidge of butter. I don't care if it is baked, microwaved,sliced, shreddded, any of those in a casserole. I have them for breakfast in the air fryer either cubed or shredded as hash browns with
    egg white omlette or scrambled 1/2 piece of wheat toast..
    Dinner/baked potatoe with any Vegetable or big salad with Chick peas &tomato & gen pepper & feta.I

    Now I will on the hunt for these fabulous tiny potatoes ..yum.
    Kathy levernier
    gkathgoldin@yaho.com

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  5. In the crockpot with turkey or pork roast and carrots.
    valleyreader (at) gmail (dot) com

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  6. Love potatoes with butter, salt and pepper.
    Bleakney 750 at yahoo dot com

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  7. Kohlrabi might substitute well in this recipe. I use it in stews . . . potatoes off-limits for those with latex allergies. Sad, but I haven't wasted away.

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  8. Any potato is a good potato in my book. And this way is perfect. Sometimes I add chicken or spicy sausage, apples along with the veggies and some sauerkraut. Yummy.
    sallycootie(at)gmail(dot)com

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  9. We love new potatoes any way, but the ones I cook most often are new potatoes and fresh green beans with onions, sauteed in butter and sometimes with a bit of bacon. Also, ever since the Aussie dish Crash Hot Potatoes became popular, I've been making those frequently, roasted and smashed with EVOO and various tasty herbs. Never met a tater I didn't like! lola777_22 at hotmail dot com

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  10. Lovely!
    "My little cabbage" now has "My little hailstone"!
    libbydodd at comcast dot net

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  11. That recipe sounds awesome. I like new potatoes sautéed in butter with onions, bacon and garlic.
    diannekc8(at)gmail(dot)com

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  12. One of our favorites also uses new small potatoes. They are crater potatoes or cracked potatoes or smashed potatoes (known by many names) then after crushing flat you pan fry them in olive oil until crunchy. Then a must is to sprinkle them with a delicious coarse ground sea salt! . The dip or topping we love is roasted garlic sour cream and sprinkled with fresh chives. They are absolutely delicious! Due to my retina problem and macular degeneration it would be wonderful to receive an audiobook code as listening is now getting to be a necessity most of the time. Congratulations on all your releases and Congratulations on all of your accomplishments. I can be reached on FB as Cynthia Bayer Blain. Thank you so much.

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  13. I like them tossed in olive oil and garlic and roasted, then sprinkled with salt and pepper. I think I'll try your recipe though, I have a couple of mushroom lovers.

    acm05atjuno.com

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    Replies
    1. Anne, you are our lucky winner! Congratulations, and please check your email.

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  14. Yum! I like this recipe, or new potatoes are good in the oven on a sheet pan with chicken, fresh green beans, olive oil and seasonings. legallyblonde1961@yahoo.com

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  15. Anne is our lucky winner! Congratulations, Anne, and please check your email.

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