Chef Juliette
Suet Dumpling
Boulettes au suif, poached beside salt beef, turn equal weights of flour and finely chopped suet into tender, rich dumplings. Keep the beef liquor at a bare tremble and the old garnish works beautifully at home.
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Pommes de Terre à la Menthe
Created by Chef Juliette
Based on No. 2232, Pommes de Terre à la Menthe, from Le Guide Culinaire (1907) by Auguste Escoffier
Fair-sized new potatoes scented by a whole bunch of mint, drained dry, and arranged in a warm timbale with one tender leaf apiece: a spring side dish whose precision lies in its restraint.
Side Dishes
French
Easter
Weeknight
15 min
Active Time
20 min cook•35 min total
Yield4 servings
Pommes de Terre à la Menthe (new potatoes with mint) teaches restraint before it teaches boiling. The one true thing to know before you touch the pan is that mint acts here as an infusion, not a shower of chopped herb: a tied bunch perfumes the water, then one softened leaf rests on each potato. À l’anglaise (the English way) asks for potatoes cooked whole in salted water and brought out intact, tender, and dry.
The old service assumed a vegetable station to grade and scrape a brigade quantity, several pans moving through service, and a warmed metal timbale waiting at the pass. For four people, that scaffolding goes: twelve equal potatoes, one saucepan, and a warmed deep, straight-sided serving bowl do the same work. Only the quantity and vessel changed, because there is no sauce, stock, or salamander in this spare entry; equal sizing, the whole mint bunch, careful draining, and one leaf per potato are the dish and must stay. One cook, one stove, one evening.
When it is right, each potato remains whole and pale gold, with a dry, tender surface and the quiet scent of mint carried all the way to its centre. The step that decides it is the heat after the water reaches the boil: hold it at a gentle simmer, because a rolling boil splits the skins and batters the flesh.
Pommes de terre à la menthe belongs to French classical vegetable service rather than to a particular French region, and its à l’anglaise method openly acknowledges the English table’s habit of boiling spring potatoes plainly with mint. French service imposed its own order on that household practice: fair, even potatoes, a deep timbale, and one leaf from the cooking bunch placed on each. It is sometimes mistaken for minted potatoes dressed with butter and chopped herbs, but this preparation has neither; its flavor comes from the mint-infused cooking water and its finish from the single poached leaf.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
fair-sized new potatoes
Quantity
12 (2 lb / 900 g)
about 1½ to 2 inches / 4 to 5 cm across, scrubbed
cold water
Quantity
8 cups (1.9 L / 1.9 kg), or enough to cover by 1 inch / 2.5 cm
fine sea salt
Quantity
1 tablespoon (15 ml / 18 g)
fresh garden mint, preferably spearmint
Quantity
1 large bunch (about 1 loosely packed cup / 240 ml / 30 g)
rinsed and tied at the stems, with at least 12 sound leaves
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| fair-sized new potatoesabout 1½ to 2 inches / 4 to 5 cm across, scrubbed | 12 (2 lb / 900 g) |
| cold water | 8 cups (1.9 L / 1.9 kg), or enough to cover by 1 inch / 2.5 cm |
| fine sea salt | 1 tablespoon (15 ml / 18 g) |
| fresh garden mint, preferably spearmintrinsed and tied at the stems, with at least 12 sound leaves | 1 large bunch (about 1 loosely packed cup / 240 ml / 30 g) |
Equipment Needed
- •4-quart (3.8 L) saucepan
- •Small paring knife or vegetable scraper
- •Kitchen twine
- •Slotted spoon or tongs
- •1½-quart (1.4 L) deep, straight-sided serving bowl
Instructions
- 1
Grade and scrape
Choose twelve potatoes as close in size as possible so their centres become tender together. Scrub them well, then use the back of a paring knife to scrape away only loose, papery skin; do not peel deeply or cut them in half. Rinse them clean. Equal sizing is not brigade fuss here, it is what lets every whole potato reach the bowl at the same moment.
- 2
Begin à l’anglaise
Put the potatoes in a 4-quart / 3.8 L saucepan and add enough cold water to cover them by 1 inch / 2.5 cm. Stir in the salt, then settle the tied mint bunch among the potatoes. Bring the water just to the boil over medium-high heat, uncovered, and immediately lower the heat.
Starting in cold water lets the centres warm with the outsides. Potatoes dropped into boiling water soften at the surface before their middles are ready. - 3
Hold a gentle simmer
Keep the water at a quiet simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, with small bubbles rising steadily but never tossing the potatoes around. Test the largest with the point of a small knife; it is ready when the blade enters the centre without chalky resistance and the potato still holds its shape. If one begins to split, lower the heat at once and lift that potato out as soon as it is tender. Ça se rattrape: place it beneath the others in the serving bowl, and the gentler heat will protect the rest.
- 4
Drain and dry
Lift the mint bunch onto a clean plate, keeping its leaves intact, then drain the potatoes immediately. Return them to the hot saucepan off the heat and roll the pan gently for 20 to 30 seconds. Leave them uncovered for 1 minute so the clinging water evaporates and the surfaces turn satin-dry. Do not shake hard; tender new potatoes bruise easily. While they dry, choose twelve of the least-torn leaves from the poached mint bunch.
- 5
Dish in the timbale
Warm a deep, straight-sided serving bowl with very hot water, then empty and dry it thoroughly. Mound the potatoes inside while they are still hot, setting any split potato underneath, and place one poached mint leaf flat upon the crown of each. Add no butter and scatter no extra chopped herb; the source’s quiet finish is exact. Carry the timbale straight to the table. À table!
Chef Tips
- •This dish earns its spring season. True new potatoes are waxy, thin-skinned, and moist enough to remain creamy without breaking; if they are unavailable, choose the smallest firm waxy potatoes you can find, knowing that mature potatoes will taste less delicate.
- •Use garden mint or spearmint, with broad green leaves and a sweet scent. Peppermint is too sharp here, and loose chopped mint muddies both the cooking water and the presentation.
- •A timbale here is the deep, round serving vessel, not a molded tower of potatoes. A warmed straight-sided porcelain bowl is its honest home equivalent and keeps the potatoes hot without buying specialty ware.
- •Do not add butter or replace the single leaves with chopped mint. The preparation is deliberately plain: the bunch scents the potatoes from within, and the poached leaf identifies that flavor on the plate.
- •Serve beside Easter lamb or ham, or make it a weeknight companion to an omelette or simply cooked fish. It wants to arrive immediately, while the potatoes are tender and their surfaces remain dry.
Advance Preparation
- •Up to 4 hours ahead, grade, scrub, and lightly scrape the potatoes, then keep them submerged in cold water in the refrigerator. Drain and begin cooking with the fresh measured water.
- •The mint can be rinsed and tied earlier in the day, then wrapped in a damp kitchen towel and refrigerated. Do not cook the potatoes ahead; holding or reheating dulls the mint and makes the potato surfaces clammy.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 225g)
Calories
170 calories
Total Fat
0 g
Saturated Fat
0 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
0 g
Cholesterol
0 mg
Sodium
400 mg
Total Carbohydrates
39 g
Dietary Fiber
4 g
Sugars
2 g
Protein
4 g
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