What's Cooking?

When I hosted brunch a couple of weeks ago, I had farm fresh new potatoes from our CSA that needed some love, some dill growing in the garden, and I was very fortunate to be in the middle of reviewing Filippo Berio olive oil.  What to make, what to make?...

A beautiful spring dish came to mind for the ladies, one of my favorite potato salads - a vinegar and dill based potato salad.

I know there are some purists out there on both sides of the great mayonnaise based/mustard based divide who feel very passionately that vinegar and oil are for leafy greens and not spuds.  Try this recipe out, and let me know if you become a believer. 

A tea room in England is where I first had this kind of potato salad.  Our English friends would often dress their boiled new potatoes with a vinaigrette.  I loved the sharp lightness of it.  I hope you do too.

Dill Potato Salad

A Good Amount of New Potatoes, Fingerling Potatoes, or Red Skinned Potatoes, chopped into chunks
3 Scallions, Chopped
1/3-1/2 c. Extra Virgin Olive Oil (preferably Filippo Berio)
1/3-1/2 c.White Vinegar
Handful Fresh Dill, Chopped (or you could use dried)
Salt & Freshly Cracked Pepper to Taste

Boil the potatoes in fairly heavily salted water until they slide off of a knife that has been skewered through them (about 10-12 minutes depending on the size of the potatoes).
While they are boiling, mix the scallions, oil, vinegar, dill, salt, & pepper in a bowl.  Adjust to taste.
Drain the potatoes and put in a bowl.  Dress them with the vinaigrette.
While the potatoes are hot, they will soak up all of that dilly vinegary goodness.
Put in the fridge until you are ready to serve the salad.  It's good cold but fantastic at room temperature.  I don't know why, it just is.  Trust me.

On to the reviewing...





I have to admit that Filippo Berio is my "go to" brand for olive oil anyway.  I often get it on sale with coupons which makes this oil less expensive than the store brand kind.  So when I was asked to review the olive oil by BzzAgent, I was thrilled. 

The extra virgin variety has a deep olive flavor perfect for salad dressings or a last minute drizzle over a dish whereas the plain olive oil is great for sauteing.

I love the taste of Filippo Berio olive oil but food is not the only thing I use it for.  I clean my face with olive oil, wash my dog with it (she has allergies and it helps her skin), and Engineer controls his psoriasis with it, so I want to make sure that it is a good quality of oil that I am using. 

Olive oil can help reduce the risk of heart disease, control blood pressure and blood sugar levels.  It's amazing stuff!

If you want to learn more about the benefits of olive oil, got to www.filippoberio.com for expert tips and recipes.
This is part of Full Plate Thursday.

* I was sent a bottle of olive oil to review.  All opinions are my own.  Thanks BzzAgent!