Yep you read right, dirty WA potatoes are good for you and if you don’t believe me, you will after watching this video featuring the lovely Janice of Karri Country Gourmet Potatoes (The Pessotto Family) at Farmers Market on Manning…
It was an absolute pleasure to meet sisters Janice and Leanna at Farmers Market on Manning a couple of Saturdays ago. Besides learning that potatoes keep best in their natural dirty state, I was introduced to potato varieties I wouldn’t normally buy (not because there’s anything wrong with them but just because I didn’t know any better), learnt what the green tinge on an potato was and gained some new potato recipe inspirations.
Potatoes are a staple in our house. I’m a massive slow cooker and potatoes are the perfect (filling) side. Roast potatoes, baked potatoes and mash potatoes are always on my menu plans. Being a potato novice until meeting Janice and Leanna that is, I had been buying perfect shaped Nadine potatoes that have been cleaned and packaged in clear plastic bags exposed to bright light from my local supermarket out of convenience.
When my potatoes had a tinge of green I assumed it was because it wasn’t ripe and with time it’d go away. I didn’t think twice when the green didn’t turn white but now I know this is a sign of an potato releasing its toxins from being exposed to light…
It doesn’t mean the potato is old but you should definitely cut this green part off before cooking.
Besides tasting amazing and keeping longer, to my surprise cleaning dirty potatoes actually wasn’t too hard or messy. I’ve just been filling my sink and giving my dirty potatoes a bit of a rub with my hands, the dirt just came off and then I just washed them again for good measure…
Janice also explained that odd shaped / sized potatoes are often wasted as the supermarkets and grocers won’t take them. To offset this wastage, The Pessotto Family have setup Karri Country Gourmet Potatoes stall at the Manning Farmers Market to sell their potatoes in their natural form to buyers direct. They sold almost 10 crates of odd shaped & sized potatoes (potatoes that would have been otherwise wasted) by the time I got there at 10:30am that Saturday!! I so would have stocked up on the largest potatoes going around - peeling one large potato for my little family would be amazing in the kitchen.
These are Karri Country Gourmet Potatoes’s potato tips and recipe inspirations for the brown bag of dirty WA potatoes I took home…
• Salad rose potatoes are best for roasting – potato wedges drizzled with olive oil and all purpose seasonings is our new staple potato side
• Red potatoes are best for making gnocchi - I’ve packaged these dirty red potatoes and shipped them to my mother-in-law to make us her amazing gnocchi
• Almera potatoes are best for steaming – I love a good potato salad
You can find Karri Country Gourmet Potatoes fortnightly at the Farmers Market on Manning from 7:30 – 12:30pm but go early as they pretty much sell out by 10am. If you are planning to stock up on your WA potatoes, next dates are 28 May then 11 & 28 June. Check out Karri Country Gourmet Potatoes facebook page for more dates.
Whilst you are shopping for potatoes at Farmers Market on Manning, make sure you:
- Grab a coffee from Yahava, I love the drive through they have in the Swan Valley
- Buy bananas from the Sweeter Banana Co-operation (bananas packed by 30 local farming families in Carnarvon), they really are sweeter
- Do your fruit & veg shop from Caraholly Orchard, they have EFTPOS facilities!
Have I changed your mind about buying odd shaped dirty WA potatoes?
For more potato inspirations check out these awesome potato recipes by fellow food blogger Brooke of Cooking 101…
Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post for Fresh Potatoes, see foodie cravings disclosure policy for further details.
