I love the variety of potatoes I find at the farmers market – their sizes and peculiarities  amaze me.  I remember when our choices were simple – russet, Idaho, and sweet – that was it.  Now, we have La Ratte, Yellow Finn, Purple Peruvian, Pink Eye, Banana, Purple Swede, Red Thumb, Bintje, Butterball, Adirondack Blue, and Purple Viking among tens of others.  Don’t you just love the names?  Talking to a avid (and knowledgeable) gardener friend recently I learned a new potato fact – we could live quite well on a diet of potatoes IF they were supplemented with dairy – either cream, milk, yogurt, or butter as the latter carry the 2 vitamins – A and D – that are lacking in potatoes.  Can you imagine living on bowl after bowl of buttery mashed potatoes?  I almost can!  Anyway, this is a long tale to feature a photo of some tiny little fingerling potatoes I bought on Sunday at our local behind-the-Museum of Natural History (another phenomenon) farmers market.
First I steamed them and then I sautéed them with some green beans (also from the market), shallots, and walnuts in a little combo of walnut and grapeseed oil.  A good seasoning of salt and pepper and they made a perfect little mound on which to plant some slices of rare skirt steak.