Can you answer this super-fast? Pork side dish

Itty-bitty new potatoes.

Asparagus.

I decided to go later.

Potatoes seem obvious, I guess. Little herby ones maybe.

Oh, lookie!

How would you prepare the itty-bitties?

This afternoon I simmered a piece of reduced salt corned beef and sliced it up for the freezer. I boiled my little potatoes in some of the corned beef stock and will add a bit of parsley and some lightly sauted onions--perhaps chopped green onions.

If you don't have corned beef stock, canned chicken broth will do.

Right now I'm boiling Brussel sprouts--cabbage isn't always welcome locally.

Sounds good to me. Thanks!

Morning, soz!

My favourite way of preparing new, baby potatoes is in the microwave! I say "!" because many folk will not go near a microwave, so I don't know where you stand on this .....
Anyway, this is the easiest, most delicious way of preparing new potatoes I know of, learned from Barbara Kafka's Microwave Gourmet. Just put 'em in a casserole type dish (with lid), add as much garlic as you can cope with (for me, usually around 5, crushed), a tablespoon of olive oil, a sprinkle of salt & toss around .... then 10 minutes on high & we're laughing!

But I see that you already have garlic with your pork dish ... Hmmmm ... OK what to substitute it with then? <thinking, thinking> Perhaps some nice chili flakes? Dill? (Dill is wonderful with new potatoes, tossed with a bit of butter (or olive oil, I guess) at the last minute. I'm of Eastern European descent. I know! ) Or some other herb that lives happily with potatoes, tossed in at the last minutes. I have been known to throw in rocket leaves, or baby spinach leaves toward the very end of the cooking. Good & adds a nice touch of green colour!Whatever you do, you can't go far wrong with new potatoes! Yum! And you can also cook them in one those double steamer pots, them toss with your chosen oil/herb's later, if that is more to your liking!

<kisses msolga on each cheek>

Perfect!

At the very least I'm off to buy tiny new potatoes, and now have two yummy (and *easy*!) ways to prepare them. Thanks!

Tell me more about the dill option -- you cook the potatoes with just olive oil and salt (?), and then toss in the dill AFTER they're cooked?

For any of the seasoning options, how many at a time?

The prevailing taste with the porkchops is sage, does that make a difference re: garlic (the garlic ones sound yummiest to me!)

.... Oh, & chopped chives would work very well, too, tossed in at the end. As would the green parts of very young spring onions.

Clarification/ addition:

Thank you for the kisses!

If I was going to do the (Eastern European) dill option, I'd probably steam them (on the stove, rather than cooking with the oil. (Same with the chives, or spring onion greens) Then, toss with some butter, then add the feathery leaves right at the end (while potatoes are still warm.) Oh yum! Love that dish! You can also sort of steam them in the dish you plan to serve them in, in the microwave, with a little water.

For the garlicky one (which I adore!) Add the crushed cloves ( 5 to 8, 10 for heavy-duty garlic devotees!) to the potatoes & about a tablespoon of olive oil, a sprinkling of salt, toss & that's it! Ten minutes on high & the place smeels wonderfully garlicky!

Sounds great!

And how many potatoes are we talking about? Either way, but the microwave one makes more of a difference in terms of proper cooking time...

Oh & that's for 4 people.

Perfect perfect perfect.

Thanks!!

For a herby seasoning, just play it by ear & eye! Enough chopped dill/chives/spring onion tossed in at the last minute (with butter or a little olive oil) to look good & give the potatoes a decent covering. You can't go wrong here. Be generous!

A pleasure, soz!
Let us know how it goes!

I microwaved 1.5 pounds of new potatoes on high for 8 minutes, stirred 7 more minutes, stirred and then 5 more minutes.

Had I been serving them immediately, I'd have given them another five minutes to go flaky.

Yeah, I guess potaoes (& microwaves) vary a bit, Noddy. I guess just keep at it till they're properly done.

I forgot to mention something (rather obvious) earlier on. If you can't get the very small new potaoes, simply cut the bigger ones you could get into smaller chunks, to ensure they cook properly.

I'm wondering how soz's gathering went. Hope all went well, soz.

It was great, thanks!

Yep, I went by the "2 oz" thing in your recipe, and kept the actually tiny ones whole and then chopped the others in half or in quarters according to size (going by approximately 2 oz per section).

I also kept it to one pound, which ended up being kind of small portions for 4 people. Adequate, but no seconds.

They were done at 9 minutes, then put them aside while other stuff finished and warmed them up again (2 minutes, I think) just before serving.

I thought they could've been good mashed, too.

I liked the flavor, and LOVE how easy it is. I make oven-roasted herbed potatoes (and other veggies) sometimes that are a similar idea but get a nice crunch to them in the oven. But that takes a long time and if I'm cooking something else in the oven, too, much simpler to be able to do the potatoes in the microwave.

So, that's just what I was going for, thanks again!