Dillstuvad Potatis

This apparently is a fairly common way of serving potatoes in Sweden. Oddly enough, the first time I had it was this past Christmas. Patsy, who's known me for almost 20 years was massively surprised that I was unaware of this delicacy. So, time to rectify.

"Dillstuvad potatis" translates to "potatoes stewed with dill" and is a very nice way of sprucing up boiled potatoes, not to mention that they work very well with salmon.

After a brief search on the internet, I decided to try this recipe (in Swedish).

Ingredients
Makes 4 side dish portions

16 waxy potatoes, around 600 g
25 - 30 g butter
2 tbsp plain flour
400 g milk
salt and pepper to taste
1 dl finely chopped fresh dill

Method

1. Peel or scrape off the potatoes and wash well.
2. Boil or steam until cooked, about 20 - 25 minutes, depending on size.
3. In the mean time, melt the butter on high heat in a sauce pan large enough to accommodate the potatoes.
4. Using a wooden spoon, add the flour and stir vigorously for a minute or so, then add the milk slowly, a little at a time and incorporate to form a thick-ish béchamel sauce.
5. Turn down the heat and let simmer for a few minutes, stirring constantly. Season with salt and pepper, then keep warm until the potatoes are ready.
6. When the potatoes are ready, cut into dice of about 2 cm, then add to the saucepan along with the dill and stir carefully to make sure the potatoes are coated and the dill has distributed evenly. Ready to serve.

Since I've recently re-stocked the freezer with salmon, I coated a piece with chilli sauce, wrapped it in aluminium foil and baked for 30 minutes at 200 °C. Yummy! And we'll try the left-over potatoes with some of my home made meatballs tonight.