elderflower
New potatoes with goat’s cheese, lavender and elderflower butter.

I love this fragrant early summer salad. The combination of waxy new potatoes and crumbly fresh goats cheese is always fantastic, but the delicate perfume of lavender and elderflower compliment and lift it to another level. I like to make some elderflower head sticks to mop through the butter and flavour the potatoes as you eat them. A cool trick I learnt from René Redzepi

Serves 
4
Ingredients 

800g of fresh new potatoes

50g of butter

1 - 2 Tbls of olive oil

Squeeze of lemon

A few the petals from 1 or 2 fresh lavender flowers

150g of goat's cheese

2 heads of Elderflower

(plus a few more if you want make a few sticks up)

1 Handful of fennel tops

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method 

Cut the new potatoes in half if they are large and place in a pan. Cover with salted water and bring to the simmer. Cook for 8 – 15 minutes or until just tender when pierced with the tip of a knife. The cooking time can vary depending on their variety and freshness.

Drain the potatoes and return to the pan. Add the butter, olive oil, 2 heads of elderflower and a squeeze of lemon. Season well with salt and pepper, turn together well and set aside to rest for a few minutes.

To serve, scatter the potatoes out over a large platter along with all their lovely butter. You can discard the elder heads. Crumble over the goat’s cheese and lavender petals then tear over the fennel tops if you have them.