How Do I Make Potato Salad?
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It is getting close to summer and the picnic season. Time to get out the plates and forks and spoons, the napkins, and, best of all, the food. One of the key ingredients to a good picnic is, in my opinion, the potato salad. Here is a good way make one.
Boil several whole, unpeeled potatoes for 15 minutes, or until just tender. Don’t overcook the potatoes or they will fall apart when you cut them. Peel and dice the potatoes while they are still warm.
Add mayonnaise and diced eggs and stir until potatoes are moist. Add salt and pepper to taste, plus any of the following: 1/2 c. chopped sweet or dill pickle (or pickle relish); 1/2 c. celery, chopped fine; 1 tsp. celery seed; 1 or 2 tbsp. Dijon mustard; 2 tbsp. chopped parsley; 1/4 to 1/2 c. yellow or red onion, chopped fine; 1/2 c. seeded and diced cucumber; 1/2 c. red or green bell pepper, chopped fine.
Mix all ingredients thoroughly. Place finished salad in a large salad bowl and garnish with sliced egg, chopped parsley and paprika. Refrigerate or keep on ice until ready to eat. If you use raw onions in your potato salad, limit the amount to about 1/2 cup, and chop the onions very fine. For a tangier salad, mix the warm, diced potatoes with 2 to 3 tbsp. cider vinegar, and then mix with the other ingredients. Add more mayonnaise if the salad seems too dry.
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[tags]potato salad, picnic[/tags]
4 Comments
Rodney
May 30th, 2007
at 8:32am
I don’t know where you get “15 min” to cook potatoes, unless they’re already diced. It takes far longer to cook an entire potatom, even if you use small potatoes. I dice then boil for 15 minutes, and then run cold water over the potatoes to stop the cooking. Then they sit for a bit before being added to the rest of the salad ingredients.
Mac
May 31st, 2007
at 5:50am
Here’s a recipe for a “New Orleans style” potato salad that my Mom used to make. It makes a large portion suitable for a family gathering at a picnic or barbeque.
Ingredients
5lbs Potatoes (see note in directions)
2 cups –approx- Mayo (I use Hellmann’s)
Yellow mustard to taste
1 large onion (½ in dice) – A sweet type like Red, Vidalia, 1015, Bermuda, etc.
5 large sticks celery (½ in dice)
2 bunches thinly sliced green onions
2 Tbs minced garlic
½ cup finely chopped flat leaf parsley
9 hard-boiled large eggs (see directions)
3 Tbs snipped chives for garnish
1 tsp sweet Hungarian paprika
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Directions
Potatoes – Yukon Gold are best in my opinion. If they’re not available then use a 5lb bag of Russets if you like creamy potato salad, or, if you like the potatoes firmer, pick out 5 lbs of loose New Red potatoes trying to keep the size about the same (a little smaller than the size of a tennis ball).
Chop the onions, celery, green onions, garlic and parsley and put all into the serving bowl, and then put the serving bowl in the fridge.
Boil (not a hard, rolling boil – just above a simmer) the potatoes in enough well-salted water to cover. Check after 20 minutes of boiling time by trying to pierce them with a thin bladed knife, they are done when the knife goes into the potato with little resistance. If there is a big variation in size, place the larger ones in the bottom of the pot and the smaller in the top, then pull out the smaller potatoes when they are done and continue to cook the larger potatoes until they are done. After they’re done, put the pot, with the potatoes in it, in the sink and run cold water over the potatoes until they’ve cooled to room temperature.
Put the eggs into a pot just large enough to hold them in one layer, and cover with cold water, heat to boiling over high heat, then turn the heat off, cover, and let stand for exactly 15 minutes. Put the pot in the sink, and run cold water over the eggs until they are chilled to room temperature. Peel and then place the eggs in a plate and loosely cover with saran wrap and put in the fridge for 15 to 30 minutes.
Peel the potatoes and dice into 1inch pieces. Dice 6 of the eggs into ½ inch pieces. Combine the potatoes, eggs, celery, onions, green onions, garlic, and parsley; add salt and pepper and mix well in a large bowl. Add the mayo 1 cup at a time, mix well and check for consistency. Add more mayo as you see fit. Now add the mustard and mix well – the potato salad should be very slightly yellow. Adjust salt and pepper to taste.
Smooth out the surface of the potato salad in the bowl, slice the 3 remaining eggs and arrange the slices on top of the salad, then sprinkle on the snipped chives, and then sprinkle the surface with the paprika. Cover the bowl tightly with saran wrap.
Refrigerate for at least 4 hours – overnight is better.
Bon Appétit
CPMJohn
May 31st, 2007
at 8:49am
German Style, which uses no mayo, is much tastier. This one needs hard boiled eggs, however:
http://www.yankeemagazine.com/recipes/search/onerecipe.php?number=1707
This is closer to my mom’s:
http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=226674
Cheers,
John
Dana Ridgley
May 31st, 2007
at 12:40pm
I have in my refrigerator, as I write this a bowl of potato salad made very nearly by the same recipe, a recipe which I developed independently over the last 30-40 years.. Some comments to add to the recipe: Use red potatoes since they have less tendency to break up; for a bowl 9″x9″x3″ high sides curving down to a 5″ circular bottom, I use about 6-7 medium red potatoes; I use more onion and peppers; other additions that I use: cauliflower is very good, sliced radishes, and broccoli;cut up but not fine; I use over a cup of low fat mayonnaise and use some two tbsps. of vinegar plus some two tbsps. white wine to thin the mayonnaise. This the first recipe that I have ever seen that adds mustard (prepared, I assume) and celery seed—both important consituents.