Recipe: Potato Salad

Potato Salad is much like Macaroni Salad… you just can’t have too many recipes for them…. I love salads… green salads, macaroni, potato, pasta, coleslaw, bean, just to name a few… I’m sure given time.. I could easily come up with a few more.

I have really good recipes for each.. so why do I constantly try new recipes.. I honestly don’t know.. maybe it’s just that I recognize that many recipes, although different, are good… and I don’t want to miss out… or possibly.. I just like variety…

So with all that said… I have another excellent potato salad for you… this one.. is from the Barefoot Contessa… and believe it or not … I didn’t change it… I know.. it’s a shock.. but all the ingredients sounded good… well all except the dill.. I’m not a fan of dill… now my Mother would interject here … with… but you like dill pickles… personally I don’t see the similarity.. in my opinion.. dill pickles do not taste like dill… okay… enough of that.. before I get too far off track here…
I did leave the dill in the recipe… but I didn’t use it… I read the reviews of this salad before trying it..and a number of reviewers said they left it out for various reasons.. mostly.. they didn’t have it on hand..

TIPS

I used Yukon Gold potatoes mostly because that’s what I usually have in the house.. and they worked fine… although … if I had red potatoes on hand.. I would definitely have used them.. I like red potatoes in potato salads.

If I had used small red potatoes, I would have boiled them whole and halved or quartered them after they had cooled…. She steams her potatoes.. I don’t do that.. I boil them until they are to the desired tenderness and then I drain and let them cool… then quarter them.

I didn’t slice the potatoes.. I cubed them… I peel and cube them before I cook them… the cubes are all almost the same size and therefore cook evenly.. it’s just a habit of mine.. if I boil them whole (large white potatoes).. some how I seem to end up with mashed potatoes (not that that is necessarily a bad thing… but when I want potato salad… then well… it is a problem).

She uses a red onion.. which.. if I had had one.. I would have used it.. but I didn’t so I used a yellow onion… since I wasn’t using a red onion… I chopped it in my beloved mini chopper… I wanted it finely chopped... a few pulses was all it took.

I did use the buttermilk.. and I highly recommend you don’t change that … it really has a nice taste and texture.

I used Hellman’s Mayonnaise … it’s the best.

I didn’t add it at first… but after a day or so.. I ended up adding chopped parsley to it.. I really like chopped fresh parsley in my salads… I added it to the ingredient list and listed it as optional… it wasn’t in the original recipe.

And finally, as I mentioned above about the dill… I listed that ingredient as optional… she didn’t.

With barbeque season here.. you can always use another potato salad recipe.. and I recommend this one… it really is very good.






Recipe: Potato Salad

All you need:

3 pounds small red potatoes
Kosher salt
1 cup mayonnaise
¼ cup buttermilk, milk or white wine
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons whole-grain mustard
½ cup chopped fresh dill (see notes above)
Freshly ground black pepper
½ cup chopped celery
½ cup chopped red onion

All you need to do:

Barefoot Contessa Method to Make the Potatoes:

Place the potatoes in a large pot of water. Add 2 tablespoons of salt.

Bring the water to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes until the potatoes are barely fork tender.

Drain the potatoes in a colander and place the colander with the potatoes over the empty pot and cover with a clean, dry kitchen towel. Allow the potatoes to steam for 15-20 minutes.

When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, cut them into halves or quarters depending on the size potato.

My Method:

If I use small red potatoes….I bring them to a boil in salted water, then reduce heat to a simmer… I check them frequently.. and when they are fork tender… I drain them and allow them to cool… I don’t steam mine. After they’re cooled … I cut them..leaving the skin. See notes above.

If I use a different variety potato… such as Yukon Gold… I peel and dice them… and bring them to a low boil… then reduce the heat to a simmer… when they are the desired tenderness… I drain them and rinse them in cold water and allow them to continue draining and cooling… when completely cooled I add the remaining ingredients and dress them with the dressing.

Whole the potatoes are cooking… chop the celery and onion and set aside.

In a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise, buttermilk, mustards, salt and pepper.

When the potatoes are cooled, in a large bowl toss them with the onion, celery, salt and pepper.

Pour the dressing over the potatoes and toss again.

Refrigerate a few hours and toss again before serving.

If you don’t add the dill, you can sprinkle chopped parsley on the top.