Thursday, June 9, 2011

Potato Salad

I think potato salad is a prime example of how sometimes simpler is better. For some bizarre reason, it's not that easy to find good potato salad out in the world. I have a pet peeve about vinegar in mine. It has no business being in there (I think it's often added to make it last longer). Yick. Also, I'm not a fan of thin potato slices. I think potato salad should be chunky and creamy (with just a hint of crunch from the celery). So here's how I like it. 

Obviously this recipe has a ridiculously large yield (enough for any cookout I've ever had). So you probably want to reduce it. I should tell you, I didn't actually measure any of the ingredients, I approximated (except for the potatoes, they came in a 5 lb. bag). So I recommend you add everything to taste. Come on, it's potato salad.

POTATO SALAD
Yield: about 2 1/2 quarts
                                                          
5 lb. Yukon Gold or butter potatoes
1 1/2 cups mayonnaise
3/4 cup chopped celery
3 hard boiled, cooled eggs, peeled and sliced
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder (optional)
1/2 teaspoon paprika (optional)
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1. Cut potatoes into large chunks and cook in boiling water until easily pierced with a fork. Cool to room temperature and cut into bite-size cubes.

2. Combine potatoes with remaining ingredients and stir well. Season to taste.

hard boiling the eggs (I cook mine for roughly 11 minutes)
The extras were for breakfast.
hard boiled eggs
peeled hard boiled eggs
peeled potatoes
boiling the potatoes
cooked, cooled potatoes cut into chucks

I like to make the chucks in a variety of sizes.
I also cut them when cooled to room temperature
(and not chilled) so little bits will fall off when
mixing everything together (I like the texture).
chopped celery
slicing an egg (the egg slicer still brings out the kid in me)
mixing the ingredients
a ton of potato salad
.

3 comments:

Susan said...

I wish I could tell you my secret, but there isn't one. It's just luck of the draw. Also, you'll notice I hard-boiled 7 eggs, but there are only 3 peeled ones in the photo.

Judie Cleland said...

Susan/Randi, I think it depends on the freshness of the eggs as to how easy they are to peel. Sometimes I think it is the "older" eggs that peel more easily. I usually put them in a pan of cold water, bring to a boil and then cover and turn off heat. Let sit for awhile before peeling. That is supposed to keep away the grey/green line around the yolk also.

Susan said...

Thanks for the tip!

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