Friday, May 9, 2008

Potato Salad Recipe

As soon as Grandma asked me to make potato salad for the branding I knew who had helped her make the list. My SIL Bobbie-jo has always raved over my potato salad and I was more than happy to make it. I know she occasionally reads my blog so I will post it here for her. With summer just around the corner this salad is great served with sliced ham or any dinner for that matter.

Sorry but no measurements for this recipe. I often just chop, toss, mash, boil & peel, and throw everything in.

I use russet potatoes and if I'm on the ball I'll cook them, skin on, and then let them cool. After peeling, I mash them with a potato masher and you're good to go. But most times I'm not quite "on the ball" so you will often find me cooking them already peeled, mashing them up hot, and cooling the pot in a sink full of cold water, while everyone is waiting for supper. I actually prefer them this way because I'm not one to eat cold chunks of potato and mashing them hot makes them a bit less chunky. If I'm even more in a hurry I will leave the skins on and just mash them right in!



I also boil up a fair number of eggs. Do you know that farm fresh eggs are a bugger to peel? The older the egg the easier it is to peel so when they are only a day or two old you curse a lot.



You really want the freshest veggies you can find, it's the crispness of the veggies that makes this salad taste great. I use radish, celery, carrots and green onions.



Cut your celery small, and everything else can be a bit chunky.




If you don't have green onions, regular ones will do.




I like to see each piece of radish with colour so I slice them like this:



Mix veggies together.




The best egg masher I've found is a pastry blender, the kind with the sharp blades.



Add the potatoes and eggs to the veggies. (I haven't yet added the eggs in the picture).


Because I have some people who like mayo, and some who like miracle whip, I add both. Add enough to make the whole thing creamy, depending on how you like it. I used up both jars that I had in the fridge, hence the empty jars, but you probably won't add much more than a cup or so of each. I also add regular mustard, it not only gives it flavour but yellows it as well, it also tones down the tang of the dressings. You don't need to add much, not near as much as the mayo and miracle whip, but enough for flavour, adjust for your taste.



I also add a handful or two of frozen peas. I'm not even a pea fan but I do like peas in potato salad. Don't cook them, just toss them in frozen.



After mixing everything together you can add seasonings. I add a bit of salt and some Accent, and once in awhile I'll add a touch of garlic but this is up to you. It doesn't look pretty but it sure tastes great!



For something really different this year, I added a few teaspoons of curry, my Aunty Bonnie had suggested it. I liked it, along with a number of others, but the ones who didn't like it really didn't like it. Next year I think I'll split the amount and make one with curry and one without. In the past I've also added cooked, cooled, and crumbled bacon, but I think this salad is already high enough in fat so I stopped doing that. You can pretty well wing it and add whatever you like; red and/or green peppers would be nice... try it.

9 comments:

tanita✿davis said...

Oh, yuuummmm. I much prefer original potato salads. When I was a kid, my mother made it the way she'd had it in Germany - it had apples in it. Apples, onions, pickles and potatoes. I think curry would be a welcome guest, and I'll have to try mashing the potatoes some time. Yum.

KansasA said...

Apples and pickles sound pretty interesting Tadmack. Would that be dill pickles or sweet?

tanita✿davis said...

We are fully a DILL family, none of us can stand sweet. Occasionally even adding a teensy bit of dill herb to the salad is nice. But probably not with the curry.

Anonymous said...

I have to go now and make a potato salad. sure looks good ab

Jackie said...

Sounds good! I've never put carrots and radishes in my salad, but I will try it next time.

Anonymous said...

I add tomatoes and cucumbers with green onions, eggs and radishes and celery. I have not tried it with carrot or frozen peas. I am not fond of mustard in potato salad so don't add it. I will add all sorts of seasonings however. I think potato salad is such a great universal picnic food, no matter how you make it, it will be yummy and if someone else makes it, I don't mind the mustard. I actually had some one time that someone had used beet pickles in and it was pink. It was weird looking, but tasted pretty good.

Anonymous said...

Saw your article linked from TipNut.

I have never heard of mashing the potatoes before. And dicing the cooked potatoes is my least favorite part so I will have to try this out.

We do part mayo, part sour cream, a dab of yellow mustard and a bit of the juice out of a jar of dill pickles. Chives instead of onions. We had cut back on the eggs at one point but added them back lately.

I have had it elsewhere with green pepper, diced carrots (slightly steamed first?) and small cheddar cheese cubes. There must be a million variations on potato salad. That is what makes it great I guess. :-)

KansasA said...

Hi K, I don't like cold chunks of potatoes so that's why I started mashing them, I can't even stand the feel of them in my hands LOL.
Yes there are a ton of variations for sure, sometimes it seems it's whatever I have handy in the fridge ;)

Bobbie-Jo said...

i am the SIL and I love this potatoe salad. of course we all do things a little different so it will never taste just like the one kansas makes. Personally I did not like the curry but I don't like change much . Thanks kans hopefully this year at branding you will make it the old way just for me.