Monday, June 27, 2011

Potato Salad

Before I begin I want to make a statement.

This is the Pioneer Woman's recipe.  I love her food. She inspired me to blog in the first place.  I just tweaked the recipe to fit my personal tastes and ingredient availability.



Again, this is an easy recipe. Very few ingredients.  Please forget the measuring spoons and just eyeball your seasonings.  Let's all pretend we are chefs, shall we? Less dishes folks!

The one thing that IS really nice to have for this recipe is a potato ricer.  I have made the recipe without a ricer with good results so it's not an absolute must have.


Start with some red or white potatoes.  I don't like to use russets as much as the waxier types of potatoes.  Red or Yukon Gold potatoes taste much better in potato salad.

Boil the potatoes till fork tender. You can leave the skins on if you like.



Peel the potatoes if you haven't yet.

If you have a ricer, place the potatoes into the ricer in batches and press to rice.







I love the ricer because it gives you fluffy little bits of potato.

If you don't have a ricer just cube the potatoes or mash them if you like.

There is no wrong way to make this potato salad!



Next, make the dressing.  Mayo, seasonings (garlic powder, paprika, salt, pepper), mustard, and pickles, and pickle juice.



Mix the ingredients in a small bowl.



Whisk till smooth.


Okay, let's talk pickles.

Cornichons are my favorite go-to pickle.  These are from Trader Joe's and are SO GOOD.

They don't have any sugar or sweetener in them. Did you ever read the ingredients in pickles? Just about all of them have high fructose corn syrup or some other bad stuff.  Unless you make them yourself, it's hard to find a good pickle around here.

It's essential that you use some of the pickle juice for the dressing.  It gives you the tangy flavor.



Chop them up nice and fine.



Pop them into the dressing.



Add the dressing to the riced potatoes.



Mix it all up.

Try not to eat it all.

I dare ya.



Sprinkle a bit of Paprika over the top.



Potato Salad
2.5 pounds red potatoes
3/4 cup good mayonnaise
2 Tablespoons organic yellow mustard
1/4 cup cornichon pickles, chopped and some juice
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

Boil potatoes till fork tender. Drain.
Mash or run them through a ricer to make them fluffy.
Make dressing. Add pickle juice to make it a runny consistency.
Fold potatoes together with the dressing.

Enjoy!

It's that picnic time of the year,
The Lunch Lady

No comments: