Potato Salad-Need some help

I gotta BBQ event at my house and I want some killer potato salad for the event. I want some potato salad that is creamy and will get me some points for the BBQ. Please give me some help.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

First
Peal the desired amount of potatoes, cut them into uniform peices
Boil them until Barely Fork Tender, better to slight undercook then overcook
Salt the water heavily
Second,
while waiting for the potatoes to cook, cut dice your Vegetables ...
There is only a billion possibilities ... My father always did
Celery, Green Onions, Bell Peppers, and Thin sliced radishes.(rinse or they'll bleed
Pink color into the salad)
My Brother adds sweet pickles, I've seen carrots, sweet onions
Third ,
Hard Boiled Eggs, my opinion, You can not use too many in potato salad
If you leave a few extra, slice them in an egg slicer and fan them out
over the top, it will make a pretty presentation.
Fourth,
and Very Important
after the potatoes are cooked, Mix the Mayonnaise (Real) while the potatoes are still
Hot. That's at least what my father preached his entire life. Mayo on the potatoes
While still hot. Varations, Half mayo / sour cream, and/or mustard, I usually
give it a dose of Vinagar for tang. All the Veggies are mixed in with the Mayo.
The More Veggies in the salad, the cruncher the Potato Salad.
Start out with a Minimun of Mayonnaise when you mix, you can always add more,
But never take it away. Same rule for Salt. Heavy for the Boil, then add
as necessary to the final product.
Serve Well chilled, and ice the bowl if it stays out for more the two hours
Have a good Barbecue & Happy Memorial Day

Pigface: Yes! lots of hardboiled eggs, but never ever put mayo on hot potatoes. Cool the spuds , then add mayo. better yet add olive oil and vinegar and forget the mayo. Lots of vegggies, cut small, is great - let your inagination be your guide. and sour cream, Yes!!

Sorry seafarer but I have to agree with pigface. If you add the mayo to hot, or at least warm potatoes the potatoes will absorb the flavor of the mayo or oil. Personally I like the Russian/Greek version with mayo and olive oil, lightly cooked peas and carrots, dill pickle, green onions, hard boiled eggs and maybe some capers.

Hot Potatoes with the mayonnaise
is what my father had written on his HEADSTONE
he beleived that if the potatoes were cooled, the flavor was never right.
The Man passed away 3 years ago, and made the best potato salad 'til the end
I gotta stick with what the ol' man taught me, he gave me the CB handle Pigface

OK, I spent years obsessing over how to make a potato salad creamy versus just potatoes floating in mayonnaise. You can add more veggies for crunch, but I was going for creamy, not crunchy. This is even called:

CREAMY POTATO SALAD

8 medium baking potatoes
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
Dash tabasco
2 shallots
1 white onion, minced
Salt and pepper
Paprika

Peel potatoes and cut into chunks. Put them into a pot of salted water and cook until medium-tender. Drain and set aside.

Meanwhile, hard boil the eggs. Put them immediately into icewater to keep the yolks yellow. Peel, separate out yolks and chop the whites.

Mash 1/3 of the potatoes with mayonnaise, sour cream, tabasco, and 2 of the egg yolks until creamy. (You can discard or eat the other 2 yolks)

Peel shallots and grate into mashed potato mixture.

Cut remaining potatoes into 1" chunks. Add potato chunks, onions, and chopped egg whites to mashed potato mixture. Salt and pepper to taste, stir together gently. Sprinkle with paprika.

You can adapt it for as many people as you like, figure about a half a potato per person.

Hot German Potato salad is also awesome..potatoes, hardcooked eggs, green onions if you prefer..and a hot dressing you make from bacon, bacon grease, vinegar and sugar.

My fave cold potato salad involves cooking the potatoes well..so that when you mix all the ingredients half the potatoes become mashed..along with the mayo, vinegar, sugar, hard cooked eggs and dill pickles

When I was growing up, there was a renowned good cook who “made food and charged for it” (didn’t call it catering then) for weddings, town events, industry picnics, etc. and she used to make giant crystal bowls filled with a pretty potato salad that made my eyes light up whenever I saw it because it was so good. A couple of years ago, at our library’s used book sale, I found a 1970’s community cookbook from my home town (not even near where I live now) and I opened it up and here was the recipe I had lusted after for all those years:

MRS. CHANDLER’S POTATO SALAD
8 boiled medium potatoes (in jackets)
1 ½ tsp. horseradish
1 cup chopped fresh parsley*
2 medium onions, finely minced or 1 onion and ¼ cup minced chives
1 ½ cups mayonnaise
1 tsp. celery seed
1 cup sour cream
½ tsp. salt
Peel potatoes; cut in 1/8 inch slices. Combine mayonnaise, sour cream, horseradish, celery seed and salt. Set aside. In another bowl, mix parsley and onion. In large serving bowl, arrange layer of potatoes; salt lightly. Cover with layer of mayonnaise mixture, then layer of onion mixture. Continue layering, ending with parsley and onions. DO NOT STIR. Cover and refrigerate for at least 8 hours before serving. Better if made the day before. Yield: 8 to 10 servings
Recipe can be doubled or tripled.
* - do not omit or decrease

quote:

Originally posted by Sundancer7

I gotta BBQ event at my house and I want some killer potato salad for the event. I want some potato salad that is creamy and will get me some points for the BBQ. Please give me some help.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

In KS, the secret to good "mustard" potato salad is in the dressing - boil extra eggs and smash yolks up into the mayo/mustard mix, add a little sweet pickle juice, mix well, and pour over cooled potatoes and other ingredients of your choosing; I like egg whites, onions, sweet pickles, a little celery and some green olives (once in a while)! Goes great with BBQ

quote:

Originally posted by ksgirlinchi

quote:

Originally posted by Sundancer7

I gotta BBQ event at my house and I want some killer potato salad for the event. I want some potato salad that is creamy and will get me some points for the BBQ. Please give me some help.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

Peel them while still warm. I make a dressing of 1/2 mayo and 1/2 yogurt (not low fat!), chopped dill pickles, good smoked bacon, fresh chives and some cider vinegar to brighten up the flavours. Definetly toss while still warm the dressing goes right into the potato, and season with sea salt and freshly ground pepper. I leave other veg out as I usually am doing a bunch of different salads and like to highlight the main ingredient in each one.

MRS. CHANDLER’S POTATO SALAD
8 boiled medium potatoes (in jackets)
1 ½ tsp. horseradish
1 cup chopped fresh parsley*
2 medium onions, finely minced or 1 onion and ¼ cup minced chives
1 ½ cups mayonnaise
1 tsp. celery seed
1 cup sour cream
½ tsp. salt

This Sounds Good !!!

No matter what recipe you use make sure the mayo is Hellman's or Best food's on the west coast.I like to spritz the layers of potatoes with the vinegar while they r warm this way it gets into the potaoes and boil them hole with the skins on until a cake tester goes in with very little resistance, don't use a fork or a knife due to there size they will go into the potato with more ease before they are fully cooked to the center.Hey even the worst homemade salads are much better than store bought.

I need another piece of info on the potato salad. About how long will the potatoes have to boil, can you use salad dressing instead of mayo and can you leave out the celery seed?

Thanks,
Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

Well, I just did the potato sald thing and I used most of the instructions given to me by several of you. I boiled my potatos maybe a little too much. They were not mushy, but did not slice clean,

I mixed salad dressing, sour cream, celery seed and horseradish in a separate bowl. I sliced the potatos into 1/8 inch. I layered the potatoes,mixture of salad dressing, sour cream, celery seed and horseradish and then another layer of onions, bell peppers and parsley. I salted each layer and it is now aging in the frige. I topped it with boiled eggs that were sliced and topped that with salt, pepper and paprika.

I sure hope it comes out well as it is a major part of my BBQ. I know I did not use Mayo, but my wife hates it and likes salad dressing.

I was afraid to taste it before it ages. I got my fingers crossed.This was sort of a laborious process.

I just baked a strawberry cake and I am exhausted and it is time for libation.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

I added horseradish to my Creamy Potato Salad and it really (God, please let me think of any phrase other than KICKED IT UP A NOTCH) Arghhh, OK fine, that's exactly what it did! Highly recommend the addition.

Made some potato salad this weekend that was pretty good, if I do say so myself I drained the hot, cooked, cubed potatoes into a big bowl, then drizzled on some red wine vinaigrette (Wishbone I think) and let them cool and marinate in that. Added chopped hard boiled egg, diced celery, pickle cubes, minced onion (not too much), Dukes mayo, a dollop of French's mustard, salt and pepper to taste. The vinaigrette on the hot potatoes adds a lot of flavor and helps add to the creamy texture, I think.

For some reason I HATE celery in my potato salad (my tuna and chicken salad too!) (funny thing is ... I like celery by itself). I also like my onions finely chopped almost to the point of being a paste !

I like mayo in my potato salad and my mother will only use salad dressing ! I think salad dressing (miracle whip) is too sweet for my taste!

scbuzz, I agree with you on mayo in the potato salad. My family likes miracle whip and it is too sweet. I do use celery, onions, parsley, boiled eggs, little relish.

I may change to mayo to see if they will notice. They probably will and I will catch some H---

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

I like potato salads of all sorts but my all time favorite is that made by my grandmother when I was a kid. She would peel, cube, cook, and mash Irish potatoes as though she was going to prepare mashed, creamed, whipped (whatever you want to call them) potatoes. However, after mashing them, rather than adding milk, cream, butter as one would when preparing mashed or creamed potatoes, she would add chopped onion and chopped hard boiled egg, a good dash each of salt and pepper, and then would add vinegar as she whipped them into the consistency of mashed potatoes (being careful not to add too much vinegar so as to overwhelm all other flavors). She would serve the potato salad hot for the first meal. If any was left over it was good to then nibble on cold, make into potato salad sandwiches, or eat cold with the next meal. I think every Sunday dinner (noontime meal) I ever ate at my grandmother's consisted of roast beef and gravy, this potato salad, deviled eggs, various vegetables from her garden (fresh in season, otherwise those she had canned or frozen), homemade breads, iced tea, and made from scratch banana pudding. Her deviled eggs were made by salting and peppering the mashed boiled egg yolks and using only vinegar as the moistening ingredient. She said that as a girl growing up they had neither mayonnaise nor the needed refrigeration, so she learned to cook using vinegar for a lot of purposes for which mayo is now commonly used. Subsequent generations of ladies in the family unfortunately did not continue on with her vinegar based recipes, but, to me, her vinegar based potato salad and deviled eggs continue to be the best and are the recipes I still use whenever I'm preparing either.

Hadn't contibuted anything to this topic since even though I like potato salad with mayo I can't make it worth a darn. But I'll put my German potato salad up against the best of them. Grew up in a house were there were Germans in both of my parents families. I learned to make the salad at my momma's knee & like her I don't have a written recipe, just adjust amounts according to size of the pan I'm using, the way she taught me.!

quote:

Originally posted by ocdreamr

Hadn't contibuted anything to this topic since even though I like potato salad with mayo I can't make it worth a darn. But I'll put my German potato salad up against the best of them. Grew up in a house were there were Germans in both of my parents families. I learned to make the salad at my momma's knee & like her I don't have a written recipe, just adjust amounts according to size of the pan I'm using, the way she taught me.!

OCDreamer, do you want to share with us how you did the German Potato salad

Thanks,
Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

sundancer, you're on the right track, but add your onions celery parsley pickle relish,dont gorget green peppers to the hot potatoes. then season with onion and garlic powder, salt , pepper and paprika. mix well and add mayo.extra seasoning on hot potatoes seems to do the trick.

Sundancer,
I can tell you what I do but I don't have any portions. Start with the potato. Use at least part baking potatoes (you want them to break down to thicken the vinegar later.) Boil potatoes in jackets. Peel & slice not minding if some break up. Put in heat proof dish with fresh ground pepper, celery seed and diced onion (here my mom varied from most recipes I see, she never cooked her onion in the bacon grease.) Here's where my mom's directions start to be based on pan size. From the bowl of potatoes you'll have an idea how much vinegar you'll need, pick an appropriately sized fry pan. Cut up enough bacon in 1 inch pieces to well cover the bottom of the pan (I like the bacon so I use a little more) After bacon has fried just short of crisp put bacon in bowl with potatoes. Pour off all but a couple tbsp. of bacon grease. With the stove turned off (trust me this is important if you don't want a vinegar explosion) Pour vinegar of choice (my mom said cider, my grandmom said white) into the pan about 1/2 to 3/4 inch deep, Add an equal amount of water. Bring to a boil scaping the bits from the bottom of the pan. Now comes another of those weird measurements. Sprinkle sugar over the top of the vinegar like you would if you were sprinkling it on a cake top (that's the best way I can explain it) Cook to disolve sugar & pour over potatoes. Stir together to mix well. Best made a day ahead. Reheat in ovem or micro.

There's a good German potato salad receipe in the "Joy of Cooking"...the technique's different but it would seem like it would come out pretty much like OCDREAMER'S.

seafarer,

Your right, most of the recipes I have seen call for pretty much the same thing. The one thing you will probably notice different is that most newer recipes thicken with flour, YEEECCHH!! In a pinch a little potato starch maybe but never flour. As I said, if you use at least some baking type potatoes (even if it's just 1 large one) they will break down & thicken naturally. Also by leaving on the jackets the potatoes will not absorb as much water & will absorb the vinegar.

A sort of potato salad we sometimes make is related to the French salad Nicoise. We dont follow any fixed recipe but it always is based on potatoes, green beans, and black olives, and dressed with a rivigote type sauce. Depending on what's on hand we might add apples, celery, peas, radish, corn, cucumber, etc.,etc. Some things it never has is mayo or sour cream- we save that for the real potato salads.

As to thickening the sauce for German Potato salad, I've never found any need for flour - the potatoes give off enough starch to make a sauce of nice consistency. I like OCDreamer's idea of an extra baking potato to provide the thickener - I'll try it next time we have wursts and warm potato salad

Hey folks,
somebody on one of the food sites I visit had a great hint(I thought it was here but can't find it, so let it be known, thank you whoever you are!) The hint developed out her experiment with cooking her potatoes. You put the potatoes (small to medium sized & whole) in a pot, covered with water & lid, bring to a boil, turn off & let sit for 30 minutes, voila just like hard boiled eggs they are done, as a matter of fact I put a couple of eggs in the pot with them for the salad. It definitely worked great, no more billowing steam in a hot kitchen & no watching the pot for it to boil over.

OCDreamer. Thanks for the tip regaring eggs and potatoes.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

I tend to add sauted onions to my potato salad instead of raw ones, that way the flavor doesn't overhelm, especially in left-overs.