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Salute to Summer, Spuds |
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Memorial Day is fast approaching and, with typical American aplomb, we’ve set this somber civic day as our summertime kick-off weekend, giving the green light to white shoes, shorts and barbeque. Side dishes, too, get to lighten up; our first candidate for change is the humble potato. We bid adieu to all those oven-roasted, baked, and mashed potato recipes and say hello to the picnic classic: potato salad.
The best thing about this dish is its diversity. I’ve had family mix up potato salad from the baked variety; a friend makes a very rich crumbled bacon and blue cheese rendition, and one of my favorite types of potato salad has no mayo. This is only right; there should be as many types of potato salad as there are families to enjoy it.
The traditional American version has sweet pickles in the mayonnaise-based dressing, and many recipes call for a bit of sugar. Personally, I prefer tang over sweet when dressing my spuds, so I use kosher dills or cornichons and never add anything sweet. I like to double the celery, add in a sliced radish or two, swap out a bit of vinegar for fresh-squeezed lemon juice and toss in tons of garden-fresh chives. But don’t stop there; you’ll have all summer to experiment.
A few tips and tricks to creating your own version are included in the refresher-course recipe below:
Cut the potatoes before you cook them. They’ll cook faster, and you won’t burn your fingers working with hot potatoes.
Put the hot potatoes directly into vinegar; they’ll soak up flavor as they cool and you won’t have to weight them down with too much dressing.
Mix up your dressing separately. This will give the flavors a chance to meld and increase their impact.
Lastly, loosen up the recipe. Measurements here are just guidelines and ingredient lists should accommodate what’s fresh from the market. Keep your own tastes in mind and make up your own American classic.
American Potato Salad
3 lbs. red potatoes (10 medium), scrubbed and cut into ¾ inch chunks
½ c. red wine vinegar
Salt and pepper
¾ c. mayonnaise
½ c. chopped pickles
1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
2 ribs celery, chopped
4 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and coarsely chopped
½ red onion, minced
3 Tbsp. minced fresh parsley
Bring the potatoes and 4 quarts water to a simmer in a large pot and cook until tender, about 10 minutes. Drain. Gently toss the warm potatoes with the vinegar, ½ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper and refrigerate for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, mix the mayonnaise, pickles and mustard together. Toss the chilled potatoes with the mayonnaise mixture, celery, eggs, onion, and parsley. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
*Recipe adapted from America’s Test Kitchen
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Editor’s Note: Angela Denstad Stigeler writes a food column each week for the Caledonia Argus. She, her husband and their two young children live in Caledonia.
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