Peggy Lampman's Tuesday dinnerFeed: German potato salad
German Potato Salad has to be one of my favorite fall weather salads. Perhaps it's the bacon. Maybe because it just tastes so much better when slightly warm, perfect for the cool days of Autumn.
There are other "secrets" which make this salad particularly good. Using a good quality bacon is one. Not overcooking your potatoes and tossing them with the vinaigrette when warm is another. I also love the taste of sautéing the onions in bacon fat, but Richard intervened suggesting heart healthy olive oil. I served this with "Sparrow Meats":http://www.sparrowmeats.com freshly made chicken sausages. At their recommendation, I grilled them on foil and they were simply divine!
If you are reading this and realize it was _you_ who told me about the pickle juice addition, please advise so I can publicly thank-you and give credit where credit is due!
Yield: 6-8 servings Time: 35 minutes Cost: apx. $8.00
Ingredients
2 pounds red-skinned potatoes, cut into 3/8-inch slices 6-8 slices bacon 3 tablespoons chicken stock 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 1 1/2 tablespoons Dijon mustard 1 1/2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar 1 teaspoon sugar 3 tablespoons fresh parsley 1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced Pickle juice as desired, optional
Directions
1. Cover potatoes with cold salted water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cook until fork-tender, 4-6 minutes. Take care not to overcook the potatoes. Drain and keep warm. 2. Fry bacon until golden brown; drain and coarsely chop. Reserve. 3. Whisk together stock, oil, mustard, vinegar and sugar. Combine parsley, onion, bacon and warm potatoes with vinaigrette. Add pickle juice to taste, if desired. Season to taste with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. Let stand 1 hour at room temperature for flavors to combine. Serve at room temperature or lightly reheated.
Comments
Peggy Lampman
Tue, Nov 3, 2009 : 11:05 a.m.
Vicki--Growing up in the South, we used relish in just about everything. Your dad was incredibly savvy with that tomato soup and pickle juice recipe. But if you think about it, it is similar to a Russian Dressing, reminding me of a favorite fifties recipe of an iceberg lettuce wedge with Russian dressing (complete with chopped pickles) then topped with blue cheese. Wow...that sounds pretty darned good to me right now! Thanks for sharing your memories! Peggy
vicki
Tue, Nov 3, 2009 : 8:01 a.m.
Do you ever use "relish" in your regular potato salads? I have done that for many years and it seems to be a little extra that blends well! I like to use pickle juice for the extra flavors --some times even add to BBQ sauces --don't know why --just do it! My Dad would take pickle juice and add condensed tomato soup (Campbell's!) and make a "salad" dressing years ago! He lived on Deer Isle, Maine(1955-2007) and had limited places to shop so if he ran out of salad dressing --wella --that was his fix! Looking back, I can see how creative he was over the years --his mother/my grandmother was a chef at the country club in Concord, New Hampshire in the 30s and 40s!