Not My Mother's Potato Salad

I've never been a huge fan of potato salad. I only really liked my mothers. As I grew up I came to realize why I found most potato salads . . . lackluster.

My mother made the BEST potato salad in the world.

Seriously, I think it made people weep.

People who hated potato salad would try my mother's and say "Oh, now that IS good!"

There is no record of potato salad lasting beyond day 2 in the family. Leftovers were hoarded into tiny cool whip bowls and distributed to guests to be brought home for late night snacks. Or for car snacks . . . depending on your will power.

I, unfortunately cannot make potato salad like hers. It's rather tragic, I come from a long line of potato salad makers yet the gene was not passed on. Its sort of like being a Jackson and not singing. Maybe it's skipped a generation? Maybe I should put some potato salad ingredients in my Darling Daughter's proximity and see what she does?

I can dream can't I?

So now I rely on this potato salad to make it through the hot days of summer. It's not the same as Mom's but I think she'd approve.

Maybe it's like YOUR mother's potato salad?

We're going to start off here sort of precise! Get yourself a saucepan that'll hold 4 qts. and throw a couple of tablespoons of salt in it!

Yes, I realize that's a whole hunk of salt! It's going to be all the salt we add to this potato salad though. Just wait . . .

Add six cups of water! We're talking about some nice salty cooking water here. Most of it is going to be thrown away though so we'll be okay. Potatoes really appreciate some salt.

You want to slice the potatoes pretty evenly, so they all finish at the same time. I'm using a nice red potato here because you don't have to peel it. I'm lazy. You could buy those pretty little new potatoes but they're a little exorbitant right now. So I go with the smallest potatoes from a normal sack of red potatoes. Besides they're colorful and provide fiber! Fiber is important! Throw them in your cold salt water. They'll just hang out there until cooking time.

Now we MUST wash our cutting board!!! Evidently, most food poisoning we get from potato salad is caused by bacteria inherent in the dirt potatoes are grown in! Weird huh? Mayonnaise has gotten a bad rap!

Lets go ahead and get started on the dressing because it's gotta be done before those potatoes are finished cooking. Sliced potatoes cook pretty quickly.

You're going to need a tasty and pale vinegar! The vinegar is a major flavor in the dressing and I really do recommend some white wine vinegar. I have used cider vinegar before and enjoyed it but it's not every bodies cup of tea. I have no doubt that balsamic vinegar would be tasty in this but that dark brown color would be a little unappetizing for me.

In it goes!

Now for a little mustard! I like spicy brown but I've used everything from Dijon to yellow in this.

A little extra virgin olive oil . . .

A little bit o' garlic . . .

yes, I said garlic! Garlic and potatoes go wonderfully! This is just the tiniest, hint, tad of garlic. It'll give a fullness to the flavor of the vinaigrette.

Some fresh ground pepper . . .

Now you need a little bit of onion so I'm going to use these green onions because their color will pretty next to the potato skins. I want them to be tinier bits so I slice my onions into strips . . .

Then I make tiny slices. Now if your knife is anything less than razor sharp I recommend you not have any children within sound . . . because you'll get VERY frustrated trying to mince these slippery little suckers.

Chop them up until you've got nice little bits. I had to go back over them a few times due to my knife sharpness issues. You could always use scissors!

Stir that stuff together and set it to the side. It's going to get to know each other for awhile. Now, I'm always tempted to taste it at this point . . .

. . . I don't recommend it . . .

. . . it's vinegary . . . and oily . . . and mustardy . . . and just harsh in general.

I always start to have doubts at this point! Don't give into temptation! Don't lose heart! It's all going to be all right!

Now I put the potatoes on high heat! See it's not good to multitask when you're a basket case. Normal people could put the potatoes on and mix the vinaigrette together--no problem. But if you need to photograph the process, just say no to multitasking. Unless of course you like mashed potato salad . . .

If you cut your potatoes into 1/4 inch slices they'll only take about 5 minutes once they come to a boil.

About 4-5 minutes into the boil I scoop out about 1/4 cup of water using a LONG HANDLED measuring cup.

This hot salty water is going in the vinaigrette to add some salt and body and flavor to it. It'll tone down the garlic and onion a bit too.

Yes, I moved my vinaigrette to a handled measuring cup. It's easier to pour from and I've got some vinaigrette pouring pictures coming up! Besides I've just been itchin' to take a picture of something in that white bowl it was in because I think Penny De Los Santos would totally approve of that bowl! Not so much the plastic measuring cup . . .

Once the taters are tender, get 'em out of the water. You may use whatever method you wish! I give you permission. It'll be okay to throw them in a colander! I use a colander when I'm making double or triple batches of this. I won't think less of you . . . really . . . well . . . maybe . . . no, no I won't think less of you!

Now for the neurotic part of the recipe. Lay them all out in a single layer in a pan or two (doubled recipe) or three (tripled recipe) . . .

Pour the vinaigrette over your potatoes and make sure they all get a nice coating!

Toss 'em around a little and let them rest in their dressing for 10 minutes!

Okay, here's the deal with the whole neurotic laying them in a pan thing. It's a control issue. How strong are your feelings about overcooked potatoes in potato salad? If your potatoes are all up on each other while they're hot you're going to end up with little bitty potatoes all over the place . . .

. . .  because they continue to cook and they break!

What were YOU thinking?

So, if you get your potatoes out of the pan and they seem a little firm still . . . you might want to just throw them back in the pot you cooked them in and pour the dressing on. They'll get softer. Even if your potatoes break up a little it's okay. Breathe! Deep breath in, let it out . . .

Now you could serve the potatoes just how they are now! But, let's kick it up a notch! I've got a whole herb garden that is overbounding in plentifulness.

So, let's get ourselves a nice branch of tarragon! Tarragon has a flavor like fennel or anise. If you like Italian sausages you probably will find tarragon to be a tasty treat.

Strip the leaves off! I just pull my hand down the stem towards the root end.

Now mince it up tiny! Nobody wants a big chunk of tarragon in their potato salad.

Now for some flat leaf parsley! You need to pick the leaves off of this almost individually. The stems are just not palatable . . .

I usually leave these in larger chunks. I like a bite of parsley in my food! My parsley is an exceptionally deep green this year.

I like to mix my herbs together because the tarragon is very strong! I want to make sure it gets distributed well.

Now, sprinkle!

Everybody LOVES sprinkles!

Well, my children are actually sort of suspicious of green leafy sprinkles but the grownups love green leafy sprinkles!

Now give it a toss and throw it in a serving dish! Isn't it . . . colorful?

Better give it a taste . . .

OH SWEET MYSTERY OF LIFE AT LAST I'VE FOUND YOOOOOUUUUU!

The pure satisfaction of perfectly cooked potatoes! The intoxicating aroma of herbs, garlic, and onion! The zing of mustard and vinegar! The smooth richness of olive oil!

This is a beautiful dish to serve with something light like chicken or fish. But, it can stand on its own against any burger or hot dog too. I like to put it on a bed of greens for lunch! If there's any left that is . . .

Tarragon Potato Salad

6 cups water
2 Tbsp table salt
2 lbs potatoes, washed and sliced to 1/4 inch thickness (red skinned are ideal)

for the vinaigrette
4 tsp white wine vinegar
2 tsp mustard (spicy brown is my favorite)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 green onions
1/4 cup reserved potato cooking water

herb topping
2 tsp minced tarragon
scant 1/4 cup chopped flat leaf parsley

Place potatoes in salted water. Bring to boil. Cook around five minutes or until fork tender. Reserve 1/4 cup of cooking water for the vinaigrette. While potatoes come to a boil mix together vinaigrette, adding 1/4 cup of cooking water after potatoes have boiled at least 3 minutes. When potatoes are tender, drain them and dress with vinaigrette. Let rest at least 10 minutes. When ready to serve, add herbs and toss. This can be served warm or chilled!

serves 6

Excuses . . .

There's going to be a small delay in this morning's post because . . .

1. My Dear One has the day off and has little concept of how long it takes to put a recipe post together.

2. It's our anniversary and we're going out shopping and to lunch.

3. The school Talent Show is tomorrow and we've got to make sure all musical instruments are in top condition.

4. I had to dedicate my morning to writing my Gentle Giant who is in Basic Training. I figured you could go on without me but he's under pressure and needs to be uplifted by my witticisims!

Later though I'll be showing you how to make this . . .

WTF???

It's a beer people! What were you thinking?

If you've never spent hours listening over a police scanner or been associated with the military you might not know that there is a series of very specific words used to clarify alphabet letters used as designations/codes.

Here's a sample alphabet--the idea is that every word is unique and will be easily distinguishable during radio transmissions.

A-ALPHA	B-BRAVO	C-CHARLIE		D-DELTA
E-ECHO	F-FOX-TROT	G-GOLF		H-HOTEL
I-INDIA	J-JULIET	K-KILO		L-LIMA
M-MIKE	N-NOVEMBER	O-OSCAR		P-PAPA
Q-QUEBEC	R-ROMEO	S-SIERRA		T-TANGO
U-UNIFORM	V-VICTOR	W-WHISKY		X-X-RAY
Y-YANKEE			Z-ZULU

 The military LOVES acronyms. They live on them! When my Dear One was transitioning from the Reserves to Active duty he showed up at the Post for his assignment.

Sgt.: You're assigned to Alpha Company

Dear One: Oh, so Company A?

Sgt: NO! ALPHA COMPANY!

Dear One:  . . . okay . . . Alpha . . . Company . . .

I still remember asking one neighbor what her husband did.

Neighbor: He's the NBCNCOIC.

Me: Huh?

Neighbor: NBCNCOIC

Me: What is that?

Neighbor: Oh sorry! Natural Biological Chemical NCOIC!

Me: . . . Non Commissioned Office-IC?

Neighbor: Oh goodness, I don't even hear it anymore! He's the Natural Biological Chemical warfare Non Commissioned Office who's In Charge . . . I've been here too long!

Anyway! What with my son now in the hands of the USAF I just had to buy this cute little beer with its name that reminds me of the military. I think they had to change the W to Wilco because you can't label beer as Whiskey! There's rules in beer selling, just like there's rules in the military!

It claimed to be a malty, robust, jobless recovery ale. It made me giggle! It's from California . . . who knew they made beer in California?

I was a little worried . . . what if it was bitter? It was obvious it was named by one of those bitter clingers!
I don't really like bitter beer . . .

It was a gorgeous deep brown with very few bubbles. It smelled lovely. There was a beautiful coffee and chocolate aroma coming from it.

May have to put a little behind my ears . . . don't you think men would prefer beer scented perfumes?

I guess it might be a problem driving. Can you imagine how long the traffic stop for a speeding ticket would take if you smelt of beer?

Oh and I guess it wouldn't be appropriate for the parent teacher conferences either . . .

The taste was WONDERFUL! The coffee and chocolate smells translated into the actual flavor. It reminded me of Boulevard's Chocolate Ale but with a sweetness that made it very palatable. It had that lovely yeasty undertone that beer and bread both should have. The finish was one of after dinner coffee served with a lovely dark chocolate truffle.

It's got a 7.8% alcohol rating so its got some kick!

If you're a beer lover and looking for something new to celebrate American Craft Beer week I highly recommend you give it a try.

I think I'm going to go buy another bottle to toast my son with when he graduates!

What's in YOUR freezer?

My Dear One was digging through the freezer looking for ICE of all things the other day! He was like "What is all this stuff?"

I have two freezers you see. One for the easily identifiable, ordinary things. It has chickens, chicken parts, frozen meals, hot dogs, the butter horde, my steak collection. You know average stuff.

Then there's the small freezer in my refrigerator. The one that's convenient for me to stick little things in. That conversation reminded me of a girlfriend asking me what to do with partially used canned stuff. How long does stuff last?

So since my Gentle Giant has now LEFT ME for the Air Force and I've lost the will to cook, I thought now would be a good time to blog about frozen food.

These pictures were taken before the Penny De Los Santos photo webinar. I suspect Penny doesn't shoot much frozen food . . . please excuse the lack of light, color, tension, and composition. I feel so dirty . . .

#1 Old Bananas. They make the loveliest banana breads and muffins! I only use frozen bananas in my banana bread. Therefore I usually have anywhere from eight to a dozen bananas in there at all times. I'll have to make you all some banana bread some time! It's quite . . . aromatic . . .

#2 Broth. You know those pesky recipes that call for half a cup of broth? Throw the rest in a container and freeze it! I also freeze the homemade stuff too. It just seems like every time I have the stuff around to make broth there's no immediate use for it. So I make it anyway and then I freeze it!

Look here's some canned beef broth! Its just waiting for the next time I am making a little beef gravy! My theory is if it's been canned it can tolerate the freezer for a few months. It may start to die after the third month though so give it a taste before you use it.

#3 Herbs. This huge bag of bay leaves is only 1/2 an ounce! They lose their flavor so easily because they just don't tolerate the kitchen cabinet well. So they go into the freezer as soon as they're opened. I guess you can even freeze your fresh herbs in ice cube trays with a little bit of water over them. Makes them stay fresh for sauces and soups. Looks like I'm going to have to be experimenting with that this year . . . Does anyone need some tarragon? or thyme? or mint?

#4 Soups and Beans. Any of your homemade or leftover canned soups can go in the freezer! I love making big pots of pinto beans and saving them in pint containers to whip out later for tacos! Some people feel that freezing enhances the flavor of garlic and salt so if a soup is too salty to begin with it's going to get worse! The quart container on the right actually has the bean part of Red Beans and Rice in it. I am one pot of rice away from a family meal! I have actually frozen cooked rice before. It thawed out lovely. It seemed so wrong that it was delicious but it was! The freezer has a tendency to dehydrate things and nobody likes soggy rice. So maybe it makes sense . . .

#5 Sauces. Maybe you didn't need use all of that 1 gallon container of spaghetti sauce from Costco? Throw it in the freezer! This happens to be enchilada sauce. Enchilada sauce is . . . well its a LOT of work. So I figure why make the two cups I need? I make it by the gallon and freeze it. It just gets more garlicky! Who's ever complained about enchilada sauce being too garlicky? Besides if you got enchilada sauce in the freezer you're ready for carnitas!

#6 Egg parts. It just gets my gourd when a recipe asks for 4 egg yolks! So you CAN freeze the leftover parts. I usually end up using the egg whites to glaze baked goods. Yolks freeze well too but I usually just throw them in the fridge and make extra rich scrambled eggs the next day. My mother said in the "olden days" before refrigeration the only egg-part-specific food they made was angel food cake and pound cake. Evidently if you made one you made the other the same day! Those pioneer women were tricky!

#7 Peppers and onions. Peppers and onions freeze fabulously! Cut them up, bag 'em and throw them in the freezer raw. Of course these delicious chipotle peppers are a natural. They're canned after all. Do you have any recipes that call for a whole can of chipotles? I don't.

#8 Nuts. You pay out the wazoo for nuts these days! They do go bad so put any leftovers in the freezer. These are some lovely sliced almonds. I'll toast them up before I use them to garnish my next carrot cake or torte.

#9 Cakes and breads. Homemade cakes and breads don't have the preservatives that store bought stuff does so it's wise to throw them in the freezer after a few days. I threw these unfrosted cupcakes from Guitar Boy's birthday party in the freezer 3 months ago. My darling daughter used them in a beautiful trifle just this week! I love fresh baked goods, but the frozen stuff is remarkably good. Remember to bake and freeze before you have overnight guests! No dirty dishes and fresh baked food available in the morning!

Look! There's the bakery fresh pitas I buy from that weird little place in Kansas. These things are usually still warm when I pick them up. I've gotta get two packages for the price and quality. Then I've gotta use them IMMEDIATELY or freeze them because they're put in the package still steaming! I'll probably use these in pita chips since there's only two or three left. Have you priced pita chips lately?

#10 Tomato paste. Did I mention how well canned foods freeze? I did? Three times? Get off it? A teaspoon of tomato paste will fix a whole lot of lackluster sauces and soups so utilize it!

#11 Homemade burritos. Yes I keep homemade burritos in the freezer. It hardly takes any time and have you read what's in those frozen ones you buy at the store? How else can you ensure that your growing young men have fiber, protein, and whole grains in their quick lunch? Not to mention your growing young ladies! I want them growing up not out! Hmm, maybe I should eat these burritos . . .

#12 Flavored Sugars. I've got cinnamon sugar and orange zest sugar I made earlier this year. Now, both of these were used for rolling raw cookie dough in so I'm waiting for a cooked use. They would be lovely in some sort of baked good. If I wanted to put them in a drink I could boil them with some water and use them like a simple syrup.

#13 Summer Beverages. I almost always have something delicious going on cocktail wise in the freezer! If it's a cocktail you can freeze it. Leftover watermelon gets pureed with raspberry vodka and thrown in the freezer. Have a little cream left from a recipe? Mix it with some coffee and some Bailey's and throw it in the freezer for a rainy day. Of course you don't have to serve them in summer! Most people don't reject a cranberry margarita even in the dead of winter.

A well stocked freezer leads to experimentation and food discoveries!

And impromptu parties . . .

I love impromptu parties!

What delicious things do you have in your freezer?