Mom's Potato Salad Recipe ♥

My mother's recipe for a traditional American-style homemade potato salad -- it's the one I make again and again without needing a "recipe". While not "diet food," the recipe calls for cooked eggs and cottage cheese so the potato salad contains a good measure of protein too. Fresh herbs really brighten the flavors!

~recipe & photo updated 2011 & 2013~
~first published 2006, republished 2011~
~more recently updated recipes~

2006 Original: A few weeks back, Michelle from the food blog 'Je Mange la Ville' shared her Secrets to Amazing Potato Salad (scroll down, they're near the end). It got me to wondering why I'd yet to post my mother's potato salad "recipe" here on A Veggie Venture, despite making a big batch several times a summer.

So. Without further ado, here are my Mom's tricks for a classic potato salad and now, as mothers pass important things to daughters, my own "recipe" and tips too. Always.
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Keeping it Real: Do you care if it's "authentic"?

Google search: authentic cuisine

Insert "...'s" in front of each web site's Google link:

• Authentic Recipes, Food, Drinks and Travel
• Natural Authentic Indian Cuisine
• Authentic Mexican Food
• Authentic Russian Recipes, Cuisine and Cooking
• Authentic Thai Cuisine
• Authentic Italian Cuisine
• Authentic Greek Cuisine

...and on and on, for about 50,000 pages (just an estimate) of restaurants, recipes and articles.

What is "authentic cuisine" once you have left the country of origin? Hell, once you have left the region in the country of origin, the neighborhood in the region of the country of origin, or the grandmother's house in the neighborhood of the region of the country of origin you're totally out of the context of "authentic". Not to mention points in history. Or "terrior". It's not just the ingredients but where they were grown that counts towards "authentic".

"Escoffier didn't add it." Alex Guarnaschelli (here) doesn't render an opinion, but in this context, her sauce speaks for itself.

Michael Bauer (here) believes the "not authentic" card is played is when the dish when, "...the one we deem as “authentic” is the one that is most familiar or appeals to us."

Recently I read a blog entry about Vichyssoise which included the statement that it was an American invention. I hadn't thought about Vichyssoise as not being a French dish (and I'm definitely not a food history scholar). It's named after a city, but then again so is a Niçoise salad and about a million other dishes. Zipping immediately to  Wikipedia, (...where I am reminded of the day I told my much younger-than-now nephew that information found on the internet was not necessarily factual and he looked at me like I was a complete idiot) and looked it up. According to Wikipedia (and a couple of other sources), Louis Diat, in 1917, presented Vichyssoise on the menu at the Ritz Carlton in New York. He is quoted as saying, "In the summer of 1917, when I had been at the Ritz seven years, I reflected upon the potato and leek soup of my childhood which my mother and grandmother used to make. I recalled how during the summer my older brother and I used to cool it off by pouring in cold milk and how delicious it was. I resolved to make something of the sort for the patrons of the Ritz." He called it, "Crème Vichyssoise Glacée".

It also notes that Jules Gouffe published a similar soup (although served hot) in a cookbook in 1869. Antoine-Augustin Parmentier (1737-1806) personally presented a potato to Louis XVI as an example (in a contest, yet) of "vegetables that can replace those currently used" based on his time as a prisoner of war in Dresden. Louis made him wait 14 years before he was granted permission to grow potatoes (longer than Parmentier was a prisoner of war). Parmentier worked hard to prove to the powers that be that potatoes were a great way to feed large numbers of people (as well as a source of nourishment to cure dysenteric patients) when many in France believed that the potato caused leprosy or was suitable only as hog food. He also started soup kitchens to feed the poor. Interesting guy - he has a Facebook page (natch) here that links to his Wikipedia page.

Did hot potato leek soup become authentic when the recipe was published? If you don't find and follow Jules Gouffe's recipe to the letter, are you an unworthy sham?

I have no problem with fusion cuisine (although the phrase makes me shudder a little), deconstructed classics, ethnically-eclectic menus, high-tech preparations and I don't care if you include the word "authentic" in the name or description of your restaurant. It's so ubiquitous as to be pretty meaningless anyway unless you have the balls to back it up with documentation down to the nonna, γιαγιά, abuela or grand-mère's name who made it - and even then, what if nonna was a crappy cook? If I am looking for the origins or a recipe, I won't take yours at face value, I'll do some research and if I think my modifications will taste better, I'll make them.

Even if Escoffier came back from the dead to personally tattoo "Authentic" on your ass, your food has to be honest and good. That is all that matters.

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Saturday Breakfast: Potato and Sausage Hash Topped with an Egg

...or "Put a Bird (Egg) on It"

Really, there's no egg theme here, nothing to look at, eh? - even though this is my second post in a row with an egg-topped dish. There will be more egg-topped food upcoming (Uovo in Purgatorio) but not right away.

Last Friday night we made chicken breasts stuffed with pancetta/tarragon chicken sausage, mushrooms, leeks, garlic and thyme. With some of the mixture left over it seemed like a good time to revisit breakfast hash on Saturday.

Yeah, the rolled-up stuffed chicken breasts were delicious, but we were cooking up a storm with no time for pictures. I'm not holding out on you. I wouldn't do that to the few people I know who read this plus the two people I don't know. Next time we'll document it.

Recipe: Potato and Sausage Hash Topped with an Egg

There are no hard and fast amounts of ingredients called-for. You can add herbs,garlic, roasted chiles, substitute green onion for onions, add-in some cheese at the end - it's up to you. The really important thing is that your diced potatoes are beautifully browned. Balance the heat so that you can spread them out and leave them alone for a few minutes before you turn them.

Serves 4

Equipment: A really big saute pan/skillet or two big pans - you want color on the potatoes and don't want them so deep in the pan that they steam to the point of collapse before they have browned.

Ingredients:

• 5 medium-sized russet potatoes diced (small, approximately 1/3"). Unpeeled is just fine (and preferred!) as long as you've thoroughly scrubbed them.
• Approximately 2 cups fresh sausage of choice (we used two sausages) removed from their casing.
• 1 small onion, diced
• Oil - neutral oil with a high smoke point (we used canola)
• 4 large eggs - fried or poached
• Salt and pepper

Preparation:

• Place the diced potatoes in a microwave-safe glass bowl large enough to be able to stir them easily. Microwave on 50% power for about 5 minutes.  Stir and repeat - for 2 minutes. Set aside. You can skip this step - it will just take the potatoes longer to cook.
• Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a saute pan or skillet in which you will ultimately be cooking the potatoes over medium/medium-high heat until the oil is shimmering and there are little wisps of smoke coming off the surface. Add the sausage, breaking it up with a spoon or heat-proof spatula but don't move it around so much it doesn't color.  You want to brown, not 'gray' the meat. Adjust the heat as necessary to keep it from burning. As the sausage browns, break it up to the extent that pleases you.
• When the sausage is browned and cooked through, take the pan off the heat, spoon out the sausage from the pan and drain. Pour the oil and left-over fat from the sausage into a heat-proof bowl and reserve - any solids will end up on the bottom of the bowl after a couple of minutes. Use a crumpled paper towel to thoroughly wipe out the pan. Replace the pan on the burner, add 1-2 tablespoons of the reserved fat in which you cooked the sausage and heat on medium until the oil shimmers. Add the diced onion and a dash of salt and pepper. 
• Cook the onion, adjusting the heat if necessary, until the dice is translucent and most of the edges are light brown. Scrape those out of the pan over top the sausage you cooked and drain. Again, pour the remaining oil/fat out of the pan and wipe it out thoroughly.
• Add enough oil to the pan to coat the bottom. Start with 2 tablespoons. Add potatoes to a depth of no more than 1/2". Toss to coat and then adjust the heat so that you can leave them for about 4-5 minutes at a time until you turn them with a wide spatula. Continue until the potato cubes are tender on the inside with a golden brown crust and then add the sausage and onions back into the pan to warm.
• Cook the eggs to order - fried or poached is best. Serve the hash topped with an egg.

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Olive Oil-Fried Egg with a Balsamic Glaze on Arugula

I saw a picture of this dish along with a reference that it was on the brunch menu at Foreign Cinema restaurant in San Francisco. The dish looked delicious! I've never eaten brunch there but have had a few very good and (one in particular) very memorable dinners there. Shortly after I saw the picture, I made the egg, sans arugula (delicious!) and declared it a winner preparation but wanted to see what it tasted like with delicate, bitter greens. I really love the taste of the greens combined with the egg yolk and the (very) slight sweetness of the balsamic glaze. You can use arugula, endive, cress or young dandelion greens or something less bitter like butter lettuce or mache torn in small pieces if you're not a fan, as I am, of the aforementioned greens.

This can be served solo, on top of the greens or on a piece of grilled or toasted bread - or on a slice of grilled toasted bread topped with the greens... I've seen variations that include mushrooms as well. How runny I like my eggs depends somewhat on what accompanies them. For this dish I like them just barely over. It works best when the yolk is somewhere between completely runny and somewhat runny - it's up to you.

Like any quick-cooked egg dish, it should be served immediately so it's good to have the greens ready (not too far in advance) and on the plate when the egg is ready. Reducing the balsamic vinegar takes just seconds. Make sure you wipe out the skillet thoroughly to mitigate the splatter - there will likely be some balsamic splatter no matter how careful you are.

If you're using delicate greens here are a couple of tips that apply to this - or any other similar preparation. To clean them, after picking off the thicker stems, submerge the greens in very cold water and VERY gently swish them around. Dry them thoroughly in a salad spinner.

One of the best ways to dress them is a 'broken' (not emulsified) vinaigrette where the greens are tossed with the oil before the vinegar is added. In this case, right before you start cooking the eggs,  wash and dry your hands thoroughly and then place the greens in a large enough bowl so that they are not crowded.

Pour 1/2 to a scant 1 teaspoon of olive oil in the palm of one (impeccably clean) hand, rub your hands together and then use them to gently toss the greens and distribute the oil on the leaves. Add a little more at a time if you think you need it. Season with a pinch of salt.

Note - it took me far too long to learn - and remember - the difference between a skillet and a sauté pan, and if you don't know you can find out here. 

Recipe: Olive Oil-Fried Egg with a Balsamic Glaze on Arugula

Visually inspired by Foreign Cinema's version
Serves 2
Equipment: 8" skillet, well-seasoned or non-stick

Ingredients:

• Arugula Salad
• 2 handfuls of arugula, washed and thoroughly dried with any thicker stem ends pinched off
• 1 generous teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
• Salt
•  Olive Oil-Fried Eggs with a Balsamic Glaze
• 2 large, fresh eggs (remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes in advance of cooking)
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Preparation:

• Toss the prepared arugula gently (by hand - as described in the head notes) with the olive oil 1/2 teaspoon at a time. The leaves should be very lightly dressed. Season with a pinch of salt and toss to combine. Taste to confirm the seasoning. Divide the arugula between two plates and set aside.
• Heat 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil in a non-stick 8" skillet over medium heat until it shimmers. Crack the eggs into the skillet (or into a small bowl and then into the skillet) and let them cook for about 30 seconds to set the whites swirling the pan very gently once or twice. The white will get bubbly the edges will begin to brown. Season the eggs with salt and pepper. Tilt the pan carefully and baste the yolks with the oil and cook the eggs until you're happy with them. Place one egg on top of each plate of arugula.
• Remove the pan from the heat, pour out the oil and thoroughly wipe out the interior with a crumpled paper towel. Before placing the pan back on the heat, pour in the 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar (remember that it will splatter) and reduce for about 15 seconds. It's likely that you won't have to put the pan back on the heat source and that it will retain enough heat to reduce the balsamic.
• Drizzle each of the eggs and arugula with the reduced balsamic glaze and serve immediately.

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Sweet Potato Wedges with Rosemary & Lime Juice ♥

Finally, a summer-y way to cook sweet potatoes. You're going to love these, I think!

Do you think of sweet potatoes as a summer vegetable? Me either. Growing season aside, sweet potatoes always seem just a little heavy for summer, don't they? But they're so good for us, so easy to find, so many people like them – I'm thrilled to have a good way to cook sweet potatoes in the summer – easy, quick, fresh and light. So good!

Just cut sweet potatoes in half and rub the cut sides in a little oil and butter and snips of fresh rosemary, then toss them in the oven. I love how the flat sides get slightly crispy and caramelized, how leaving the jackets on during baking keeps the sweet potatoes moist and ever so sweet.

You could serve them hot, I suppose, but it's summer. Just let them rest at room temperature and serve later – drizzled with a squeeze of lime juice. Heaven! How heavenly? Well I'm adding it to this small collection of My Favorite Sweet Potato Recipes. And I've decided they are "the" summer vegetable this year, the one to serve again and again.
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Cold borscht with hot potatoes and yoghurt

Cold borscht with hot mashed potatoes? Think of hot apple pie with ice cream. The sensation is similar, but savoury rather than sweet.

Cold borscht with hot potatoes and yoghurt

                                                 Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients:

2 medium beets

4 cups water

2-3 sprigs fresh dill for borscht, plus 1 sprig for garnish

2 teaspoons brown sugar

2-3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

¼ teaspoon sea salt

2 medium potatoes, boiled, whipped

½ tablespoon butter

2 tablespoons milk

Greek yoghurt

Preparation:

1. Thoroughly wash beets under running water to remove sand and debris. Remove any wilted or discoloured tops and roots. Place whole beets in the basket of a food steamer or pressure cooker. Steam according the instructions in your steamer or pressure cooker manual. When cooked, remove beets to a heat-proof container and set aside to cool. Reserve cooking fluid for use in this borscht.

2. When beets are cool enough to handle, slip the peels away. Dice. Place in a non-reactive cooking pot. Strained the reserved cooking fluid and top it up with fresh water to make 4 cups of liquid. Add whole sprigs of dill. Bring to the boil, then reduce heat to simmer for 5 minutes.

3. Remove and discard dill. Add lemon juice, sugar and salt. Stir to combine. Turn off heat and allow borscht to cool until the borscht is no longer steaming.

4. Pour borscht into a blender. Pulse to a thin puree.

5. Remove borscht to a lidded container and place in the refrigerator to cool completely.

6. Prior to serving borscht, cook potatoes with skins on. While still hot, mash them. Add butter and milk, then whip them to a smooth paste.

7. Ladle cold borscht into bowls. Place a dollop of hot whipped potato into each bowl of borscht, and top it off with a tablespoon of soured cream and a small slip of fresh dill.

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Sautéed Summer Squash Julienne with Garlic, Hot Pepper Flakes, Lemon and Shaved Parmagiana

Summer squash season makes me sad. Mostly because there are mounds and mounds of BEAUTIFUL shapes and colors of summer squash all over the place. Why am I sad amidst such a bounty?

Because I mostly hate summer squash. I don't mind it raw, diced up in a salad, diced small and sautéed in a smoking hot pan for a blink of an eye or (duh!) zucchini bread. It's when it is in chunks and cooked until it's soft and watery (I blame the seeds) that I start to hate it. A lot. I loved "Ratatouille" but do not like the dish. [Note: based on this recipe, the previous sentence is no longer true.]

A few weeks ago I saw Jacques Pépin make a yellow and green zucchini 'spaghetti'. He cut off each side - down to but not including the seed cores, julienned the planks and sautéed those fast, in a hot pan. I would trust Jacques Pépin with my very life so I thought I'd give it a shot. Now, I don't like wasting food. I use my produce scraps for stock that I will either use immediately or freeze and the only time the scraps go into the compost bin is when the freezer door becomes difficult to close. I save the heels of hard cheese to thrown into soups and stews. I use the water in which I cooked the chickpeas to cook the barley, and then I throw my onion/leek, carrot and celery produce scraps in that to make a broth.

Throwing the seedy cores of a couple of zucchinis into the compost bin? Zero guilt.

I didn't cut my own julienne, I used a Messermeister julienne-ing thingy. Worked like a charm. There are other small tools out there that are advertised as doing the same but this is the only one I've used and I'm happy with it and yes, my mandoline still scares me a little which is why I didn't use that. The Messermeister cut really beautiful, delicate julienne - and it's easier to clean up than the mandoline.

The ones I cut by hand were a little more like linguine but I think would have been just fine. Thinking after the fact, if I had hand-cut them, I might have cut thin slices, down to the core on each side, stacked those and then cut the strips - resulting in a more consistent julienne. The process using the peeler was very, very fast.

Messermeister julienne-ing thingy (left) and hand-cut julienne (right)

 Will I make it again? Absolutely. Next time I'll pan-roast some cherry tomatoes too. I think it would taste great hot or at room temperature. Top with shrimp? Tofu? Yes and yes. This has possibilities.

Recipe: Sautéed Summer Squash Julienne with Garlic, Pepper Flakes, Lemon and Shaved Parmagiana

Inspired by Jacques Pépin
Serves one for lunch or two as a side.

Ingredients:

• 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil + extra to drizzle on the finished dish
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 pinch red pepper flakes (may be increased, decreased or left out if you're not fond of heat)
• 2 summer squash (about 6" long each and 1" in diameter), thoroughly washed and julienned (including the skin) - not including the seed core.
• Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper
• Juice of 1/2 small lemon
• Parmigiana or another hard aged cheese (romano, grana padana, asiago, etc.) to shave or grate on top of the finished dish.

Method:

• Heat the olive oil in a 10" or 11" sauté pan or skillet on medium. When the oil shimmers, add the minced garlic and let it cook for a minute. Add the red pepper flakes and cook for until the garlic is a light straw-color. 
• Turn up the heat to medium high and add the julienned zucchini, stir to pick up the garlic from the bottom of the pan and toss to coat the zucchini and distribute the garlic and red pepper flakes.
• After a minute, taste a couple of strands of the zucchini - it should be tender (pliable) but still feel a little crisp under your teeth. Season with salt and pepper to taste. If it's not done yet, cook one more minute - tossing the zucchini to keep it moving and taste again.
• Take it off the heat, squeeze the juice of the 1/2 lemon and toss to combine.
• Plate immediately. Drizzle a little olive oil over the top and shave or grate some of the cheese over top.

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