This potato salad doesn’t have a story.
Except that it is adapted from Cook’s County’s All-American Potato Salad recipe!
From my very first sample issue of Cook’s Country all the way back in 2006!
But it doesn’t need to have a story. It’s just really, really good.
In fact it’s so good, it made a potato-salad-lover out of me. Because, as it turns out, potato salad doesn’t have to be a big yellow, indistinguishable pile of slop on your plate.
I did not know that.
Some notes on the recipe:
– I use red potatoes. I use red potatoes for everything though just because I like them. They work for nearly every application, I think they look pretty when you leave the skin on (which I always do), and I think they are the most flavorful.
– How long you cook the potatoes depends entirely on how large you cube them. I kept an eye on the clock while preparing it the last time and they were done in 5-6 minutes.
– I tend to like things a little saltier than others. The rest of my family would say that 1 1/2 t. salt of is fine. I tend to think it needs a bit more. It’s up to you. Better to under-salt it and taste adjust later.
– By marinating the warm, cooked potatoes in the pickle juice mixture, it adds an amazing depth to the flavor. Don’t you dare skip this step.
– I use my Homemade Mayonnaise and think it works wonderfully. It’s not terribly time-consuming or difficult. In fact, my 10 year old makes it for me sometimes.
– Real foodies can real food-ify it by lacto-fermenting the mayo simply by substituting whey for the vinegar and preparing it a couple days in advance and by using lacto-fermented pickle juice & pickles. When I write up a recipe I tend not to use too many buzz word ingredients because I think you’re all smart enough to make those substitutions as you see fit and necessary to conform to your dietary preferences. I don’t want anyone else coming across the recipe thinking that it won’t work unless you use celtic sea salt or anything. If you are using plain old table salt, this recipe is probably still a lot healthier than picking up a tub of potato salad off the rack in the deli. Did I just bird walk a little bit?
– The original recipe calls for sour cream instead of yogurt, but I usually have yogurt and not sour cream in my fridge. And if I do have sour cream, it usually has a thick layer of mold growing on top. If you have neither, you can also substitute more mayonnaise and not notice much of a difference. Sometimes I’m lazy and do that.
– The fresh parsley garnish isn’t just for looks, I think it adds a little something. Or fresh dill, oh my!
– And if you’re not feeling in a very Potato Salad-y kind of mood, there’s always Garden Fresh Pasta Salad which is sure to be a hit!
Potato Salad
Not Just Any Potato Salad
Ingredients
- 2 pounds potatoes, cubed
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt (or to taste)
- 3 Tablespoons pickle juice
- 1 Tablespoon dijon mustard
- ¼ cup pickles, diced
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- ½ teaspoon celery seed
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- ¼ cup yogurt
- 2 stalks celery, diced
- 3 hard boiled eggs, diced
Instructions
- Place the prepared potatoes in a saucepan with an 1" of cold water.
- Bring the potatoes to a boil, add the salt, and reduce the heat to simmering.
- Simmer the potatoes until they are just becoming tender and can be pierced through.
- Drain them into a colander then spread them on a baking sheet.
- Mix 2 T. of the pickle juice with the mustard and drizzle it over the potatoes, tossing gently to coat. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Mix the remaining ingredients together- including that last tablespoon of pickle juice but NOT the eggs.
- Place the potatoes in a large bowl and gently stir in the mayonnaise mixture.
- Chill for 30 minutes and gently stir in the diced eggs prior to serving.
Did you make a recipe?
Tag @reformationacres on Instagram and hashtag it #reformationacres.
Enjoy!
I love potato salad. To me it says summer and picnics and get-togethers. I love baby redskins, but I love me some fingerling and baby Yukon Gold's too! But (gasp) I was slow to come to like pickles, and prefer my salad without. For some reason, adding the dressing while the potatoes have some heat left in them really helps the flavor to permeate. I have made many variations over the years, and this is the best tip, so KUDOS TO YOU for posting it! 😀 Also, I salt my potato water just like I do for pasta (like seawater) because I think the flavor goes through, and I am not as likely to be adding more salt as I am eating it.