There seem to be as many versions of potato salad out there as there are varieties of spuds! My husband likes a Mediterranean version I make with olive oil, lemon juice, parsley and pickled artichokes, and that’s a good one, but this old-fashioned classic is the tried-and-true crowd favorite.
Because potatoes are the star, care in cooking them is key: To keep from bursting the potatoes’ cellular structure and ruining the texture, which happens with a hard boil, you’ll want to simmer them just below boiling until they are still slightly firm but easily pierceable by a fork. Once the potatoes reach this stage, I plunge them into an ice water bath to keep the internal heat from cooking them further.
With the potatoes cooked and chilling, I turn to the cutting board, chopping plenty of vegetables to add color and crunch. I use green and Spanish onions, pickled gherkins, parsley, pickled red peppers and minced garlic. For the sauce, I first blend unseasoned rice vinegar with Dijon mustard, a little sugar and yes, pickle juice! That gets gently mixed in to the potatoes with sour cream and Hellman’s mayonnaise.
If you’re planning a picnic, this salad goes great with my buttermilk-marinated Golden Fried Chicken. Add some fresh fruit, tomatoes and corn and your menu is complete.
Favorite Old-Fashioned Potato Salad
Ingredients
- 8 or 9 Idaho russet potatoes, peeled and cubed into bite-sized pieces to make 8 cups
- 5 stalks fresh celery, diced to make 1 ½ cups
- 1 Spanish onion, peeled and diced small
- 1 small bunch green onions, root ends discarded, chopped to make 1 cup
- 1 cup gherkins (I use a not-too-sour variety)
- 1 bunch parsley, stems discarded, leaves minced to make 2/3 cup
- Pickled, fire roasted red peppers, diced to make 1 cup
- 4 cloves garlic, peeled, grated with a microplane or minced very fine
- 3 Tbsp unseasoned rice vinegar
- 3 Tbsp pickle juice
- 1 Tbsp coconut palm sugar
- 2 tsp Grey Poupon or Maillard Dijon mustard
- 1 cup sour cream
- 2/3 cup Hellman’s mayonnaise
Instructions
- In a large pot over medium heat, cover potato cubes with water. Cook just under boiling until potatoes are still slightly firm but easily pierceable by a fork. Once the potatoes reach this stage, remove from heat, drain boiling water, and plunge the colander full of them into an ice water bath to keep the internal heat from cooking them further. Once fully chilled, drain.
- In a glass jar with lid, combine rice vinegar, pickle juice, sugar and Dijon mustard. Shake well. Set aside.
- Place the cooked potatoes in a large bowl. Add diced green and white onion, chopped celery, gherkins, pickled peppers, parsley and grated garlic. Gently toss. Whisk mayonnaise with sour cream. Set aside. Pour the vinegar pickle juice mixture over the potato and vegetable mixture. Gently fold in the mayonnaise/sour cream. Season to taste with salt and finely ground pepper. Chill for 1 hour to allow flavors to meld. Serve.
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