Potato Salad - Ann Arbor,MI

I agree with the poster that said yukon gold or red potatoes... they will hold their shape better than russet potatoes.

(Russet potatoes are great for baked potatoes or mashed potatoes because they get softer and flakier.... but if you put them in a potato salad it is more likely that they will get mushy.)

Red potatoes or Yukon Gold potatoes are "waxier" and will hold their shape much better.

Peel and cube them before you cook them...they will cook much faster and more evenly.

It looks like you can peel or not peel.

I boil unpeeled potatoes until I can poke a for in them without feeling the crunch of the potato.

In a separate pot, I make boiled eggs.

When the potatoes are done, I empty as much water as I can. I peel them by cutting through the skin with a knife. From there, you can easily peel the open edges back.

I cube the potatoes about just smaller than 1/2", nothing technical, just cut them in strips and cut some cubes.

Dice the boiled eggs.

Add Salt, pepper, paprika, parsley flakes, dill weed, chopped onion, celery, and garlic.

Add a dab of mustard, maybe just pea sized.

Add mayonnaise, I like best foods and I am pretty picky about that.

Mix it up and let it cool. Then refrigerate.

Enjoy!

I use red or Yukon potatoes. I will cut them into smaller cubes and boil in salt water. I poke them with a knife or fork to check if they are done.

Once cooled down, I put mayo (I like Helmans), onions, dill relish, woshershire (sp), celery, salt and pepper. Mix. Yummy! I might add a dash of mustard but not always. I do not use boil eggs.

Pretty darn easy!!

A couple of tips:

1. Use Yukon gold or red potatoes. They hold their shape best (they don't fall apart or crumble in the salad). Don't use Russet or baking potatoes.

2. Use plenty of water, and salt it. For a couple of quarts of water, add about 3 teaspoons of salt.

3. Peel the potatoes. Don't cut them too small. They should be in large chunks, bigger than bite size. The most important thing is that all the pieces are the same size, or else they'll cook unevenly, with the smaller pieces cooking before the larger pieces. (Peeling the potatoes rather than leaving the peels on allows the potatoes to absorb more flavor. I think it's easier to remove the peels before cooking, especially since you've cut the potatoes up, but that's personal preference.)

4. Put the potatoes in the water when the water is cold and bring the water to a boil. Turn down the heat and simmer the potatoes (gentle bubbles breaking the surface of the water, not fierce bubbles bursting and splashing, and you don't want the potatoes bouncing around like ping pong balls).

5. Check the potatoes after about 10 minutes, by piercing one gently with a regular fork. The fork should easily pierce the potato, but the potato shouldn't fall apart. If you're unsure, remove a piece, let it cool briefly, and taste it. It should be very tender, but still retaining it's shape. Continue cooking if necessary. Then drain the potatoes in a colander and let them cool just until you can comfortably work with them.

6. A basic classic potato salad recipe: Cut the cooled chunks of potatoes into bite-size pieces. Combine them with diced hard-boiled eggs, and diced peeled seeded cucumbers (cut the cucumbers the long way and run a spoon tip down the center of the cucumber so that the seeds scrape out - this keeps your potato salad from becoming watery or soggy). Add just enough real mayonnaise so that the potatoes are lightly covered but not swimming - the amount of mayo will depend on how many potatoes you used. It's always easy to add more mayo but impossible to remove it, so start slow and stir gently. Add about a tablespoon of Dijon mustard. Salt to your preferred taste. (Taste first before salting and add salt gradually).

7. Chill in the fridge and keep chilled while serving. You can fill a large serving bowl with ice and then set the potato salad bowl down into the ice so it stays chilled.

8. Don't put hot foods directly into the fridge. Allowing the potatoes to cool enough to handle comfortably, and then adding the mayo and other ingredients will usually lower the temperature enough so that you can put the potato salad into the fridge once all the ingredients are combined. Make sure to keep the salad cold and don't let it sit out too long at room temperature (no more than an hour or so, or 2 hours in the bowl of ice). It's not the mayo, by the way, that allows bacteria to grow - mayonnaise contains acid (vinegar or lemon juice) and commercially prepared (store-bought, brand-name) mayonnaise is safe at room temperature. However, when chicken or potatoes are combined with the mayonnaise, any bacteria on them (from our hands, or the knife we cut them with) lower the acidity level of the mayonnaise and after about 2 hours, the bacteria will grow. Or the mayonnaise gets diluted with the other ingredients, lowering its natural acidity. So it's not the mayonnaise - it's the combination of the potatoes or chicken or other vegetables or proteins mixed in with the mayonnaise that makes a potential bacteria circus. Keeping the salad properly chilled prevents this from happening. Homemade mayonnaise is a different story, and it's usually not safe at room temperature at all. But I'm talking about Hellmann's or Best Foods or Kraft, etc.

M.,

I use the plain russett potatoes. You can really use any - the red skin potatoes make a good salad as well!!

It depends upon my mood - whether I peel or not.

I usually boil them for 5 to 7 minutes. I just stay on top of them - poke them - to make sure they are the right "doneness". I put the eggs first - get them half way done (about 5 to 7 minutes) and then put in the potatoes...no sense in wasting water on two pots...use one for both...

Mustard, relish, celery, onion, mayonnaise...I use green onions as well.
The wonderful thing about potato salad - you can make it chunky or not...so chop to your hearts content!!

Hope this helps!

Idaho potatoes are great or red potatoes if you want to leave the skins on.

I put on a huge pot of water to boil. Then I wash, peel and cut into thick cubes. I put the cleaned and cut up potatoes into the boiling water. The potatoes cook until tender (they slide off a fork when stabbed but they are not mushy. Drain them of all the water.

Season potatoes, I usually make my potato salad with my favorite salad dressing, sweet relish, dill weed, and celery seeds. I don't like mayo so I don't use it. I tend to use Catalina dressing or French. Hubby loves when I do it with Ranch.

You could also add carrots or fresh celery.

Refridgerate mixture. It seems to taste better day 2.

I use golden. I cube without skin, cook until the knife just goes through. I then do a cold rise and throw some,vinegar on them.

I do onion, celery, mayo, salt and pepper. I use to do celery seed, but I've decided the flavor is better without it. And I use tons of eggs :-) I don't use mustard, can't stand the stuff.

Potato salad is one of the easiest things in the world to make - the only cooking involved is boiling potatoes ad eggs.
I've used every kind of potato there is, and I don't notice any big difference,so now I just use whatever kind is cheapest.
I cube the potatoes before boiling because they cook faster in smaller pieces. Once they're tender but not mushy, I drain them in a colander and rinse off the excess starch.
I do NOT peel potatoes - the skins go into the potato salad.
I add full-fat real mayo (not lite, and NOT Miracle Whip - that stuff is vile), brown Creole mustard (NOT yellow), chopped hard boiled eggs (one egg per potato if using large potatoes, one egg per two or three potatoes if using small ones), chopped kosher dill pickles (NOT sweet pickles - nasty things, those are), and chopped green olives with pimentoes, chopped scallions (NOT regular onions), and season to taste with Tony Chachere's and paprika.

I also use Russett potatoes - I do peel first. I don't use relish, but I do put sweet pickles in mine. I LOVE a good potato salad!

I use white potatoes. Boil until softened but not mush. I poke a fork in every few minutes lol. My go to potatoes salad is a bacon ranch potato salad

Ingredients
6-8 white potatoes. Boiled, drained and peeled cool.
3-4 stalls of celery chopped
1 bunch green onions
1/2 lb bacon fried and drained
1 bottle hidden valley ranch dressing

Cut potatoes into chunks. Slice green onion. Chop bacon into bite size pcs. Poor dressing over it all and mix it up. Let it set in fridge for at least an hour to set. It's delish and there is never any left over.

Potatoes are just about the easiest thing to cook. I use regular russet potatoes from the store, nothing special.

I usually peel them because no matter how well you scrub them they still have some dirt on them. I peel them and put them in a bowl of water then rinse then in running water before cutting them up.

I do about 1-1 1/2"cubes so they cook quicker. I add a little salt too, it helps the potato cook quicker and also adds some flavor.

I take a larger piece out and smoosh it. If it is resistant then I might bite it to see how much of it's cooked and how much is still hard. If it's all soft then drain them into a strainer and run cold water on them to stop the cooking.

If you need to practice go buy a 10lb bag of potatoes and make some mashed potatoes for dinner a couple of times...lol.

Making potato salad is a personal preference sort of thing. I like onions, eggs, mustard and mayo. Some like it warm and some like it with vinegar added. I'd ask him what sort of potato salad he likes so he won't be disappointed.

Just for variety and to share, I make a roasted potato and veggie salad. As I am too tired, I will post a link to it, just put it up a couple days ago:

http://skyteahouse.blogspot.com/2014/06/fresh-lemon-and-r...

By far my favorite twist on a summertime tradition. Not what your FIL might be envisioning, but worth trying another time. Very simple.

M.-

Probably not what your FIL envisioned, but I have had the most awesome variants on potato salad.

dressed with sour cream, vinegar, dill, salt & pepper.
dressed with olive oil, vinegar, salt, pepper, grated carrots, cumin and maple syrup.
dressed with rice wine vingegar, and terriyaki, and with those round hard disky thing (i can't remember what they are called) that you sometimes get in asian foods.
dressed with cilantro, scallion, and cayenne.
mixed wtih smoked garlic and crunchy onion flakes.

Best,
F. B.

I use Yukon Gold. I peel and cut into cubes before I boil them.

Like Wild Woman said, I use the same water for the eggs as well. I put the potatoes in halfway through the eggs boiling.

I use:
Yukon gold potatoes (usually about a dozen - if I'm feeding a lot of people)
hard boiled eggs (usually six)
mayonnaise (not Miracle Whip)
green onions
salt
pepper
sweet or dill relish (I really prefer dill relish or finely chopped dill pickles)
mustard (I usually use a strong German mustard, not just yellow)
horse radish
celery (finely chopped)

I also sometimes add extra crispy chopped bacon.

ooohhh thank you Fuzzy! I've NEVER used green olives!! i'll have to try that!!

It's actually VERY easy.

I use little red potatoes and cube them before boiling so they cook faster and leave the skins on. Boil them until you can easily poke them with a fork but not mushy.
I use a dozen red potatoes and a dozen eggs and for my sauce:
mayo
horseradish sauce (to taste, depending how much heat you like)
1 tsp. ground mustard
pepper
1/2 diced red onion
12-14 diced dill pickle slices (or more)
a little seasoning salt

I've made it so many different ways...I don't think it can be screwed up. but the latest way that I make it is as follows.

I buy those really big baker potatoes in the grocery store. peel them (because that is my preference) and cube them. put them in salted water and boil them. I've never actually timed it...but I'm guessing they boil 10 minutes once it starts to boil. I always take a cube out, rinse in under cold water and eat it...so see what the consistency is. you want it soft and cooked...but you don't want it too soft or you'll end up with mashed potato salad instead of cubes. but hey...I've see that kind too...so it's totally up to you. After they are done to your likeness I put them in a colander and rinse them thoroughly with cold water to stop the cooking process and cool them off.
this is how I do the measurements for the other ingredients. I base it on how many big potatoes I use. if you use 4 big potatoes you have enough for 6-8 people no problem.
1 to 1: potato, boiled egg, green onion, radish, 1/2 celery stalk, 1/4 green pepper.

so if you are making enough for 6 people do this

4 potatoes cubed and boiled
3 to 4 boiled eggs peeled and diced
2 celery stalks
3 to 4 radishes diced or minced
1 green pepper diced
3 or 4 green onions diced.

put it all in a big bowl....sprinkle with salt and pepper...a little dill weed if you like that....3 or 4 heaping tablespoons of mayo and a few squirts of dijon mustard. if it's not wet enough add more mayo.
chill

seriously though...you can't mess up potato salad....so easy and so versatile

Bless you for caring about your FIL!