Potato Salad with Variation

Potato salad is something we here in the West of been eating since we were kids. At my house it was red skinned potatoes, Miracle Whip, celery and maybe a few spring onions.

Oh and my mothers favorite spice: Paprika. "It gives it color," she would say. Funny how color was more important than taste.

As for Miracle Whip, it is all about the sugar and has very little resemblance to actual mayonnaise.

My reinvention of this recipe goes like this:

Potato Salad Classic Variation

Put 6-8 red skinned potatoes, cut into bit sized chunks with skins on in lightly salted cold water. Bring the water to a boil then reduce to simmer. Watch it like a hawk, in 3-5 minutes the potatoes should be cooked through yet still firm. You really don't want to over cook them or they will get all mushy when you add the other ingredients.

The minute they are cooked plunge into a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process.

Drain in a colander, pat dry if need be and place in bowl.

While the potatoes are cooking place 2 or 3 cloves of smashed garlic in a blender, 1 whole egg, 1 T Dijon mustard, 1/4 t cayenne pepper and 1 1/2 - 2 T lemon juice or white wine vinegar. Turn the blender on and slowly add 1 cup of oil (I use a combination of organic canola and olive oil, 2/3 to 1/3, the more olive oil you use the stronger the olive oil flavor, I think in this instance you're better with a more neutral flavor with so much else going on).

As you slowly pour in the oil into the blender the mayonnaise will thicken. Once the oil has all been incorporated, taste and season with salt & pepper, if it's too thick add more lemon juice/vinegar.

Chop roughly 2 T Capers and 1 cup of Parsley add to the potatoes along with a 1/2 of the mayo, using your hands mix it all together.

Taste, add more salt and pepper, adjust any other seasoning to your liking and mix in more mayo if you want it to be more creamy.

This amount of dressing goes a long way so you could easily double the amount of potatoes and still have enough.

Refrigerate, covered for at least 2 hours so the seasonings can all get to know each other better.

Warm Roasted Potato Variation

Preheat the oven to 375 F.

Cut into bite size pieces 6-8 yellow fleshed potatoes (like Yukon Gold).
Place in a bowl and toss with 1 or 2 T of olive oil, and several rosemary branches.

Place on a baking sheet and put in the oven. Cook for about 40 minutes or until the potatoes are brown and crispy.

Meanwhile in a food processor place 2-3 cloves of smashed garlic, 4 anchovy fillets, 2 T lemon juice, 1/2 cup olive oil, 2 T grain mustard, salt and black pepper to taste.

Pulse just until combined.

Pour dressing into a small bowl and add 2 T roughly chopped Rosemary or Thyme leaves (or a mixture of both) and mix together.

When the potatoes are cooked take them out of the oven and place immediately into a large bowl, add half the dressing and toss, taste and continue to add dressing and tasting until all the dressing is used or you are satisfied with the flavor. Season with salt and pepper, add more grain mustard and or anchovy paste if you like a stronger flavored salad.

Great served over purslane or watercress.