I wonder how many bowls of potato salad were made over the Memorial Day weekend. Doesn't everyone love potato salad? Don't you think it is one of the defining dishes of summer? And there must be an infinite number of recipes for it. I have eaten many delicious potato salads, but this is the one I love best and the way I always make it.
The recipe is from my vintage Betty Crocker's Cookbook. I know people make fun of Betty Crocker, but Betty Crocker helped me learn to cook. The book is full of simple and straightforward recipes, using common ingredients. I am much more adventurous as a cook now, but there are a handful of recipes I always go back to this book for, and potato salad is one of them.
The secret to this recipe is the marinating of the potatoes in Italian salad dressing for at least 2 hours. I use russet potatoes which act as little sponges for the dressing and become incredibly flavorful. I have learned, from the oodles of times I have made this, to be careful when boiling whole, unpeeled russet potatoes--if they are boiled too vigorously, they will split open and become water logged. Simmer them slowly and patiently, it will be worth the wait.
I love a good potato salad! Sometimes simple is best but I actually have a few I rotate depending on what we have with it. One I always come back to though is my German Potato Salad (yet to be blogged about). It has the whole unpeeled potatoes as well and gets marinated like yours. Mine calls for vinegar and oil along with a vegetable broth that's heated. It adds so much flavor to the potatoes like you said. :o)
ReplyDeleteI look forward to a post about your German Potato Salad. Do you use bacon? My Daddy loves German Potato Salad and I bet yours is good because you have actually lived there.
ReplyDeleteMy version actually has no bacon, that would be more of a south bavaria recipe, think Munich area. I grew up further north :o) but it is still delicious. I always make it when I miss home! I'll have to make it soon, not everyone likes it though since it is not mayonnaise based.
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