A few weeks back, Je Mange la Villa shared her Secrets to Amazing Potato Salad. It got me to wondering why I'd yet to post my mother's potato salad "recipe" here on A Veggie Venture, despite making a big batch several times a summer.So ... without further ado, here are my Mom's tricks for a classic potato salad and now, as mothers pass important things to daughters, my own "recipe" and tips too. Always.
- The potatoes are cubed, skins on, to cook more evenly and quickly
- The dressing base is equal measures of mayonnaise (for me, reduced fat Hellman's, for Mom, her ever-lovin' Miracle Whip) and low-fat cottage cheese
- The dressing includes three hard-boiled eggs plus ~ horrors, I know ~ sweet pickle relish
- Use a large wide bowl to make it easier to mix the dressing and then stir in the potatoes
- Add the potatoes to the dressing while they're still hot, so they soak up some of the liquid
NEXT TIME ... I'll add some fresh dill. I intended to this time, even bought a packet at Trader Joe's. But it was so chemical-smelling, so awful-smelling, I threw it away and washed the knife and cutting board so not to contaminate anything. Yuck. I'm finding one has to really pick and choose at Trader Joe's.
SHORTHAND RECIPES ... This week, Sweetnicks has asked how we keep track of our "tried and true" recipes. In the last two years or so, I've been gathering my favorite recipes in shorthand form into a Word document that's now about 5 pages of small type, easy to travel with, convenient to keep in the car for last-minute grocery stops. For example, in my own kitchen shorthand, Mom's Potato Salad and the Perfect Boiled Eggs break down to no more than:
MOM’s POTATO SALAD 2lb new potatoes, 3 cooked eggs, ¾c low-fat mayo, ¾c low-fat cottage cheese, 1T+ mustard, 2T+ sweet pickle, ½ onion, 3 celery sticks, fresh dill Makes 6 cups, ½c = WW3 VV06MOM's POTATO SALAD
PERFECT BOILED EGGS Single layer w 1” water; B2B on HIGH, boil 1 minute; prep ice bath; turn off heat, cover, rest 10min; transfer to ice, rest 5min; peel
Bookmark or print Mom's Potato Salad
Hands-on time: 30 minutes
Time to table: 45 minutes
Makes 6 cups
Salted water to cover
2 pounds new potatoes, skins on, in small cubes
3 eggs, hard-boiled (see instructions below) and diced small
DRESSING
3/4 cup low-fat Hellman's mayonnaise
3/4 cup 1% cottage cheese (in St Louis, preferably Pevely or the Dierberg's store-brand cottage cheese which I'm quite sure is made by Pevely)
1 generous tablespoon good mustard
2 generous tablespoons sweet pickle relish
1/2 a large sweet onion, chopped very fine
3 stalks celery, chopped very fine
Fresh dill or other fresh herbs, optional
Salt & pepper to taste
Start the water to boil. Add the potatoes as they're prepped and cook, covered, until they're done. Hard-boil the eggs.
Stir together the dressing ingredients. Stir in the hot potatoes and eggs. Taste and adjust seasonings.
PERFECT HARD-BOILED EGGS
- [This technique works even with very fresh eggs which are notorious for being hard to peel when hard-boiled.]
- Place eggs in a single layer in a saucepan. Cover with water plus an inch.
- Bring the water to boil on HIGH. (Here, I set the timer for 5 minutes and carry on with whatever I'm doing so long as it's within hearing of the timer. The water won't be boiling when the timer goes off but is close to boiling so I hang close and pay close attention.)
- Prepare the ice bath. This is 2 - 3 cups of ice cubes in a large bowl, filled with cold water but leaving room for the eggs.
- Just as the water begins to boil, let it boil hard for 1 minute -- set the timer!
- Turn off the heat (remove from the element if it's an electric stove) but do not drain. Cover the saucepan and let sit for 10 minutes -- set the timer!
- Drain the eggs and gently lower them into the ice bath. Let set 5 minutes -- set the timer!
- Peel.
Per Serving: 144 Cal (39% from Fat, 15% from Protein, 47% from Carb); 5 g Protein; 6 g Tot Fat; 1 g Sat Fat; 17 g Carb; 2 g Fiber; NetCarb15; 32 mg Calcium; 1 mg Iron; 254 mg Sodium; 62 mg Cholesterol; Weight Watchers 3 points
(c) Copyright 2006 Kitchen Parade
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