Wednesday, August 19, 2009
The popular dish is considered a comfort food — something we all need right now.
Is it possible to live on potato salad alone?
I think I could do it. Really.
I don’t know about you, but it’s the first dish I reach for on every picnic buffet. I save room for seconds.
It’s front and center among foods that say — to me — picnic. A good potato salad is better than all the burgers or perfectly grilled brats, chicken or shish kebab in the world.
Or so I think.
The origin of potato salad is somewhat murky, but authorities agree that the versions we know became popular in America in the second half of the 19th century.
Cold salads seem to have evolved from British and French recipes, while hot potato salads — well, we have our German forebears to thank, of course. During both world wars, recipes for these warm vinegar-and-bacon preparations — a favorite of many Wisconsinites — dropped the nationalistic reference in favor of “Hot Potato Salad.”
Hot or cold, for potato salad inspiration look no further than a slim new volume, “Potato Salad, 65 Recipes from Classic to Cool” by Debbie Moose (Wiley, $16.95).
Moose writes niche books about foods people love — deviled eggs, wings, tailgate food. And now, this picnic favorite.
She dug into this latest topic with few preconceived notions.
“To be honest, I don’t remember my mother ever making potato salad, so I didn’t grow up eating it,” Moose said in a phone interview. “My mom didn’t like making things you had to cook twice. ... (With potato salad, first you cook the potatoes, and then you have to do something with them.)
“But a friend of mine is obsessed with potato salad, and one day she was over here and she started talking about all these different kinds of potato salad she’d eaten, what was wrong with them, what they ought to have.”
Moose began to realize the possibilities.
“Potatoes are kind of a blank slate. You can put any kind of flavors in there and change it up,” she said. “Textural variations are fun to play with, too.”
A dish of many colors
And play she does. Moose’s potato salad preparations include Mexican, Greek and Tuscan renditions, salads dressed with pesto and tahini, a Caesar version, one with beets, Wasabi Spuds, a curry potato salad and more.
Her Blue Moon Potato Salad features blue potatoes and blue cheese, plus walnuts for crunch. “That color (of the blue potatoes) gets people’s attention.”
So do salads made with sweet potatoes.
“I love sweet potato salads,” Moose said. “You can bring in flavors that play up or down the sweetness.”
Especially nice is a sweet potato salad she offers with lime vinaigrette; “You get the tart from the lime juice, the sweet from the potatoes and a little heat from serranos,” she said.
As for regular potatoes, any variety can be used in a salad, but Moose has her favorites: new potatoes, small red potatoes and Yukon Golds. She leaves the peel on the waxier red-skinned potatoes but peels the Yukon Golds, choosing them whenever she wants potatoes diced into smaller pieces.
For potatoes that absorb less water and hold their shape better, boil them whole, with the peels on. But you also can roast or grill them. In any event, don’t overcook.
Sweet potatoes, with their higher moisture content, are especially important not to overcook, Moose said.
To really make sure they will hold their shape, she suggests roasting sweet potatoes (at around 400 degrees). Or peel them, slice thickly and grill them on a well-oiled grill pan, turning frequently with tongs.
“I found it didn’t take that long to cook them through,” she said. If they brown too quickly, pull them off and finish them briefly in the microwave.
As for mayo vs. vinegar vs. sour cream, it all depends.
“For sweet potatoes, I found I preferred the vinaigrette,” Moose said. “For the Greek salad, it seemed natural. But classically, potato salad has mayo and a little mustard.”
Regardless of dressing, she doesn’t like potato salads that seem to be drowning in it, and that preference is reflected in the recipes in her book.
Defining the classic
Which of the 65 preparations comes closest to the quintessential American potato salad?
“When most people think of potato salad they think of new potatoes,” Moose said, adding that new potatoes are not a separate variety — just a young version of regular potatoes.
And the classic salad has a mayonnaise-based dressing “and probably some celery and onion.” And pickle relish.
But she found in her research and taste tests that egg was a controversial addition: “Some people wouldn’t touch it.”
The recipe in her book called, appropriately, Classic Potato Salad, has all these items. “It’s comfort food,” Moose said of spud salads in general, “which is something we all need right now.” Potatoes are also inexpensive, she noted.
The final chapter of her book presents recipes that turn potato salad into a main dish.
Through all the recipe testing, Moose learned one lesson well:
“It’s hard to make a little bit of potato salad. This is a party food. It’s hard to make a single serving.”
“At one point, I opened up my refrigerator, and it was just wall-to-wall potato salad. My poor husband looked in the fridge and asked, ‘Do we have anything to eat besides potato salad?’”
Does she still like potato salad after all that?
“Yes, I do,” she said.
“A little time has passed, I’ve got my potato salad taste buds back.”
I’m quite sure mine will never leave.
Get out of your potato salad rut this holiday with a variation on the popular picnic food.
Included here are two recipes from “Potato Salad” by Debbie Moose and my own personal recipe.
Loaded with fresh basil, tomatoes and fresh corn, this potato salad “captures the spirit of summer,” Moose writes. It’s also very pretty.
POTATO, CORN AND CHERRY TOMATO SALAD WITH BASIL DRESSING
Makes 8 servings
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1‚Ñ2 cup olive oil
1 cup packed fresh basil leaves
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
21‚Ñ2 pounds red potatoes
1‚Ñ2 pound cherry tomatoes, halved
6 ears fresh corn, cooked, kernels removed
Put vinegar, oil, basil, salt and pepper in blender or food processor. Process until emulsified.
Place potatoes in a large pot, add enough water to cover and bring to a boil. Cook until potatoes are pierced easily with tip of a sharp knife, 15 to 20 minutes. Drain and let cool until you can handle them but they are still warm. Cut into quarters but do not peel. Put potatoes, cherry tomatoes and corn kernels in large bowl. Pour in the basil dressing and toss gently to combine. Serve immediately.
The flavors of Indian cuisine give this salad, also from “Potato Salad” by Debbie Moose, an unusual profile.
CURRY POTATO SALAD
Makes 6 servings
2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes
2 cups plain yogurt
3 cloves garlic, pressed
3 tablespoons Major Grey chutney
11‚Ñ2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon curry powder
1 cup cooked green peas
1 cup chopped onion
1‚Ñ4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
Place potatoes in large pot, add enough water to cover them, cover the pot with a lid and bring to a boil.
Cook until potatoes are pierced easily with tip of a sharp knife, 15 to 20 minutes.
Drain and let cool until you can handle them but they are still warm.
Peel and cut into approximately 1-inch pieces.
In large bowl, stir together the yogurt, garlic, chutney, salt, curry powder, peas, onions and, if using, cayenne. Stir in potatoes. Cover and refrigerate several hours or overnight.
My standard potato salad leans toward the classic, with mayonnaise, mustard and hard-cooked eggs. (No celery, no pickle relish.)
But I mash some of the yolks first to mix into the mayo, which additionally is flavored with Dijon mustard and a splash of balsamic vinegar.
Celery seed and a little dried basil add final layers of flavor.
I find that chilling the cooked potatoes first helps them hold together better (and keep the skin on) for cutting into bite-size pieces.
EGG-LOVER’S POTATO SALAD WITH BALSAMIC AND CELERY SEED
Makes about 6 servings
21‚Ñ2 pounds red potatoes
3‚Ñ4 cup mayonnaise
6 or 7 eggs, hard-cooked (divided)
1‚Ñ2 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 to 3 teaspoons good-quality balsamic vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste
1‚Ñ4 to 1‚Ñ2 medium red onion, thinly sliced or slivered
Celery seed and dried basil
Cook unpeeled potatoes in boiling water just until tender, about 15 minutes. Do not overcook.
Drain well and set aside to cool. When lukewarm, cover and refrigerate until ready to make salad.
To make salad: Cut up cooled potatoes into bite-size chunks into large bowl.
Place mayonnaise in medium bowl. Remove yolks from 2 or 3 eggs; mash well with fork or potato masher. Add to mayonnaise along with the mustard, balsamic vinegar and some salt and pepper. Mix well and taste, then adjust seasonings accordingly.
Set 1 whole hard-cooked egg aside. Chop remaining eggs and egg whites and add to potatoes along with onion and a sprinkling of salt.
Sprinkle generously with celery seed and then a bit of basil, add mayonnaise mixture and mix gently but thoroughly.
Sprinkle on more celery seed and basil, then slice reserved egg and arrange slices on top.