Monthly Archive for June, 2011

Summer is here folks. And that means barbecues, corn on the cob and the perennial favorite summer side dish, potato salad. My mother made two kinds of potato salad: the classic All-American mayo- and egg-heavy one and the other a nod to my dad’s German heritage, the classic warm German bacon-heavy vinegary potato salad. Both fantastic in their own ways. I started out craving the former, but then became consumed with incorporating chickpeas (mainly because with the protein addition…voilà: “dinner”), which I thought would work well with a warm vinegary base, so I started veering toward the latter. And then I went off on another tangent and decided that an Indian-spiced potato chickpea salad would be all kinds of goodness, so I just decided to make both.

You could just go on like this and add another ingredient or spice (pimentón? green beans? roasted cauliflower? this tossed into the mix?), but I’m going to stop now (or pick that train of thought up for another day). The idea is that potatoes + some type of emulsifier + herbs and spices = summer. And that’s all you need to know.

Today is my birthday (yippee!), so we’re heading out of town for a weekend in VT with my best pals (minus one special JTeam member, *sniff*). Have a great weekend!

Notes: I used red potatoes because they looked good to me and while I wasn’t planning to peel them, the skin just pretty much slid off when I was cutting them. You could try new potatoes if you want to keep the skin. Yukon gold or russet potatoes work well too, but you should peel those.

My mother always diced her hard-boiled eggs in the palm of her hand, which I thought was awesome. So that’s how I do it.

Potato Salad, Two Ways

4 pounds potatoes (about 10-12 potatoes)
1 tablespoon salt
3 tablespoons cider vinegar
3 large hardboiled eggs
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 red bell pepper, cut into 1/4-inch dice (1/2 cup)
1 red onion, finely diced (1/2 cup)
3 scallions, thinly sliced (1/2 cup)

Put potatoes in a large pot of water with the tablespoon of salt over high heat. Bring to a boil, then lower to a gentle boil. Cook until just tender (when pierced with the tip of a paring knife), 20 to 25 minutes. Drain; let cool. Peel and cut potatoes into cubes (I did a 3/4″ dice for the American style and 1″ inch half-moons for the Indian version)

Meanwhile, put the eggs in a small saucepan and add cold water to cover the eggs plus 1″. Bring to a boil over medium high heat. As soon as it comes to a boil, cover the pan, turn off the heat and let the eggs sit for exactly 12 minutes. Remove the lid, drain and rinse the pan with cold water. Repeat this a couple times.

American Style:
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
2 tablespoons sour pickle relish
1/2 cup celery, cut into 1/4″ (about 2 stalks)
1 roasted red pepper, cut in 1/4″ dice (jarred is fine)
Salt
Black Pepper
1 tablespoon flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon paprika for garnish (optional)

Combine the mayonnaise, mustard and pickle relish in a bowl. Stir in the celery and half each of the red onion, red pepper and scallions. Add the potatoes, eggs, salt and pepper stir gently to combine. Garnish with parsley, paprika and refrigerate, covered, until ready to serve.

Indian Style:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/3 cup white or red wine vinegar
1 cup chickpeas, drained and rinsed (about 3/4 of a 14-oz. can)
1/2 tablespoon garam masala
1 teaspoon curry powder
2 tablespoons mayonnaise (or sour cream)
1 tablespoon honey
Salt
Black Pepper
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, finely chopped

Put the remaining potatoes, roasted red pepper and scallions in a bowl. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the other half of the red onion and cook until softened, about 3-5 minutes. Add the garam masala, curry powder and chickpeas. Cook for another couple minutes, then add the vinegar and cook for another minute. Turn the heat off. Stir in the mayonnaise and honey into the pan and pour this mixture over the potatoes. Season with salt, pepper and garnish with cilantro.