American Picnic Potato Salad

August 15, 2013

20130815-054525.jpg The Silver Palate cookbooks are sort of cooking bibles in our household. Many an August, I will make a version of their potato salad that is always a potato-y hit. I have altered the recipe over the years but the overall feel/taste is purely Silver Palate. Their recipe calls for a heart stopping 20 hard boiled eggs to the 4 pounds of potatoes. It is just too eggy when I really want the potatoes to shine. Don’t get me wrong, I adoooore eggs, in every way, but the 2 eggs to a pound of potatoes still does the yummy trick. The vinegar and mustard kick the flavor up considerably. I leave out some other things that it calls for in the book, as well as I don’t peel the potatoes. I like the extra texture & flavor the skin adds. Here is my spin on this classic.

4 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes
1/2 cup white wine vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 cups mayonnaise
5 tablespoons Dijon mustard
8 hard-cooked eggs, peeled

1. Drop the potatoes into a kettle of cold, salted water. Bring to a boil and cook until tender but still firm.
2. When done, drain the potatoes and drop them into a mixing bowl; roughly slice them. Sprinkle the still-hot potatoes with vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper.
3. Add the mayonnaise and mustard; toss gently to combine.
4. Add eggs and roughly slice and toss again. I like to serve this still warm right after I make it but if you can’t, cool to room temperature, cover and refrigerate overnight. Before serving, toss again, correct seasoning and add more mayonnaise if needed.

Enjoy!