Photo: Kemp Minifie
Potato salad is one of those summertime staples that is predictable, but rarely memorable. Yet there’s no reason why it shouldn’t be outstanding every time. Ten tips I’ve gleaned over years of trial and error in the kitchen will make the difference between ho-hum and “Wow, how’d you make this?”
You Say Potato and I Say Waxy:
- Texture is crucial. You want spuds that hold their shape when cooked, delivering a dense, waxy chew. Skip russet (baking) potatoes; they fall apart in a salad.
- My favorites are small white, yellow, or red thin-skinned potatoes (about 2 inches in diameter). And if they’re newly dug, even better!
Keep Their Jackets On:
- Cook the potatoes whole, with their skins intact. By keeping them whole, you retain the natural moisture balance in the potato.
Don’t Skimp on Salt for the Cooking Water:
- This single step will work magic on your salad. Cook potatoes in generously salted water to bring out their wonderfully earthy flavor. You won’t taste the salt; you’ll just taste potatoes to the max. Potatoes cooked in unsalted water and seasoned afterwards will taste of salt, but not of potato.
- Start potatoes in cold water, enough to cover them by about 1½ inches. And use about 1 tablespoon salt for every quart of water.
Slow Down! Simmer, Don’t Boil Potatoes:
- Start the potatoes in cold salted water and once it comes to a boil, turn the heat down to a simmer. Potatoes should cook peacefully, and not bash each other in a rolling boil!
- Small potatoes take about 12 to 18 minutes to cook. Don’t walk away. Start testing the smallest potatoes with a wooden skewer at 12 minutes, and remove each potato just as it becomes tender enough for the skewer to slide through easily.
Wilt Onion While Potatoes are Cooking:
- Freshly chopped onion is a great addition, but temper it’s raw side by wilting it slightly. While the potatoes simmer, toss the onion with salt, and let it sit.
- For 3 pounds potatoes, I use 1 cup chopped sweet onion with 1 teaspoon salt.
Peel and Cut Potatoes While They’re Still Warm:
- Many cooks keep the potato skins on for salads, but I say peel ‘em! I’m no fan of boiled potato skins, particularly because some can have an unpleasant acrid flavor. Peeling may sound tedious, but it actually goes pretty fast, especially if the potatoes are still warm. Just pinch the skin and pull it off in thin sheets.
- Once they’re peeled, halve the smallest and quarter the others and toss with the wilted onions and a little white wine vinegar. For 3 pounds potatoes, I use 2 tablespoons vinegar.
Celery For Crunch:
- Freshly chopped celery adds a welcome crunch to your salad. For 3 pounds potatoes, use about 1 cup chopped. Include some of the celery leaves, too.
Hard-Boiled Eggs:
- It’s a matter of taste. Chopped hard-boiled eggs add yet another texture. Allow about 1 egg per pound of potatoes.
The All-Important Dressing:
- Use your favorite store-bought mayonnaise. Do-It-Yourself types will cry heresy that it’s not homemade, but I’m more concerned with food safety. Commercial mayonnaise is made with powdered egg yolk, not fresh uncooked yolks.
- But don’t stop with just mayonnaise. Jazz it up with some Dijon mustard and lemon juice. For 3 pounds potatoes, I recommend ½ cup mayonnaise, 2 or more teaspoons Dijon mustard, and 2 tablespoons lemon juice.
- Potatoes continue to absorb dressing, so if you salad starts to look a bit dry, stir in a tablespoon or more of water.
Herbs:
- Herbs give you color and flavor. Parsley and chives are the most common, but tarragon, mint, dill, cilantro, oregano, thyme, and marjoram all work well, too.
- Try mixing a couple of them. I use about ¼ cup chopped herbs for 3 pounds of potatoes, less if using a strongly flavored one, such as thyme or tarragon. Add the herbs in small batches and taste until it’s just right for you!
You do not suggest that potatosalad can be made without mayonnaise? An olive oil/vinegar dressing with some spices of your choice. The potatos should be peeled while warm and some of the dressing already poured on/or chicken broth. I had to comment (a Viennese cook) on this because I dislike this mayonnais laden potato salads which taste heavy, especially in summer.
That’s the way I make it most of the time using tarragon, sherry vinegar, white pepper, and scallions. Sometimes add green peas. Believe it or not, halved medium cooked shrimp and diced tart apple make fine additions for a main course salad.
What about the celery seed?
Yum! I know what I’m making this weekend!
And what about America’s all-time favorite: Yellow mustard potato salad. I guy you N.Y. types are too sophisticated for we midwesterners. But yellow mustard potato salad made with Russet potatoes is far and away the prize winner. Yes, German potato salads are popular but I do not care for them personally. Cube up some peeled Russet potatoes and they will all cook at the same time if the cubes are similar in shape. Taking them out of the water one at a time is at least tedious and at best silly. No one uses home-made mayo that has a lick of sense about food safety, Yes, to chopped celery and hard boiled eggs. Yes, to finely diced pickles or relish. But use y-e-l-l-o-w prepared mustard for the quintessential addition. People will rave about your potato salad.
We don’t eat mayonnaise, here, because nobody but me likes it! We all love potatoes, though. I made this lighter, greener salad with honey roasted potatoes, arugula and pecans. Warm/cool, very flavorful!
http://outoftheordinaryfood.com/2012/04/21/honey-roasted-potato-salad-with-arugula-and-pecans/
My niece’s Mediterranean potato salad is the greatest. Boiled waxy potatoes, olive oil, minced fresh garlic, lots and lots of chopped parsley, freshly squeezed lemon juice and salt. Yum!
years ago I hosted an international bbq night and scoured volumes of magazines (yes, a real page-turner, I know !!:D) for international potato salads . . . and Italian potato salad is a summer staple at my home. Start with your base potato fixin’s and add chopped salami. The DRESSING is what make this salad S-C-H-M-A-C-K, cut mayo with equal amount of plain yogurt, into which you have stirred dry oregano (to taste).
I also found out a lemon/vinegar-olive oil dressing with herbs works best if you add it in two batches – add one, mix the potatoes, let them sit, add the other part – potatoes tend to soak up the taste and adding the seasoning at once might result in a bland salad.
My favorite mix of herbs for potato salad – oregano, mint, lovage. Yum.
My son made the potato salad about the same as described and add on it some little pieces of bacon, just cook until crisp and well dry on paper. Fresh chives from garden finish the dish with white parts of scallion. Delicious!
Chef Richard Bash is right on with his comments. The problems most cooks have with using russets for their potato salads is that they boil them whole. The outside is done before the inside even gets started. Skin on or off, cut into even size chunks and they will cook equally and with a smoosh test (fork presses the potato without resistance) they will be fine.
I love all types of potato salad, depending on your main dish is how you choose your type. If I’m doing hotdogs and brats, old fashioned mayo as above..maybe yellow instead of dijon mustard…and pickle is a must. Or maybe German style with bacon and dill. If the main is something a little more delicate like fish/seafood I’ll cut the mayo w/sour cream or creme fraiche, go heavy on the herbs, maybe add some peas and lemon to brighten it. If it’s steak, I’ll roast them and toss w/olives, capers, rosemary, balsamic and evoo. Potatoes are so versatile that the salad base possibilities are endless.