TASTE

Perfect Potato Salad

Happy Friday…and happy summer too! The weekend is upon us and Independence Day is just around the corner. Many of you will be firing up the grill and you know what goes great with grilled dishes? You guessed it, potato salad. I LOVE homemade potato salad. I’m sure there are at least a dozen different styles of potato salad and the recipe varieties are endless.

Warm or Cold? Mustard or Not? Mayo or Olive oil & a dash of vinegar?

I believe there is not a wrong way to make potato salad but everyone has their favorite and this is mine. My recipe is based off of the potato salad I grew up with but over the years, I’ve tweaked it a bit to come up with my own version. It’s a bit on the dryer side as I don’t care for a lot of mayo but it’s still creamy with bits of crunchy radishes and salty bacon.

Yum! So good.

Perfect Potato Salad Close Up

There are a few things I do with this potato salad that might be a bit out of the norm. First, I add chopped radishes. Many of you add celery but my family is not fond of celery. After several times of omitting the celery, I found I really missed the crunch so I replaced it with delicious crunchy radishes. Like many of you, I love bacon in my potato salad. Recently, I tried German ‘Bacon’ or Speck (Bauchspeck) and loved how it worked with this recipe. Speck is cured with salt, cold-smoked with beach wood and then air dried. It has a firmer texture and holds up to the wetness of the potato salad better. It’s flavor is out of this world…salty and rich. I get mine from a local German sausage maker but I believe some specialty grocery stores carry it at their butcher/deli counters. Buy a slab about an inch thick and dice it at home. The last alteration I make is replacing 1/2 of the REAL mayo with full fat sour cream and a splash of rice vinegar. This provides a nice creamy base for the potato salad and works especially well with the fresh dill and parsley I like to add.

*Slabs of traditional speck. Fotosearch/Getty Images. Taken from The Spruce Eats*

Here’s the complete & printable Perfect Potato Salad recipe

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Perfect Potato Salad

Creamy, savory with bits of crunchy radish and onion...this is the perfect companion to grilled meats.

Author JoElle @ www.ACraftyComposition.com

Ingredients

1 bag Small Red Potatoes (fist sized), sliced about 1/4" thick
3/4 cup Speck or Bacon, chopped, cooked & drained
1/2 individual A Red Onion, course chopped
5-6 individual Radishes, course chopped
1 +/- tbsp Fresh Dill, finely chopped
1/4 cup Fresh Parsley, finely chopped

CREAMY BASE

1/4 cup Real Mayonnaise
1/4 cup Sour Cream
1-2 tsps Rice Vinegar

SPICES

1 tsp dried garlic flakes OR 1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp celery salt
1 tsp dried marjoram
1-2 tsps Course Black Pepper
1/2 tsp Crushed Brown Mustard Seed
To Taste Sea salt

Instructions

Potatoes

Leave the peel on your potatoes if you like. I do a rough go around with the vegetable peeler, leaving some of the skin for color. Cube or slice the potatoes, no smaller than 1/4" thick. Place your cut potatoes into a pot. Fill with water, covering the with about 1" of water. Boil gently and fork test often to ensure they don't get mushy. When the potatoes are done, drain them immediately and allow them to cool in a large mixing bowl.

Spices

Blend all of your spices together and set aside.

Creamy Base

Blend together the mayo, sour cream and vinegar with a spatula. Add the finely chopped dill and about 1/3 of your spice mix. Set aside

Putting It All Together

Place the chopped radishes, onions and parsley in the bowl with the potatoes.
Sprinkle 1/3 of the spice mix over them and gently mix with a wide spatula.
Now add 1/2 the creamy base and gently mix. Follow with the other 1/2 of creamy base and mixing again. IF your potato salad looks too dry, add additional tsps (equally) of mayo and sour cream until it has the desired texture.
Finally, sprinkle the last 1/3 of spice mix over the top and give it one more gently mix. Cover with plastic wrap or lid and set in fridge for at least 2 hours. ENJOY!