No picnic, no barbeque, no Super Bowl party would be complete without big bowl of potato salad. It's such a tradition in my family, that we actually have a potato salad bowl. It's circa 1970, green with white flowers, and although it occasionally serves other purposes, it is officially the potato salad bowl.
So a family that takes a bowl this seriously certainly would not take the contents of the bowl lightly. While lots of folks claim to have a good recipe for this classic dish, many more just stop by the supermarket and pick up a pound or two when attending an event that requires potato salad. And I'll admit, the stuff at the supermarket isn't bad, but you haven't really lived until you've tasted the real deal.
My family recipe reaches back generations, to my Great-Grandma Nora, who was something of a rarity in her day. During the Great Depression, this divorced mother ran a boarding house in Champaign, Illinois. In the mid 30s, a young woman named Jean Taylor came to work for her. Jean helped clean and prepare meals for the many railroad men who stayed at Nora's. It was here that Jean met, fell in love with, and ultimately married, Nora's son Jay Ewing.
We've all heard that the way to a man's heart is through is stomach, and no man can resist a woman who learned to cook from his very own mother. Not only did Jay love Jean, he also loved all the good food she cooked for him. My grandmother fortunately taught my father everything she could about cooking, who in turn passed those recipes on to his own daughter.
Great-Grandma Nora created this recipe for her boarding house, so even pared down, it still makes enough to serve a large family or a small party. In other words, it yields the perfect amount to fill the potato salad bowl.
You'll need:
10 russet potatoes (aim for about 5 lbs.) -- Boil the potatoes whole with their skin on for about 45 minutes. Let them cool, then peel and cut down to bite-sized bits. Do not undercook them -- potatoes should not crunch like celery. Do not overcook them, or you might end up with something that resembles mashed potato salad.
6 hard-boiled eggs, diced (more, if your husband loves hard-boiled eggs as much as mine does)
2 stalks of celery, diced
1/2 of a medium green pepper, diced
1/2 of a medium white or yellow onion, diced
6 sweet pickles, diced
Don't be rigid about measurements with these ingredients, as they tend to vary a bit from batch to batch:
1 cup Miracle Whip
3 generous tbsps mustard (the classic yellow kind)
1/2 cup pickle juice
Salt and pepper (be a bit heavy handed with the pepper, in honor of Grandpa Ewing)
Mix all of the ingredients together in your potato salad bowl (or any extra large bowl). Taste the potato salad at this point to see if you need to make any adjustments. Usually pickle juice is the culprit, since it provides the tanginess that makes this potato salad deliciously Midwestern.
Refrigerate before serving. In fact, this is a great dish to make the day before you intend to serve it. Before serving, make sure to take another taste. If you're not quite happy with it at this point, another squirt of mustard or another pinch of salt will usually solve any troubles.
So a family that takes a bowl this seriously certainly would not take the contents of the bowl lightly. While lots of folks claim to have a good recipe for this classic dish, many more just stop by the supermarket and pick up a pound or two when attending an event that requires potato salad. And I'll admit, the stuff at the supermarket isn't bad, but you haven't really lived until you've tasted the real deal.
My family recipe reaches back generations, to my Great-Grandma Nora, who was something of a rarity in her day. During the Great Depression, this divorced mother ran a boarding house in Champaign, Illinois. In the mid 30s, a young woman named Jean Taylor came to work for her. Jean helped clean and prepare meals for the many railroad men who stayed at Nora's. It was here that Jean met, fell in love with, and ultimately married, Nora's son Jay Ewing.
We've all heard that the way to a man's heart is through is stomach, and no man can resist a woman who learned to cook from his very own mother. Not only did Jay love Jean, he also loved all the good food she cooked for him. My grandmother fortunately taught my father everything she could about cooking, who in turn passed those recipes on to his own daughter.
Great-Grandma Nora created this recipe for her boarding house, so even pared down, it still makes enough to serve a large family or a small party. In other words, it yields the perfect amount to fill the potato salad bowl.
You'll need:
10 russet potatoes (aim for about 5 lbs.) -- Boil the potatoes whole with their skin on for about 45 minutes. Let them cool, then peel and cut down to bite-sized bits. Do not undercook them -- potatoes should not crunch like celery. Do not overcook them, or you might end up with something that resembles mashed potato salad.
6 hard-boiled eggs, diced (more, if your husband loves hard-boiled eggs as much as mine does)
2 stalks of celery, diced
1/2 of a medium green pepper, diced
1/2 of a medium white or yellow onion, diced
6 sweet pickles, diced
Don't be rigid about measurements with these ingredients, as they tend to vary a bit from batch to batch:
1 cup Miracle Whip
3 generous tbsps mustard (the classic yellow kind)
1/2 cup pickle juice
Salt and pepper (be a bit heavy handed with the pepper, in honor of Grandpa Ewing)
Mix all of the ingredients together in your potato salad bowl (or any extra large bowl). Taste the potato salad at this point to see if you need to make any adjustments. Usually pickle juice is the culprit, since it provides the tanginess that makes this potato salad deliciously Midwestern.
Refrigerate before serving. In fact, this is a great dish to make the day before you intend to serve it. Before serving, make sure to take another taste. If you're not quite happy with it at this point, another squirt of mustard or another pinch of salt will usually solve any troubles.
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