Memorial Day Potato Salad

[Mike Nolan]

This is the potato salad my mother always made for summer holidays. I guess it's sort of like a German potato salad, but I can't say I've ever had a German potato salad that tastes quite like this one. It gets better as it ages, I usually make it the day before I want to eat it and refrigerate it overnight.

2 1/2 pounds red potatoes
3 hard boiled eggs
1/8 cup celery seed
1-2 teaspoons celery salt (or to taste)
1/4 teaspoon pepper (or to taste)
4-5 ribs of celery
1/2 small onion
1/2 cup oil
1/8 cup vinegar (tarragon red wine vinegar works well, and lately I've been using celery vinegar)

Peel potatoes, cube them into slices or pieces about 3/8" square and cook them until they are cooked through. (If you start by bringing the water up to 130-140 degrees and letting them sit in the hot water for 20-30 minutes, then turn up the heat to finish cooking them, they won't get as mushy on the outside. However, I think this potato salad is best when the potatoes are a bit overcooked and slightly mushy. To me, that's when it tastes 'right'.)

Mix oil and vinegar together. Drain potatoes, put them in a large bowl and dump the vinegar/oil mixture on them while the potatoes are still hot. Stir to mix.

Dice celery, hard boiled eggs and onion. Add to potatoes. Add salt, pepper and celery seed. Stir again, then refrigerate for at least 2 hours, overnight is better.

Serve cold.

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• This topic was modified 8 years, 6 months ago by Mike Nolan.
• This topic was modified 8 years, 6 months ago by Mike Nolan.
• This topic was modified 8 years, 6 months ago by Mike Nolan.

[RiversideLen]

Mike, is that 1/4 cup of celery seed right? That seems like a lot.

[Mike Nolan]

Yes, it has a lot of celery seed in it. I actually added more after the first sample. When I make barbecue sauce, I use a lot of celery seed in it, too.

I've posted a picture and cut the recipe back to 1/8 cup celery seed, though more is better IMHO.

• This reply was modified 8 years, 6 months ago by Mike Nolan.
• This reply was modified 8 years, 6 months ago by Mike Nolan.
• This reply was modified 8 years, 6 months ago by Mike Nolan.

[BakerAunt]

Celery Seed is the "secret" ingredient in my Four Bean Salad and in my Sloppy Josephines. (Sloppy Joes use ground beef and Sloppy Josephines use ground turkey.) One of my husband's graduate students from India identified the celery seed right away. Apparently it is common in cooking in the part of India from which she comes.

The German potato salad that I have had and like has bacon in it. The one I am thinking of can be served hot or cold. Since there is so much regional cooking in Germany, there are likely many kinds of German potato salad.

I certainly plan to try this one--maybe for the Fourth of July.

• This reply was modified 8 years, 6 months ago by BakerAunt.

[Mike Nolan]

I used some on some roast chicken the other day. Many Mediterranean dishes use celery seed, which was also used to treat a lot of illnesses and is said to be a natural mosquito repellent.

I added a picture to the recipe, you can see that there's quite a bit of celery seed visible.

[Italiancook]

This reminds me a little of Italian potato salad, which has olive oil and red wine vinegar. Your recipe also reminds me of the potato salad my mom made when I was a kid. She cooked egg yolks or whole eggs (don't recall which) with vinegar. That mixture was poured over cooked potatoes, chopped celery hearts and chopped onions. The theory she worked under was that using a cooked dressing would prevent illness from potato salad sitting out for hours at a picnic.

In 2000, I wanted to replicate her potato salad. In a search for old timey recipes, I discovered that the name attributed to this type of potato salad is "Patio Potato Salad." I have no idea if having a cooked dressing kept people from becoming sick, or if she was just blessed.

[S_Wirth]

Italiancook...this is my mom's homemade potato salad dressing...probably much like your mom's:

My Mom's Homemade Potato Salad Dressing

INSTRUCTIONS
Here is my mom's homemade potato salad dressing. It is so good...everyone asks me for the recipe when I take it to a picnic, etc.

In a small sauce pan over med. heat combine...

2 eggs, well beaten
salt
pepper
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. mustard
1/2 cup vinegar (I use apple cider vinegar)
1 Tbsp. butter

Stir continually as it cooks over med. heat into a nice thick texture...maybe 5 min. or more after it gets to bubbling...pour over chopped/diced potatoes, diced onions, chopped celery, boiled eggs, & diced red/green peppers. I like to pour it over chopped items while it is still hot, as I think it seems to have more flavor than when poured on after it is cooled.

comments
Submitted by LoveVT on Tue, 2011-02-01 10:21.
So good!
Submitted by LoveVT on Fri, 2011-02-04 14:57.
This sounded strange, but I tried it. The only change that I made... I put two tablespoons of sweet pickle relish in it. OUT OF THIS WORLD!!!!!
Submitted by swirth on Fri, 2011-02-25 16:19.
I'm SO glad you enjoyed this old, old family favorite!! I always put the pickle relish in with the diced potatoes, onions and such...we love this and it is the only way we'll eat potato salad...folks at gatherings always gobble this right up!

[Italiancook]

Thanks, S_Wirth for the recipe. Looks like what my mom made.

[Mike Nolan]

Anyone who's taken a food safety course would say that potato salad shouldn't be left out for hours, regardless of the dressing used. Food left out is in the danger zone (40-140 degrees.)

[Mike Nolan]

After several experiments, I concluded that I was missing an important ingredient, so I've changed the salt in the lead post to celery salt. That adds saltiness and also the bitterness from celery.

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