Potato Salad

Does anyone have a good recipe for Potato Salad?
We are having a BBQ on the 5th and l have been given the honors of making this and l have no idea how!

Thanks so much in advance!!

All the best, Trish

I'd like one for macorni salad



Here is my famous Potato Salad


Ingredients    




     5 pounds red potatoes
6 eggs
2 cups mayonnaise
1 onion, diced
2 green onions, thinly sliced
1 small green bell pepper, seeded and diced
3 stalks celery, thinly sliced
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper


Directions
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add potatoes, and cook for 15 to 20 minutes, or until tender but still firm. Drain, cool and cut into cubes.

Place eggs in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring water to a boil and immediately remove from heat. Cover and let eggs stand in hot water for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from hot water, cool, peel and chop.

In a large bowl, combine chopped potatoes and eggs. Mix together mayonnaise, chopped onion, green onion, green pepper, and celery. Season with salt and pepper, then mix well. Cover, and refrigerate for several hours or overnight.

I don't have a specific recipe for potato salad, as I tend to just throw a bit of this and a bit of that in most of my recipes.  But I did want to pass along that new potatoes also make a nice salad because they tend to stay rather firm.

Also, depending upon my mood, I sometimes throw in a bit of crème fraiche.

Me too Caitlinn... i use a mixture of mayonaise *and* creme fraiche... it's so much nicer than mayo on its own.  I also throw in chopped up bacon and spring onions.

My mom's famous potato salad went down a right treat last year at a bbq my Scottish inlaws had for us.  (If a Scottish kid will eat it, it must be ok!)

Potato Dill Salad

(sorry, I never measure things, but if you just do it to taste, it will work out.)

1 -2 lbs New potatoes, washed and boiled until just tender, then cooled immediately in cold water.  (Sometime I even put them in the fridge after cooking to get them very cold again.  Otherwise they sometimes get mushy when you mix stuff in.)

1 cup mayonaise
1/2 - 1 cup Pickles, chopped into small bits (pickles are the same here but the normal ones they have worked fine)
1-2 bunches fresh dill, chopped very fine
3-4 hard boiled eggs, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

Once the potatoes are cooled, chop them into bite sized pieces.  Mix in the remaining ingrediants just until mixed (the less you have to stir it, the better, and chill for an hour or so so that the dill has time to incorporate.

This is a very easy, adjustable recipe.  Just add more or less of anything you do or don't like!

Thanks everyone!! You all are the best!  

BTW, if you plan to peel the potatoes, you can wait until after they're boiled..the skins will literally peel right off them in your hands..saves a little time, and it's especially good if you're boiling the night before, they can cool in their skins overnight and be fresh-peeled in the morning.

Don't know if you can get Yukon Gold potatoes there, but they rock in potato salad!  

Another good addition to potato salad is a bit of mustard (either powdered or fresh stuff.) This again is to taste.

I make pretty much the same type as everyone else has said.
Blending sour cream, creme fraiche in with the mayo. A bit of olive oil is also good.  You can add a bit of vinegar to balance out the potatoes if they are too starchy sweet.


The Spanish make one that is mayo based as well but the add ins are carrots, peas, egg and you can add olives, onion, and/or some tuna.

In the Virginia Mountains my family uses again same mayo based recipe with chopped eggs, green/red peppers, tomatoes (squeezed of juices) and a bit of onion.  In this version use a creamer potato and dice small.  It's meant to be a creamier salad.

I also don't use recipes or measures but can come up with them if needed!

Good luck!

I also don't have a specific recipe just a rule of thumb:

for every potato one egg and two spring onions
mayo, yellow mustard and salt to taste

Best part about this is that you can make as much or little as you need.

If you make it a day ahead and let it sit in the fridge overnight, the potatoes soak up the dressing a bit and it makes for a nicer flavo(u)r and texture.  Also, if you do make it ahead make the mayo/mustard mixture slightly more salty than you want because the potatoes soak up the salt.

Jana

Hiya!  

I'm positively drooling with all of these recipes...I can't wait to try all the variations! Cynda mentioned she'd like a recipe for macaroni salad! My Nana makes the *best* macaroni salad - she also makes enough food to feed an army even if there are only 3 or 4 people coming for lunch, so bear with me on the quantities hehe You'll have to scale them down unless you really are planning a party of some sort - or you're just from an italian family like me hehe We feed people to show them we love them!

*1 small box of elbow macaroni
*1 large jar of mayonnaise (not the wholesale club size! eek!)
*2-3 good sized stalks of celery- de-stringed and chopped to your preference
*1 dozen eggs- hardboiled and mashed or chopped (Whatever you'd do for egg salad)
dill seed (eh- My Mom adds this but it's much nicer if it's fresh dill!)
salt & pepper to taste

Procedure is probably self-explanatory, but it's very good if you mix the (very well drained) macaroni with the egg when they are warmish & and mix everything else in and then let it sit in the fridge for a while to chill. Pretty basic recipe, but the eggs really make it spectacular!

Of course....It's not exactly low fat in any stretch of the imagination, but I'm telling you that I could eat it non-stop for a week and not get sick of it! Come to think of it...she takes requests and I'm going to be there in a little over 2 weeks! Time to make a phone call!  [smiley=thumbsup.gif]

Jen
(food girl supreme hehe)

Reading these recipes makes me homesick!  :'(  Remembering how mom and grandma used to cook up big meals for the whole family.
Ah those were the days!

Thanks everyone for your delicious input!

If anyone would like to come to NI for the 4th feel free to come on over!! l have plenty of room!

For those of you familiar with Emeril the Chef ( he's big on T.V here in the States) he's got his own website www.emirils.com.....he's got a searchable database for tons of recipes (potato salad included). Me.....I'm not that skilled in the culinary arts , but for you ladies that like to cook this guy is really good.

Along that same vein, Celtictothecore- there is a GREAT website called

http://www.allrecipes.com

We've found lots of really good recipes of all kinds! It's cool, too, because you can convert to metric conversions and change serving sizes automatically! It's been really helpful and has actually made Chris keen to cook, too!

Thanks for reminding me of it!

Jen  

PS- I'd be thrilled to know of everyone's favourite meal recipes- I think I'll start another thread! hehe

Along that same vein, Celtictothecore- there is a GREAT website called http://www.allrecipes.com

I second that!  I've been using the site for quite some time and they have good recipies.  It's so handy to be able to change the serving sizes.

Now, I'm off to make some potato salad (see what you've started, Trish? ) and some angel food cake, with fresh strawberry topping.  Yum!  

BTW, I've found white eggs at Tescos today.  Hooray for white eggs!

I always use:

www.epicurious.com

They have a rating system with user reviews and modifications.  Wonderful recipes!  You can save them to a recipe box as well.  Brought to you by Gourmet and Bon Appetite.