This Fantastic Potato Salad is full of vegetables, condiments and flavour! Not a very humble name but deserved!
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This recipe came from my sister-in-law decades ago... so I suspect it was a 'Southern' recipe but not sure from where exactly.
This makes about 24 cups of salad so lots for a crowd. If you are not planning on a crowd you may want to halve the recipe.
An important part of the flavour profile here comes from pouring the warm vinegar and butter mixture over the warm potatoes. It soaks in and adds a depth of flavour that is hard to put your finger on but you know it's there!
Use Yukon Gold potatoes or Red potatoes since they are creamy and waxy and make a perfect texture.
You cook the potatoes whole and unpeeled. This makes the best texture once they are diced. They stay fairly firm and hold their shape. Peeled potatoes absorb more water while cooking and tend to crumble when mixed.
I cook my potatoes in my pressure cooker, which actually steams them rather than boils them. It only takes about 15 minutes for my pressure cooker. Follow directions for your pressure cooker or Instapot about water levels and cook times.
If you are boiling them on the stove, the water should come about halfway to ¾ of the way up the whole potatoes. It can take 30 minutes or more to boil whole potatoes so check them for doneness after 25-30 minutes. Drain when they are fork tender.
Allow potatoes to cool long enough to be able to handle them to peel and dice but so they are still warm so the warm potatoes will absorb the melted butter and vinegar mixture. If you don't know that it's there it is hard to put your finger on but this 'warm bath' lends a complex flavour level to the final dish and is a very important step.
You can let the potato mixture cool down in the fridge at this point. If you are making ahead you can prepare your celery, hard boiled eggs, parsley, pimento and onion and mix them into the cooled potato mixture. You can hold this mixture overnight. Add the mayonnaise and relish about 1 hour before serving to allow flavours to meld.
The condiments and vegetables make this a rather juicy, wet salad. Leftovers are okay the following day although the dressing may become a bit wetter yet.
With all the eggs and vegetables in this salad it can make a main vegetarian meal on its own as well.
Enjoy it With
I served it with my Teriyaki Ribs, Broccoli Salad with Spicy Rhubarb Pickle and Cucumber Mango Salad.
Enjoy!
Ingredients
- 15 medium Yukon Gold potatoes not peeled
- 4 Tbsps cider vinegar
- 4 Tbsps melted butter
- 2 Tbsps sugar
- 2 tsps salt
- 1 bunch celery cleaned and trimmed
- 12 hard boiled eggs
- 1 cup minced parsley
- 1 cup sweet onion Vidalia works well
- 1 cup roasted red pepper
- 1 cup sweet, green relish
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1 teaspoon pepper
Instructions
- Cook potatoes whole and unpeeled. If pressure cooking follow directions for your appliance. If boiling use a large pot, bring water half to ¾ way up the whole potatoes and boil about 30 minutes. Check for doneness and continue cooking until they are fork tender.
- When done, drain potatoes and allow to cool enough to be able to handle them. They should be still warm in order to aborb the melted butter mixture.
- While potatoes are cooking, prepare hard boiled eggs. Cover eggs in a sauce pan by 1-2 inches. Bring just to a boil. Remove from heat and allow to sit covered for 20 minutes. Drain and run cold water over the eggs to cool down. Allow eggs to chill fully before peeling.
- When potatoes are cool enough to handle peel and cut into 1" dice.
- Melt butter in microwave and add cider vinegar, sugar and salt. Give the final mix a few seconds in microwave to ensure the mixture is warm. Pour over warm diced potatoes and stir well.
- Chill potato mixture in fridge while you finely dice the celery stalks, pimento and onion. Mince the parsley. Peel the hard boiled eggs and chop roughly.
- You can mix these into the potato salad and refrigerate up to 24 hours to allow flavours to mix. Add the mayonnaise and sweet relish an hour before serving.
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