Moose - Potato Salad: 65 Recipes from Classic to Cool

---

---

ISBN 978-0-470-28348-6 (cloth) 1. Cookery (Potatoes) 2. Salads. I. Title. Acknowledgments Thanks to all my tater tasters for this book: Anthony Nance, Shelly Kramer, and the other stylists of The Elan Group; my husbands coworkers at Scenera Research; the famished features department of the News & Observer (Raleigh, North Carolina); the Literary Lovelies; and friends and neighbors. Acknowledgments Thanks to all my tater tasters for this book: Anthony Nance, Shelly Kramer, and the other stylists of The Elan Group; my husbands coworkers at Scenera Research; the famished features department of the News & Observer (Raleigh, North Carolina); the Literary Lovelies; and friends and neighbors.

Id also like to thank those who contributed favorite recipes for the book: Cathy Hedberg, Carol Reuss, Liz Biro, Linda Naylor, Sheri Green, Maggie Kellum Chalk, the U.S. Potato Board, and Kurt and Ruth Muller. I offer a big thank-you to Justin Schwartz, my editor at Wiley, who makes me look good. A special thank-you to chefs and cookbook authors who graciously allowed me to include their fabulous recipes: Alicia Ross, Beverly Mills, Ben Barker, Robin Robertson, Lucy Saunders, and Stephanie Tyson. For their advice and support, huge hugs of gratitude to Elizabeth Swaringen, Jean Anderson, and my hardworking agent Carla Glasser, as well as to my colleagues of the Association of Food Journalists. Root Issues My friend Martha loves potato salad. Root Issues My friend Martha loves potato salad.

Shes very particular about it, insisting that celery must be includedto her, its as important as the spuds themselves. Over lunch one day, she spent most of an hour dissecting potato salads served at various neighborhood eateries and finding most of them below her standards. Honestly, I had never given potato salad much thought before then. But on mulling it over, I realized its not just a starchy buddy to the hamburger. Potato salad comes in many cultural guises, from the Russian appetizer to the oil-and-vinegar-and-bacon German dish, to the dill-accented Scandinavian delight. And, of course, its the all-American side dish at every Fourth of July picnic.

But this great dish deserves to shine year-round, not just during the summer it is truly a salad for all seasons. In this book are the flavors of beloved favorites. Some traditional salads get new twists. Many recipes bring in international touches, reflecting the popularity of potato salad around the world. A chapter of main-dish salads will make it easy to feed a crowd with one bowl. So, make potato salad a melting pot of influences from around the world.

Take it to stardom by adding meats and even caviar. Go spud wild. I think even finicky Martha would approve, as long as you dont leave out the celery. More than two hundred varieties of potato have been developed over the centuries, going all the way back to the 1500s, when Peruvians cultivated the vegetable in a rainbow of colors. But a potato is just a potato, right? Not when it comes to making potato salad. There are two basic types of potatoes: waxy and mealy (also called starchy).

Waxy varieties, such as some fingerlings, purples, round reds, round whites, and many yellow potatoes, are the best for boiling and for use in potato salad. They are lower in starch and will hold their shape. Mealy potatoes, which include Idahos and russets, have higher starch content and are better for other uses, such as baking and mashing. New potatoessmall potatoes that appear in the springare not a variety of their own, but can be of any type. The key is that they are small and freshly dug: hence the moniker new . New potatoes are moist and sweet, and do not hold up for long storage the way other potatoes do.

Like the spring in which they appear, they are short-lived. New potatoes are fabulous for potato salads and rarely even need peeling. You may also see them called creamers. Sweet potatoes, deep orange and full of healthy beta-carotene, have a natural sweetness and a lot of moisture. Paired with the right ingredients, they make potato salads that are unusual in flavor and hue. WHICH POTATOES TO PICK? I have suggested varieties for each recipe in this book.

But except for the recipes using sweet potatoes, you may substitute any of the waxy types of potato that you prefer. My personal favorites are new potatoes, small reds, and Yukon Golds. I prefer to peel the Yukon Golds and use those for recipes where I want to cut the potatoes in small pieces for a finer texture. New potatoes and many tender waxy varieties of potato dont require peeling. Their peel is very soft, and it can add a rustic color to the salad. You will need to peel if you choose to dice the potatoes rather than cutting them into rough chunks or quarters.

PREPARING POTATOES The traditional way to prepare potatoes for salad is to boil them. Use plenty of water. Cover the pot with a lid and the potatoes will come to a boil faster, plus youll have less steam in your kitchen. Some cooks peel and cut up the potatoes before boiling. That method saves some time, but you run the risk of the cut potatoes absorbing too much water during cooking, giving your salad a mushy texture. Boiling the potatoes whole, unpeeled, eliminates that threat.

OK, I can hear some of you saying that your Mama always used Idahos and cut them into tiny pieces before boiling them, and she made the best potato salad on Earth. If that is true, I wouldnt dare tamper with a Mamas sainted recipe. If you have a method that works for you, go with it. But try my suggestions if youre a potato salad novice. For a change, abandon the pot and try roasting or grilling the potatoes. Youll find interesting differences in texture, and with grilling, youll get a smoky flavor as well.