I have always been a big fan of potato salad. The American kind, with mayonnaise and hardboiled eggs in it. I don't use a recipe for it, but I have noticed that recipes for potato salads always recommend an all-purpose potato for potato salads.
In case you're not as interested in potatoes as I am and so don't know what an "all-purpose" potato is . . . there are waxy potatoes, like those red "new" potatoes. And there are floury potatoes, like baking potatoes (also known as russets or Idaho potatoes). All-purpose potatoes are in between the two in texture. The most recognizable kind is Yukon Gold.
The reason all-purpose potatoes are recommended is because they won't fall apart as readily when boiled.
I don't buy all-purpose potatoes. I don't buy waxy potatoes, either. I only buy russets, because those are what come in the ten-pound bags, and I am all about quantity at this stage of my cooking life.
But! Russets, in my opinion, are actually better than all-purpose potatoes for potato salad because they will more readily absorb the dressing. Potato salad recipes also always tell you to put the dressing on the potatoes when they're warm, because then the potatoes absorb the dressing better and become more flavorful. So why wouldn't you want a potato that absorbs the dressing better?
You do, but you don't want to it to fall apart. Which leads me to my tip: Boil the potatoes whole, with the skins on. Just rinse them quickly, cover them with salted water in a big pot, and bring to a boil, simmering until the biggest potato in the pot is easily pierced with a fork.
(The fork is a better tester than a knife because it's not quite as sharp as a knife. So if a fork slides in easily, you know it's really done. And nothing is worse than an underdone potato.)
After that, drain the potatoes and let them cool down just a few minutes before peeling (a paring knife helps with this) and chopping into your desired size.
Boiling them whole does require a longer cooking time and more heat released into what is probably an already-hot summer kitchen, but it will retain the shape. No crumbling.
6 comments:
I would have thought russets were the all-purpose potato. Now I know!
(Not that I make potato salad; any potato I buy is roasted, grilled, or mashed.)
I've always said there are as many different recipes for potato salad as there are for chicken and dressing. I've never met a potato salad I didn't like. I've never boiled mine whole like that. I will try it.
My tip for “boiling” the potatoes is to do it in a crock pot. It takes a couple of hours, but I seldom have a mushy or exploding russet potato. This makes them perfect for potato salad. I have one recipe for an Indian style potato dish. I actually cube the potatoes and put them in the crock pot. Again, they get cooked but hold their shape without getting mushy. I’ve also “baked” potatoes in the crock pot … all in the name of less heat in the kitchen during the summer.
I grew Adirondack Blue potatoes this year; they have excellent taste and texture, but they do make a strange looking salad. Tip: cut the cooked potatoes lengthwise, and put the cut side down. It's easy to pull off the skin, and the potato is ready to cut up. MIL
I only buy russets too. But I cook them the exact opposite for potato salad - I peel them and cut them up raw, then cook them. Of course you have to watch them like a hawk to make sure they don't get overdone. I started that one day when I was in a hurry, because they do cook faster that way, and then just kept doing it.
I'm fond of potato salad too, but rarely make it unless I have company. With just two of us here now, it just makes too much. I no longer make the potato salad i grew up with. My mom fried bacon and crumbled it into hers. Plus she cooked the onions in bacon grease before adding them to the salad. I do add chopped dill pickles to mine, plus a little of the pickle juice.Not too much or the salad with be too wet.
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