Subject: POTATO SALAD
Newsgroups: rec.food.cooking
From: George & Gail Cavell (ggcavell at worldnet.att.net)
Date: Sun, 22 Feb 1998 19:44:10 -0500
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GROWING UP IN NEW YORK IN THE 40'S & 50'S WAS THE BEST TIME FOR THE MOST WONDERFUL FOOD. I HAVE BEEN TRYING FOR MANY YEARS TO FIND A RECIPE FOR POTATO SALAD LIKE THE KIND FOUND IN THE DELI'S IN NEW YORK. IT WAS REAL CREAMY AND HAD A TASTE YOU JUST CAN'T GET IN NEW ENGLAND. IF THERE IS ANYONE OUT THERE THAT CAN HELP ME I WOULD APPRECIATE IT.
From: Young (qwerty5 at ix.netcom.com)
Date: Mon, 23 Feb 1998 23:58:19 -0500
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>GROWING UP IN NEW YORK IN THE 40'S & 50'S WAS THE BEST TIME
>FOR THE MOST WONDERFUL FOOD.
try:
http://207.181.106.41/baker2/alacarte2rec.html [dead link]
From: cgran29736 at aol.com (CGran29736)
Date: 24 Feb 1998 06:36:42 GMT
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Whoooo boy. It seems you have a mighty tall order. It might help if you remember what some of the dominant flavors might have been. Believe me, there are MANY variations.
In the south, with the cooked peeled potatoes, many people include boiled eggs, taking the yolks and mixing them with pickle juice, mustard, mayonnaise, to make a kind of liquified paste consistency to pour over the boiled potatoes and boiled egg whites.
If this sounds sort of what you are talking about, let me know and I will see about sending you some recipes.
From: May's Pearls of Wisdom (veckerts at kandinsky.hf.intel.com)
Date: Mon, 09 Mar 1998 11:25:53 -0800
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If I'm in a hurry I sometimes peel and dice the potatoes first before I cook them. I will either boil or steam them, steaming does take longer though. I prefer to boil them whole with their skins because I think they taste better.
May
From: swede70 at webtv.net (Nina Daugherty)
Date: Wed, 11 Mar 1998 11:13:55 -0500
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Boil the potatoes, drain the water off, let them cool down,then peel and dice them, add onion, celery, cucumber ( if you like), salt and pepper to taste, add miracle whip salad dressing--stir all together cover and set in refrigerator to cool.
From: penmart10 at aol.com (Sheldon)
Date: 9 Mar 1998 21:10:57 GMT
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>Whats wrong with peeling and dicing the potatoes first...
>then boiling them??
Because chances are, even if you are ever so careful to dice them all the exact same size and not over cook them, they'll still absorb enough water so that you'll end up with something between mashed potatoes and soup.
From: baranick at epix.net (R.J.)
Date: Tue, 10 Mar 1998 00:59:03 GMT
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So far, the concensus seems to be "water absorption"
I cant believe that the potato skin will keep it from absorbing water. And, by the time you've cooked the center, the outer edge must have "absorbed water"....
Maybe its just "tradition"??
From: ndooley at blue.weeg.uiowa.edu (nancy dooley)
Date: Tue, 10 Mar 1998 20:26:07 GMT
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>Maybe its just "tradition"??
That's likely it. It is a big pain (literally and figuratively) to peel the potatoes when they're hot as blazes. And in order for some of the flavors of the ingredients to develop to their fullest, they should be added when the potatoes are hot.
I always peel and dice first, then cook. But I only let them simmer for about 5 minutes or so (depending on the size of the dice) and drain them right away. That way, they stop cooking before they turn to mush.
I put them in a shallow container (big T'ware bowl) and sprinkle over: some white vinegar, a couple tsp. of sugar, salt, pepper, celery seed and pickle relish.
Without mixing anything, I then let the stuff cool slightly so the potatoes are just lukewarm. Then I mix in: sliced/diced radishes, diced deseeded cucumber, chopped hard-boiled egg, and the mayonnaise. Refrigerate until thoroughly chilled; garnish with sliced hard-boiled egg and tomato eighths. It's pretty hard to beat, taste-wise.
From: marilyn (MRSED at webtv.net)
Date: Fri, 13 Mar 1998 00:02:53 -0500
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I FIND THAT PUTTING UNIFORMELY DICED POTATOES INTO RAPIDLY BOILING WATER TO COOK STOP THE ABSORPTION OF WATER. DRAIN WHEN SLIGHTLY UNDERCOOKED.
From: ndooley at blue.weeg.uiowa.edu (nancy dooley)
Date: Fri, 13 Mar 1998 16:50:24 GMT
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Stephanie Bonetti wrote:
>boil the potatoes don't over cook; cool them down in the refrigerate for
>a couple hours.then peel and cut them up add hellmanns mayonnaise dice
>onions & 1 or 2 teaspoon of kosher dill pickle juice salt & pepper (great
>potatoe salad)
The problem with chilling the potatoes before mixing, though, is that the flavors don't permeate the potatoes as well.
From: Jo Anne Slaven (slaven at rogerswave.ca)
Date: Wed, 18 Mar 1998 19:51:41 -0500
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Stephanie Bonetti wrote:
> boil the potatoes don't over cook; cool them down in the refrigerate for
> a couple hours.then peel and cut them up add hellmanns mayonnaise dice
> onions & 1 or 2 teaspoon of kosher dill pickle juice salt & pepper (great
> potatoe salad)
I haven't seen anybody else mention this, but I *steam* my potatoes. It's very difficult to overcook them when you do it this way.
BTW, I kinda like my potato salad at room temperature. So I always make it fresh right before dinner. The leftovers go in the fridge right afterwards, and my son cleans them up the next day.
From: carioco at swbell.net (ASchweitzer)
Date: Thu, 19 Mar 1998 01:53:46 GMT
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I would really appreciate it if anyone has a Brasilian potatoe salad recipe that includes really thin french fried potatoes, green peas and that's all I remember.
From: May's Pearls of Wisdom (veckerts at kandinsky.hf.intel.com)
Date: Wed, 18 Mar 1998 22:20:08 -0800
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I make my potato salad the same way. I only make enough for the meal since no one likes the potato salad after it's cooled in the fridge. To me the potatoes get rubbery. You right it is very hard to overcook potatoes when steaming.
From: BevMann (bevmann at gkb.com)
Date: Mon, 9 Mar 1998 22:24:04 +0100
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Would suggest that you try an experiment, i.e.,
take one potato, cook it whole, peel & dice
take a second potato, peel it & dice it, and then cook it
look at (and taste) the difference in the texture between the two...
Yes, of course, you can make a potato salad using the second method but it will not taste the same as the first!
From: fmathies at aol.com (Florence)
Date: 10 Mar 1998 04:45:13 GMT
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It is just personal preference, but they really taste different when peeled first. Although I love potatoes cooked in the skin for other purposes, when making potato salad, I peel first. I also mix the salad while potatoes are still hot. I rinse in cold water but not too much. I refregerate immediately after mixing. The taste is definitely different.
From: Madeline (NoBozo at concentric.net)
Date: Mon, 09 Mar 1998 16:23:07 -0800
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I do it your way...cut and dice before boiling. I've never noticed a particular lack of taste in this fashion although I've heard they taste better peeling after.
Just to compare notes..I'm a fan of creamy hellmanns mayonaise with NO pickles or eggs please!!! Sometimes I add a touch of left over sour cream to the mayo dressing. Celery seed a must .
From: ndooley at blue.weeg.uiowa.edu (nancy dooley)
Date: Tue, 10 Mar 1998 20:20:22 GMT
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Oh, goody, let's have another big discussion on potato salad. How can you make it with no eggs and no pickles!?! Philistine! >:-)
From: Kettir at geocities.com
Date: Mon, 16 Mar 1998 02:46:02 GMT
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NoBozo wrote:
>Just to compare notes..I'm a fan of creamy hellmanns mayonaise with NO
>pickles or eggs please!!! Sometimes I add a touch of left over sour
Potato salad with cut-up boiled eggs in it is like eating eyeballs. Ugh. On the other hand, if you have a kid that hates potato salad, maybe telling her/him that it's "eyeball salad" will get her/him to eat it.
From: Madeline (NoBozo at concentric.net)
Date: Mon, 16 Mar 1998 00:40:07 -0800
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Absolutely! To me the flavour of the pickles and eggs dominate and that's all I taste. It's icky to feel those slimey eggs too, when you were expecting a bite of nice potato. Glad to hear someone is like me :)
From: Jens Grochtdreis (jens.grochtdreis at mainz.netsurf.de)
Date: Thu, 19 Mar 1998 11:26:14 +0100
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Nancy A. Howells wrote...
> And a half-and-half mixture of Hellman's and Miracle Whip.
Do yourself amd the taste of the potato-salad a favor and forget the mayonnaise ! My favourite recipe is without the taste-killing mayonnaise and ist made during three days:
First day: boil 1kg of potatoes in their jackets and let them cool down during the night.
Second day: On the next day you peel the potatoes and slice them. Add pepper and salt, a diced onion and at least 3 spoons oil and 3 spoons vinegar. Let this rets untilo the next day.
Third day. A few hours before you want to eat the salad you should add some diced pickled gherkins and some diced and fried bacon. Finally you should give a cup of bouillon to the salad. Prepared in this tasty way it should about an hour or two untill you can taste it.
I think you can diminish the time on two days, if you boil the potatoes early in the morning.
Enjoy it !
From: Doris Dunn (djdunn at rogers.wave.ca)
Date: Thu, 19 Mar 1998 22:18:01 -0800
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Potato salad
Red potatoes peeled and boiled in salt water - sliced
diced celery
'' green onions
'' cucumber
'' dill pickle
'' peeled apple
a little salt and pepper. Mix well then add the dressing and mix well again. dressing half majo half sour cream with a healthy shot of soya sauce and a teaspoon full of sugar.
This is my favorite. I like a good helping on a plate topped with a (hot) fried egg.
From: lscanlon at erols.com (Leo Scanlon)
Date: Fri, 20 Mar 1998 14:05:44 GMT
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Doris Dunn wrote:
>Potato salad
>Red potatoes peeled and boiled in salt water - sliced
>diced celery
> '' green onions
> '' cucumber
> '' dill pickle
> '' peeled apple
>a little salt and pepper. Mix well then add the dressing and mix well again.
>dressing half majo half sour cream with a healthy shot of soya sauce and a
>teaspoon full of sugar.
Sounds good (except maybe for the cuke), but I'd leave the skins on the potatoes.
>This is my favorite. I like a good helping on a plate topped with a (hot) fried
>egg.
You're my kind of person, Doris! <g>
From: pattee at CUBoulder.Colorado.EDU (Donna Pattee)
Date: 20 Mar 1998 10:49:29 -0700
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Also, adding good dill pickle juice (I use Claussen's) to the hot, diced potatoes gives them a great flavor and makes it so you don't need to use as much mayonnaise. Definitely add the chopped scallions while the potatoes are still hot.
From: sally bond (sazzy008 at home.net)
Date: Fri, 20 Mar 1998 23:42:23 -0500
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I use kind of the same idea.Pasta salad or tuna salad needs alittle oompfh. So I add a little juice from the green olive jar. Sally b
From: drlois at hotmail.com
Date: Mon, 09 Mar 1998 22:23:24 -0600
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I find that peeling and dicing beforehand makes them mushier and not as firm, also changes the flavor.
Jean, (Or Mrs. PotatoHead)
From: becky (camphead at hotmail.com)
Date: Mon, 9 Mar 1998 20:31:20 -0800
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As I remember making potato salad with my aunt, who is regarded as our family's potato salad expert...
She boils the potatoes whole with the peels on ahead of time, then cools them in the fridge. Once they're cool, the peels can be easily slipped off with your hands, like peeling tomatoes that have been plunged in hot water. Then she dices them, etc...
It's probably a matter of preference, but maybe they taste better if cooked in their skins and peeling them is definitely easier once they're cooked. It may make a difference in texture also.
From: seany at sgi.com (Sean Yamamoto)
Date: 10 Mar 1998 05:16:23 GMT
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Potatoes cooked in their skins taste better, much like chicken with its skin, steaks with bones, fish with bones, meat cooked in its own fat (e.g., veal kidneys), etc., etc.
It is time for you to get a couple of decent cookbooks and stop relying on USENET for these answers. Books are much better written by fairly skilled folks and are better organized, etc.
Go to your local bookstore and/or library and read to your heart's content. You will learn far more about cooking from a book than you will ever from USENET.
From: zmtor at aol.com (Zmtor)
Date: 10 Mar 1998 06:07:02 GMT
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Always use "new potatoes". either the red or white skinned. Then let them *cool* before dicing. Actually, we like to use the
red skin variety and leve the skins on. Same taste but adds a little color.
PS: We like to use Miricle Whip instead of Mayo and lots of *green" onion finely minced. FWIW (for what it's worth) :-)
Jim and Zora-Mae
From: barb at altoetting-online.de (Barbara Heller)
Date: Tue, 10 Mar 1998 07:06:36 GMT
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R.J. writes
> Whats wrong with peeling and dicing the potatoes first...
> then boiling them??
There is a slight difference in taste, and there is also a significant loss of vitamins if the potatoes are peeled first. I sometimes do it anyway, unless I'm making german potato salad.. and then I let the cooked potatoes cool for a minute then run them under cold water to cool them off slightly and loosen the skins. If they heat up while I'm peeling I pop them under the cold water again for a second.
From: Bob Y. (rdyoung at wcc.net)
Date: Tue, 10 Mar 1998 15:23:10 -0600
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Okay, I've done it both ways and don't see any real difference in the taste. The thing that makes the most impact in the taste is the mayo. I'll never make a potato salad as tasty as the ones my mother and sister made, simply because I can't get the same mayo (Sydners).
So, I make do.
Newsgroups: rec.food.cooking
Subject: Re: POTATO SALAD
From: Liam (saiga at concentric.net)
Date: Tue, 10 Mar 1998 03:11:20 -0800
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R.J. wrote:
> "boil the potatoes, then peel and dice"
Nothing wrong with it IMHO. I have done it both ways many times and now prefer to peel and dice first - well actually I don't
dice, I chunk. As long as you are careful not to over cook the potatoes there is no problem. Additionally, when the potato chunks are cooked, I put them back in the empty pot, cover them with a tea towel and place over low heat briefly which drys them out nicely and gives them a lovely texture.
From: TJ (tsingh at gte.net)
Date: Tue, 10 Mar 1998 15:14:58 -0800
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And this is why I use potatoes that 'taste good' (Sorry Charlie, we only
want tuna that taste good....anyone know why Charlie wants to be
canned?).
Yellow Finns Rule
From: harryd at telusplanet.net (Harry A. Demidavicius)
Date: Wed, 11 Mar 1998 03:30:42 GMT
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The best "commercially made" potato salad that I have had in Calgary, [or elsewhere, come to think of it], is in a local "beef house", in Calgary. I asked about it a few years ago and was told that they always made sure they had enough of the previous evening's baked potatoes left over to do the salad the following AM. They make the "mayonnaise" kind. At home we boil in the skins, then cool off and peel. We make the oil and ... kind. Prefer the "at home" stuff best and the "beef place's" next.
FWIW
Tend to agree with Sheldon, boiling diced peeled potatoes does not tend to produce the soft "feathery" potato that I'm looking for. Tried baking them once on a whim, to make mashed potatoes. No big difference to boiling and a lot more bother. Especially disagree with the Post that said "use new potatoes". I'm looking for those large old starchy hummers. I like my new potatoes with plain boiled w. a little butter and some chives.
From: Liam (saiga at concentric.net)
Date: Wed, 11 Mar 1998 01:07:06 -0800
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> Excellent idea! I had not thought of that and will try it. Thanks!
Learned that at me Irish mother's knee I did. Makes a nice flourery potato.
From: cw855 at FreeNet.Carleton.CA (Joyce Melton)
Date: 11 Mar 1998 04:29:47 GMT
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If I have decent potatoes (no mars or bad spots to cut out), I scrub the potatoes and bake them in the microwave. I ususally dice them skins and all but if you prefer to peel, cool them in the refrigerator for a while before trying to peel.