Over on our newsletter, we shared a great article with several excellent cooks’ spin on potato salad. It’s on thetakeout.com, and if you didn’t come here from the newsletter, here the link. Just click me!
But even occasionally competent home cooks have their go-to potato salad recipe, and we wanted to share one that has become one family’s tradition. It started as a couple of clipped recipes that got mashed together, and manipulated quite a bit until it became a stable and reliable recipe.
This recipe is for the salad on the left in the accompanying image. The other side is a “deviled egg potato salad.” It’s straight from an internet recipe, so we haven’t included that, but it’s proof to us that it’s foolish to have just one great potato salad in your repertoire.
We’re writing this in early September, and the farmers market is rife with potatoes and most of the ingredients that go into this concoction. It’s the perfect time for homemade potato salad, so without further ado—
Your humble correspondent’s Revised, Amalgamated Roast Potato Salad
Ingredients
- 2 pounds of any good low starch new or fingerling potato, halved or quartered, depending on size.
- 3-4 lg garlic cloves, minced
- 1.5 tsp. herbes de Provence
- ½ lb. bacon
- ½ cu or so of good olive oil
- 3 tbs flavorful vinegar, balsamic, sherry or champagne.
- 1 lg red onion, medium dice
- 6 tbs chopped parsley
- 3 hard cooked eggs, roughly chopped
- ¼ cup Kalamata Olives
- Salt and pepper
Method
- Cook the bacon: Put rashers of bacon on a rack atop a lipped sheet pan. Place on the middle rack of a cold oven and only then set the oven to 400°.* Begin checking the bacon for doneness after 20 minutes. It could take up to 30. Remove from oven. Drain bacon on paper towels and then crumble. Reserve bacon grease. Lower oven to 350°.**
- Roast the potatoes: Toss potatoes with half the garlic, herbes de Provence, a nice splash of olive oil, a tablespoon of bacon grease and good pinch of salt. Spread on sheet pan cut side down and roast in oven until tender and golden brown, 30-40 minutes.***
- Prepare the dressing: Whisk together vinegar, remaining garlic, salt and pepper. Drizzle 6 tbs. of olive oil and whisk into bowl. You have created a vinaigrette.
- Assemble the salad: Toss the potatoes with the vinaigrette. If you’d like, add a tablespoon of bacon grease. Fold in bacon, red onion, parsley, olives and eggs. Re-season if needed.
- Serve: Let the salad stand at room temperature for twenty minutes. Serve at room temperature.
*This method of preparing bacon keeps the rashers from curling. Thanks to Alton Brown for revealing it.
**Or don’t. Recipes for roasting fingerlings range from 350° for the time mentioned above to a method where you preheat the oven to 500° and then lower to 425° after putting potatoes in oven and roasting for 20 minutes. Any method that ends up with tender spuds with a nice crust is okay by me.
(2019 addendum) My current potato roasting method is potatoes quarter, seasoned as above, set skin side down on a sheet pan, and roasted at 400° for 15 to 30 minutes, depending on the variety and size of the potatoes.
***See **.
