German Potato Salad (Where Have You Been All My Life?)
by Melanie Gunnell
If potato salad could
be life changing, this German potato salad would be it. I have a
tried-and-true
classic potato salad. It’s Brian’s
all-time favorite. And I like it. I really do. But one little scoop
is pretty good for me and my plate and then I’m fine until the
next summer when potato salad makes its BBQ debut again. Or in other
words, it doesn’t necessarily fill my dreams.
But this. This German
potato salad. It’s a whole different animal. Despite the fact
that I have some serious German heritage, I’d never had German
potato salad until Kate, a kind MKC reader, took it upon herself to
share her family’s favorite recipe. The fact that her family
has been enjoying it for years and years made me, well, a little
jealous. So I made it.
And I realized that
this is what I’ve always wanted potato salad to be. It is the
perfect potato salad. I’m not even kidding. Tender red potatoes
(or Yukon Gold but don’t mess with russets here) are coated in
a delightfully tangy, slightly creamy dressing that’s whipped
up in a skillet while the potatoes cool.
There’s no dairy
or mayo or eggs — like traditional potato salad (and it’s
much easier!). Instead, the simple, cooked sauce adds flavor to the
hearty potatoes. Well, that and bacon. So, you know, it’s
pretty much perfection.
I’ve made this
several times in the past few weeks and yeah, I mean, what else can I
say, I’m a completely changed woman when it comes to potato
salad, that’s for sure.
So a time or two when
I've made this I haven't had real, live bacon on hand (and another
time I was just too lazy) so instead of frying bacon at the
beginning, I used a tablespoon or two of butter to cook the onion in
and proceeded with the recipe that way — using the precooked
crumbled bacon (from Costco in my case) to add to the potato salad at
the end (I used about 1/2 cup and gave the bacon crumbles a quick
20-second round in the microwave to crisp up a bit).
You may not get as much
bacon flavor but the salad is still very delicious varied this way.
Ingredients
3 pounds red potatoes (about 8-9 regular-sized potatoes)
4-6 slices bacon (see note for a slight adaptation)
3/4 cup chopped white or yellow onion
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon celery seed
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
3/4 cup water
1/3 cup white or apple cider vinegar
Chopped fresh parsley for garnish
Directions
In a large pot, add 2-3 inches of
water and a teaspoon of salt. Wash the potatoes and add them to the
pot (the water doesn't need to cover the potatoes). Bring to a boil
over medium high heat, cover the pot with a tight fitting lid and
cook for 20-30 minutes until the potatoes are tender. Drain the
potatoes and set aside to cool for a few minutes.
While the potatoes are cooling, in
a large nonstick skillet, fry the bacon until crisp. Remove the
bacon to a paper towel-lined plate and drain a bit of the grease
from the skillet, leaving just a tablespoon or two.
Heat the skillet over medium heat
and add the onion to the reserved bacon grease, cooking until
translucent and slightly golden. Stir in the flour, sugar, salt,
celery seed and black pepper. Cook over low heat, stirring
constantly, for 1-2 minutes.
Combine the vinegar and water in a
liquid measuring cup and slowly add it to the skillet (still set
over medium heat), whisking constantly so the mixture doesn't get
lumpy. Bring the mixture to a simmer, whisking or stirring
constantly, and cook for 4-5 minutes. It should be thick and creamy.
Slice or cube the potatoes and add
them to a large bowl. Pour the hot dressing over the top and gently
stir to combine. Crumble the bacon over the top and give it another
light stir. Top with fresh, chopped parsley, if desired. Serve warm
or at room temperature.
Recipe Source: adapted slightly from Kate, a sweet MKC reader who sent her family’s fave recipe to me
Melanie Gunnell is a food-loving, chocolate-obsessed mom who has a desperate need to share
her favorite tried-and-true recipes with the world. In a past life she graduated from Brigham
Young University with a degree in public health, but for the past ten years, stay-at-home
motherhood has been her job along with blogging-from-home for the past five.
She resides in the brilliantly cold tundra of Northern Minnesota with her husband and their brood
of five children: four boys and one tiny, bossy girl. Dark chocolate (particularly the act of
shoving chocolate chips in her mouth whilst hiding in the pantry) is her coping skill of choice for
both the never-ending winters and the never-ending wrestling matches in her front room.