Michael’s Potato Salad
DISCLAIMER: This potato salad does not contain onions. It does not contain celery. It doesn’t even have a parsley garnish, since parsley falls into the condemned category of “green stuff” in my household.
This potato salad, my friends, is what I came up with after Michael asked for potato salad for his birthday celebration that, as he puts it “he could eat.” Michael, you see, is a picky eater. He picks out onions, celery, peppers, tomatoes, mushrooms….well, you get the drift. I grumbled a bit about leaving out what surely contribute the most delicious, flavorful, and textural elements of just about any potato salad, but, being a dedicated partner, I set out to tackle my challenge.
And you know what? It’s pretty darn good.
I mean, how bad can potatoes be, in all their creamy goodness, dressed with copious amounts of mayonnaise, accented with mustard, salt and pepper? And oh yeah, all those eggs! The black olives add visual contrast, the cornichon a bit of crunchy tartness, and smoked paprika brings it all home.
Make this, and I doubt you’ll miss the onions or celery. Just don’t tell Michael he was right.
Michael’s Potato Salad
Serves 8-10
5 lbs red or yellow-skinned, waxy potatoes, scrubbed and rinsed
4 cups mayonnaise
¼ cup yellow mustard
3 Tb red wine vinegar
1 Tb coarse salt
1 ts freshly ground black pepper
¼ ts garlic powder
¼ ts onion powder
10 eggs, hard-boiled, peeled, and sliced (use your egg slicer)
1 can (4 oz size) sliced black olives, rinsed and drained
10 cornichon, thinly sliced
Smoked paprika
Place potatoes in a large stock pot and cover with liberally salted water by an inch or so. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to a simmer, cover and cook for 30 minutes or until fork-tender. Drain in colander and rinse with cool water. When cool enough to handle, casually peel and cube (it’s cool to leave some skins attached). Set aside in a large bowl.
In a medium bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, mustard, vinegar, salt, pepper, garlic and onion powders. Pour over potatoes and toss gently to coat.
Add eggs, olives, and sliced cornichon. Fold gently (but thoroughly) to combine. Cover and chill in refrigerator for two hours or overnight.
To serve, toss to rejuvenate, correct seasonings (you’ll probably need some salt and pepper), and garnish with paprika. Marvel in its onion- and celery-less glory.
Lol he and Tim can eat non green together!
You and I will eat all the good stuff
Ha! Yes indeed. How are y’all?
Yes, I am sure this is good! In fact, I once had a neighbor with a family recipe…no visible onions, peppers, celery….simply put, it was perfectly boiled potatoes in fairly large chunks…maybe 1 1/4″. Not sure if she used russets or reds/yellows…but here in the Midwest many families do make homemade potato salad with russets. Copious amounts of eggs. Mayonnaise, yellow mustard. I didn’t see or detect anything else. It certainly could have had some onion/garlic powder in it. It may have been a dozen eggs to 3-5 lbs of potatoes…similar to yours. It was creamy, balanced deliciousness. I do like celery in mine, but they had a winning family recipe and it looks like you do, too!
Which brand of mayo did you use? I love Hellmans for BLTs & simple chicken salad, but for potato salad, I prefer something more neutral. My go to salad dressing isn’t that common, but I love it…it’s in the Latino aisle: McCormicks Mayonnaise with Limon…it really isn’t lime-y but it’s got a lime on the front. I’d probably use that one for this salad.