Party Potato Salad

This is the potato salad I've eaten most my life; my mom always made it like this.  I normally make it only for parties and celebrations.  This recipe will feed 15 - 20 people and is always good for those holidays that call for picnic fare.



The first task is to get the eggs and potatoes cooking.   They need to cool before everything is mixed together.

Cut the potatoes into cubes that are roughly 1 inch.  Carefully drop them in boiling water that has been salted with a good Tbsp. of salt.  You want your potatoes to come out mildly salted.

Once the water returns to a boil, lower heat and simmer until they are just fork tender. Start checking them after about 7 minutes and often after that. You don't want them to turn to mush.



Drain in a large colander.  I like to, lightly and politely, spray the drained potatoes with cold water.  Don't let the water come out of the sprayer at full force; your potatoes are tender now and you want them to retain their shape.  Let them stay in the colander to completely cool off.



Once your eggs are done, drain and re-fill pan with cold water and make an ice bath.


 
While the potatoes and eggs are cooking and cooling, dice up the rest of your ingredients.  I use Claussen Kosher Dills and using the Sandwich Slices makes it easy to dice them up. 

My dice are between 1/4 to 1/2 inch.

 

Same with your red onion; dice between 1/4 and 1/2 inch.

Using the egg slicer is the quickest way to get the eggs diced up.  Then you can take the knife to them to chop them up a little more.  


Pour your potatoes into a large bowl and add the pickles, onions and egg.

My hands are my best tools to mix up the potato salad without making mincemeat of the tender potatoes.  I always wear these.  These are my best friends.  

Cover your serving bowl tightly with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator over night.  It is important to have your salad cooled before wrapping it up, otherwise you'll get condensation dripping into your salad.

Party Potato Salad

Ingredients:
1 dozen eggs
5 pounds russet potatoes

1 red onion, medium sized
1 - 12 ounce jar Claussen Kosher Dills - Sandwich Slices
1/2 cup pickle juice
1/2 cup Hellmann's or Best Foods Mayonnaise see NOTE below
1 Tbsp. classic yellow mustard
Salt and pepper to taste

 Method:
Boil, cool and peel eggs.

Peel potatoes and cut into 1 to 1-1/2" pieces.  Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Add the potatoes.  When water returns to a boil reduce heat and simmer until the potatoes are just fork tender.  Check after 7 minutes for doneness.  You don't want the potatoes to become mushy. Drain the potatoes into a large colander and lightly rinse with cold water.

As the potatoes are cooling chop eggs, onion and pickles into 1/4" to 1/2" dice. Set aside.

In a small mixing bowl combine the pickle juice, Hellmann's and mustard.

When potatoes are cooled, place in a large mixing bowl and gently fold in the onion, pickles and eggs until just combined.  Preferably with your hands, gently mix in your mayonnaise mixture.  Make any additions (mayonnaise, pickle juice, mustard) to your liking and salt and pepper to taste.  

When the potato salad is completely cooled, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until very cold. 

**NOTE** in 2025 I started using Duke's more and more. Hellmann's has changed their recipe and have added ingredients and it is just not the same.  It makes me sad.

Cucumber and Tomato Salad

This will make a lovely and light side dish to many of my meals this Summer.  

It's quick and easy and you could double it if you needed to take a little something to a picnic.

You shouldn't have many leftovers since it makes a relatively small amount. But, if you do it is great the next day to toss with a bowl of lettuce for a nice salad.
 


Cucumber and Tomato Salad
Adapted from Paula Deen
Yields 4 servings

Ingredients:
 3 Tbsp. white wine vinegar
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. sugar
3 cucumbers (about 2 pounds)
1 - 10 ounce container grape tomatoes
1/2 medium white onion
2 Tbsp. fresh dill
kosher salt, to taste
black pepper, freshly ground, to taste

Method:
In a large bowl combine the vinegar, olive oil and sugar.  Whisk together until sugar is dissolved and the mixture is emulsified.

Peel the cucumbers and slice in 1/4" slices.

Halve the tomatoes

Slice the onion paper thin. Place the onion half on the cutting board and make very thin slices, slicing from the side of the onion, not from the root end.

Add the cucumbers, tomatoes and onion to the oil and vinegar mixture and toss.

Chop the dill and toss with the vegetables.  Salt and pepper to taste.

Allow the salad to marinate in the refrigerator for 20 minutes before serving.

A Picnic Pea Salad

I don't recall where or when I came across this pea salad.  I do know it's pretty old because I typed the recipe out on an IBM Selectric.  The salad's a nice diversion from the usual stand-by's of potato salad and black-eyed-pea salad that I seem to gravitate to when asked to bring a salad to the picnic or pot luck.  I made this recently for a family get-together over Labor Day weekend.

I refer to it as a pea salad but there are other goodies in here too, like french cut green beans, shoe peg corn, pimientos, bell pepper, celery, red onion.  Just a note about the onion....this year the red onions I've bought have been e.x.t.r.e.m.e.l.y potent.  I used half the called for amount and diced them a little tinier than the other vegetables.



All of the vegetables are mixed together in a large bowl and tossed with a sweet mixture of white vinegar, vegetable oil, sugar, salt and pepper.




It's a great make-ahead recipe.  In fact, I start mine two days prior to serving. The dressing is cooked and needs to be cooled before mixing it with the vegetables.  I like to chill it in the refrigerator overnight.

Then, once the salad is mixed together the flavors meld nicely when refrigerated overnight.

The next morning you don't have to worry about preparing anything but yourself for the party!  Just grab it from the 'fridge and go!

Picnic Pea Salad
Serves 12

Ingredients:
For the Dressing -
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp freshly ground pepper

For the Vegetable Mixture -
4 ribs celery
1 red bell pepper
1 medium sized red onion
1 - 4 ounce jar diced pimientos
1 - 16 ounce can Lesueur sweet peas
1 - 16 ounce can French style green beans
1 - 12 ounce can white shoepeg corn

Mise en place:

• Just go a-head on (as they say in West Texas)  to the "Method".  Once you've prepared all of your ingredients they're dumped in their respective receptacles as you go anyway!

Method:
Measure out all ingredients for the Dressing into a small saucepan.  Stir the ingredients as you bring them to a boil.  Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature.  Refrigerate overnight if desired. 

Dice celery, bell pepper, and onion (mine are usually ~ 3/8") and transfer to a large mixing bowl.  Drain the pimientos, peas, green beans & corn and dump in the mixing bowl.

Gently fold to combine all of the vegetables (better done with hands).

Pour the cooled dressing over the vegetables and gently fold to mix.  Transfer to a storage container with lid and refrigerate overnight.

The longer the salad marinates, the better the flavor.