Potato Salad dressing

[mattl]

The thread on evaporated milk got me thinking about summer and the advent of cold salads - potato and macaroni.  I use the same dressing for both, it's my grand mother's recipe from way way back.  It's pretty simple and a family favorite.

 

2c. Miracle Whip ( I know....)

3T. sugar

3T. yellow mustard

2/3c. evaporated milk

1/3c. cider vinegar

 

I stir in the sugar and mustard, then the milk and finally the vinegar.

 

I'm always amazed at how the mixture "curdles" for a moment when adding the vinegar, but quickly smooths out.  I personally hate regular Mayo and have never used it in this recipe though I suppose you could.  It keeps for a week or so without issue if you don't need all of it at once.

 

[abcomatic]

Here is my recipe for potato salad:
Miracle whip a bit more than a cup.
1/3 C. sugar
scant 1/4 C of vinegar
3 hard boiled eggs
1/2 of an onion (raw)
celery if you like that
5 or 6 potatoes peeled, cut up and boiled and drained.
Add all of the dressing ingredients to warm (not hot) potatoes.
put in the fridge over night and enjoy the next day.

 

[norgeway]

If you came to the Wash In

Last year, you had my mashed potato salad, I don't measure, just add onions, Sweet salad cubes, Dukes mayo and salt and pepper.

 

[panthera]

all these recipes sound great

I've never understood why people don't like mayonnaise - but then, I still struggle with the oil versus cream debate when it comes to whipped frosting, too.

 

Main thing is, it tastes good to you.

 

I recently read (and I'm not saying I believe it, though it seems credible) that food poisoning doesn't come from mayo but from food preparation areas which weren't adequately disinfected after preparing salmonella laden foods. Gosh, what sort of food would one tend to eat with potato salad, deviled eggs, macaroni salad which comes pre-treated WITH salmonella? Can't think of one, off hand.

 

Still, it makes sense.

 

Fun note: Because I don't use Miracle Whip, I add much more acid(lime/lemon/vinegar) <span style="font-size: 12pt;">and sugar to my potato salad dressing. Probably pretty close to it in the end....</span>

 

[xraytech]

I don't measure when making potato salad
I start with Heinz Mayonnaise, some Heinz Yellow Mustard, and I mash up the egg yolks into the Mayo.
Then I add some grated onion, celery seed, and Regina vinegar, as well as salt and pepper.
Then I stir in large cubes of Yukon Gold potatoes that are peeled while still quite hot and the diced up egg whites.

I personally hate sweet dressings or ones that have chunks of celery or peppers.

Also I love to eat potato salad while it's still hot

 

[mrsalvo]

Panthera, I wholeheartedly agree on food safety, and the older I get the more respect I have for taking precautions. Always clean and disinfect the cutting board between preparations and throw out anything made with mayo after 4 days, esp. tuna salad. (Several years ago I got very sick off of food poisoning from Burger King, since then I don't trust a lot of fast food, rarely eat at such places.)

Very glad ya'll posted Potato Salad recipes, I'm going to make one this week and will try one of them.

 

[panthera]

sam,

That sounds great. We make two or three versions of potato salad because of the 'celery/no celery' family members. Ditto celery seed. At least everybody likes hot and cold potato salad.

Before this forum came along, I thought my family was the most horrendously difficult, picky and unreasonable on earth when it came to food. Thanks to what I've read here through the years, I realize most people are unreasonable when it comes to food. It's just the way we are.

 

[norgeway]

Re Food Poisioning

My Dads older sister told of a Church Homecoming back in the 1920s in my hometown, where the ladies got the bright idea of making a huge batch of potato salad in a galvanized washtub, with homemade mayo.....in August....outside....Reportedly they killed about 50 people!

 

[Ultramatic]

 

 

I grew up with savory potato salad. With the exception of cubed granny smith apples added, it was never sweet. Also we always used Hellmann's mayonnaise. God help me if I picked up any other brand. I did try Duke's and I loved it. But very hard to find around here.

 

[ea56]

I don't make a separate dressing for Potato Salad, I build the Potato Salad in the bowl. And no offense intended, but I don't like hard boiled eggs or mustard in my Potato Salad. Here's how I make Potato Salad:

Eddie's Potato Salad

Get 8 to 10 Med. Russet potatoes, scrub them under running water and place them in a dutch oven with a steamer rack and steam over 1 1/2" of simmering water for 40-45 mins, or until tender when pierced with a fork. Remove the steamed potatoes and place on a rack to cool until they can be handled.

Peel the warm potatoes and cut into thumb sized chunks into a 6 qt. bowl. Add about 1/3 to 1/2 cup finely minced yellow onion, 4 stalks of celery finely diced, 2 tbs. dried parsley flakes or 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley, 1 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 to 3/4 tsp black pepper, 1/4 to 1/2 tsp garlic powder and 3-4 tbls. white vinegar. Toss this mixture lightly with a rubber spatula to mix together.

Now add 1 cup Best Foods Mayonnaise, 1 cup sour cream, 1/2 to 2/3 cup sweet pickle relish and 1 small jar of chopped pimentos, if you happen to have them, if you don't have the pimentos or don't like them, leave em out. Now mix lightly, but well again with large rubber spatula. Taste for salt and other seasonings and adjust as needed to taste.

Please bear in mind that I don't measure when I cook, I eyeball the ingredients as I add them. But these amounts I believe are pretty darn close to my "eyeballed" amts.

When I say to toss and mix lightly it's because you want the potatoes to stay in identifiable pieces and not turn into mashed potatoes. By tossing the potatoes with the vinegar mixture first the acid helps to seal the surface of the potatoes so they're more apt to stay intact. I know, TMI. but I think knowing the science and mechanics of why you do certain things helps me to make sense of the whole process.

I've been making my Potato Salad this was for 40 years and my husband David loves it. When I was still working and I would bring this to potlucks it was gone before anything else. Its simple and very tasty.

Eddie[this post was last edited: 6/4/2017-17:45]

 

[bendix5]

food poisoning doesn't come from mayo but from food preparation areas and I agree with Pantheras story. Some people let yesterdays dishes and prep areas sit until they get around to cleaning. In the mean time they are preparing dinner etc in that mess. No wonder people feel crummy a lot of the time. We are pretty careful about cleaning up right away. I just made potato salad on Thursday.

6 to 8 potatoes (depends on size) Boil until fork tender, cool, peel, dice.
6 boiled eggs
1/2 half onion finely chopped
2 to 3 stalks of celery. Slit down the middle then chop
3 or 4 dill pickles Quarter long wise then chop
Put all in a large bowl and toss a little, then make sauce

Sauce, in another bowl wisk together.
1 1/2 to 2 cups Best Foods mayo
Frenches yellow mustard to taste.
2 tablespoons white vinegar(if you don't have vinegar add pickle juice}
sometimes I use some black olives, Worchester, spring onions, paprika and other seasons

Thank you everyone for your recipes and giving some good ideas.

 

[petek]

Not too fussy I like most types of potato salad except for my sisters.. she leaves the gd skins on the potatoes,, yuk.   Tried it.. awful.    

 

[vacerator]

I like

red skin with the skins left on.
I put pickle juice in it too, dill or sweet pickles.
I change it up by baking the potatoes and adding bacon.