Saturday, December 12, 2009

'German' potato salad recipe

The potato salad tasted pretty good last night. I considered also eating it for breakfast this morning. But I managed to wait until lunch. And it really is much better the next day. Well, it doesn't have to be the next day - at Christmas Mum usually makes it in the morning and it's great by lunch time. I think the sour cream and the other parts of the dressing need a little time for the flavours to combine fully.

I had to improvise the potato salad from memory last night - I know I've copied the recipe before but I don't know what happened to it. I dropped round to see my parents this afternoon and copied it again. Mum cut it out from a magazine many many years ago, so I don't think there should be any problem sharing it here.

Sour cream potato salad

The introduction to the recipe claims this is a German style potato salad.

Ingredients

6 medium potatoes
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1¾ cups beef stock (I use vegetable stock)
4 tablespoons white vinegar (apple cider or other vinegar of your choice works too, perhaps not balsamic though!)
5 tablespoons salad oil
2 teaspoons prepared mustard
white pepper and salt
½ cup sour cream

Cook unpeeled potatoes in boiling salted water. (We steam them). Do not overcook or they will not keep their shape in the salad. Peel the potatoes while still hot (we don't bother) and cut into slices. Place in a bowl with the onion.

Bring the stock to the boil with the vinegar added, and while boiling pour over the potatoes. Marinate until almost all the liquid is absorbed, about 20-30 minutes. Pour off any excess liquid (this might depend on the type of spuds - I had to pour off a lot of liquid) and gently fold in the oil mixed with the mustard.

Taste, and season with white pepper and salt if necessary. Lastly, fold in the sour cream. Serve at room temperature, garnished with parsley or other fresh herbs. (It's perfectly nice refrigerated too, if you are concerned about leaving food in the 'danger zone' temperature-wise.)

Serves 8-10 (Ha! Not necessarily)

Update in response to some comments:

Salad Oil: I always though 'salad oil' meant a simple oil-based dressing like French or Italian. When I looked it up, most sites said it is simply any oil that can be used in salad dressing. Which makes sense for the recipe as you can season it separately and it is also already strongly vinegar-flavoured so you wouldn't want to use a strongly vinegar-y dressing. Though I personally have a huge appetite for vinegar, I know some don't like it too strong.

Raw onions: I never eat raw onions as I hate the way the taste stays with me for so long. I find they are blanched enough by the boiling stock marinade that they are ok in this recipe. However, I have also used shallots (green onions/spring onions) which look nice and taste milder.

8 comments:

2paw said...

I love your little asides- I think they are the best part of the recipe!! I will try not to mention Pink Eyes again!! Ooops!!

amy said...

Oh, this is a keeper. Thanks for sharing. I'm not a big fan of mayonnaise, plus it has egg in it so I'm avoiding it completely now. Sometimes I make a light potato salad by just pouring bottled Italian dressing over boiled potatoes and some chopped celery, but I'm going to file this away until summer for another egg-free alternative. ;)

Alwen said...

Mmm, potato salad!

It's funny how only the right potato salad tastes right, and all the rest are wrong!

Donna Lee said...

That sounds delicous. I'll have to give it a try although my family doesn't like change.

Rose Red said...

YUM! Thanks for sharing! (and the asides!!). Will definitely be trying this out. One question - what is salad oil? Would it be with the oils in the supermarket or the dressings? I shall have a looky this week when I do the shopping!

Bells said...

Salad oil would just be olive oil wouldn't it RoseRed?

I really like the sound of this, with one exception - raw onion!!! I can't imagine that. I'd leave it out!

DrK said...

yum o!

Carly said...

Hi Olivia! Was great to see you guys when we were up - I can't even buckle audrey into her highchair at the moment - she wants nothing to do with any sort of thing that straps her in! Going to have to try that recipe! yum!