Hamburgers, corn on the cob and potato salad. Mmmmmmm, if there was an official food for summer, potato salad would be it. So today we honour the mighty spud. Slathered in mayo, there is no better way to eat this earthy vegetable.

The recipes today are provided by one of the best cooks I know, Jean Smart. They originated from her grandmother, Jessie Noble Jackson. They have been carefully preserved, like a sacred family heirloom.  Recipes are our family stories. Their tattered pages are handed from one generation to the next. As I look at the ingredients in these salads, I envision Mrs. Jackson picking the vegetables from her garden. They reveal a simpler, healthier way of living.

Thank you for sharing them with us, Jean.

Cheers.

Julie

 

 

New Potato Salad with Basil

This was Olive Jessie Noble Jackson’s recipe. She was the personal cook to the Bowles Family (Lt. Governor Manitoba) Anyone who was at Winnipeg Beach in the 50’s and 60’s may remember this one. If basil is not available, mint can be used instead.

• · 2 ½ lbs small new potatoes (12 to 15 potatoes)

• · 2 tablespoons pine nuts

• · 1 cucumber (sliced)

• · 2 teaspoons chopped fresh basil

Steam or boil potatoes until tender. Drain, place in a large salad bowl. Put pine nuts on an oven tray and toast in the oven for 6-7 minutes. Add the toasted pine nuts and sliced cucumber to the potatoes. Pour the basil dressing over the potatoes tossing lightly and Garnish with basil.

Basil Dressing

• · 1 cup basil leaves loosely packed

• · 2 cloves of garlic

• · 2 tablespoons of pine nuts

• · 2 tablespoons of grated parmesan cheese

• · ½ cup of mayonnaise (she made her own)

• · ¼ cup light sour cream

Combine basil, garlic, toasted pine nuts and parmesan cheese and mix until smooth. Add mayonnaise and sour cream and mix until smooth.

This dish should not be left out long on the picnic table, it contains mayonnaise.

Serves six

Pickled Potato Salad

Don’t pass me by. This is another of Olive’s recipes. It’s a bit of work, but well worth the effort.

• · 3 lbs of new red potatoes (18 to 20 potatoes)

• · 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon of coarse salt

• · ½ cup red-wine vinegar (any fruit red vinegar can be used)

• · 8 radishes (trimmed and thinly sliced into rounds

• · 1 medium red onion, thinly sliced into rounds

• · 2 cucumbers, peeled and cut lengthwise (seeds removed and cut on the diagonal ¼ inch thick)

• · ¼ cup dill

• · ¼ cup olive oil (extra virgin olive oil is best)

• · ¾ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Place potatoes in a large pot. Bring to a boil over high heat. Add salt and reduce to a gentle boil. Cook until tender when pierced with a knife. Drain into a colander. Cut the potatoes into ¼ inch wedges while still hot. (Wear oven mitts to protect hands.) Drizzle with ¼ cup of vinegar and set potatoes aside.

Place radishes and red onions in a large bowl. Add remaining vinegar (1/4 cup). Let stand for 30 minutes but stir every 5 minutes.

Put cucumbers in a colander over a bowl. Sprinkle cucumbers with ½ teaspoon of salt and set aside.

When potatoes are cool, add the radish/onion mixture. Add salted cucumbers, dill, olive oil and remaining salt (1/2 teaspoon) and pepper and toss all. Chill until ready to serve.

Serves 10 – 12

Austrian Potato Salad

This one comes from the other side of the family. I found this in my great grandmother’s recipe book. The recipe did not specify what kind of potato but I have found that Yukon gold potatoes work well or another potato of medium density.

• · 4 pounds baby gold potatoes

• · 1tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons of course salt

• · ½ cup cider vinegar

• · 1 tablespoon of sugar

• · 1 pound of bacon cut into small ½ inch pieces

• · 2 small white onions (finely diced)

• · 2 cups of beef broth

• · ½ cup of chopped parsley

Peel potatoes and place them in a large pot. Bring to a boil over high heat. Add salt and reduce to a gentle boil. Cook until tender when pierced with a knife.

While potatoes cook combine, the vinegar, sugar and remaining salt in a pot and heat until sugar is dissolved.

Drain the potatoes. Cut the potatoes into thick rounds. Drip the hot vinegar mixture over the potatoes until they are coated. Put aside.

Cook bacon in a skillet until brown and crispy. Remove bacon. Drain some of the bacon fat from the skillet. Use bacon fat in skillet to sauté onions until translucent but not browned.

Add beef broth to onions and bring to boil over high heat. Reduce to simmer and cook until reduce by half (it takes about 20 minutes). Pour over the potato mixture and sprinkle with the bacon and chopped parsley. Gently stir to combine and serve right away.

Serves 8 -10

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 26th, 2007 at 8:33 pm and is filed under Entertaining. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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