Potato Salad from Scratch

We decided to make potato salad and to do it totally from scratch. We leaned on our good mentor Alton Brown for the basics and lifted a recipe from the foul mouthed Scottish Chef Mr. Ramsey for part of it as well. Here is the scoop . . . Pun intended.

2.5 Lbs. Red potatos

3 Tbls cider vinegar

3/4 cup homemade mayonnaise (see below)

1 Tbls chopped fresh Dill

1/2 Tbls minced garlic

1/2 Cup diced red onion

1/2 cup sliced celery

2-3 eggs hard boiled and chopped

First take the potatos and cook them whole. Place them in a pot and bring to a boil, then simmer until you can easily slide a fork into them. Then immediately remove them and dump out the water and place the pot under the cold faucet and either ice them to cool them or run cold water over them to cool them. Once they are cool use a dish towel to rub the skins off them. I found doing this under water works really well. Just put a potato in the middle of the towel and then stick it under the water and rub until the skin is all off. Then slice the potatoes how you like them. I like thicker small chunks. Place your sliced potatoes in a zip lock bag and toss them with the vinegar. Refrigerate overnight.

In the morning chop all the remaining ingredients and place them in a bowl. Then make the mayonnaise. This is really the secret to this dish as it add amazing flavor and texture that you cannot get from a jar and it is not hard to make. Here is how you do that.

3 egg yolks

1 tsp dijon mustard

1 cup oil

1 tsp fresh squeezed lemon juice

Place the egg yokes and mustard in a food processor, blend just until combined. Then, this part is a wee bit tricky, turn the processor on and slowly drizzle the oil in until you get an emulsification. You will know because the motor will change sounds as the concoction goes form liquid to mayo consistency. I drizzle real slow like about a 1/8 inch stream at most. Once your mayo is together add the lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste. Do not all the salt, pepper or lemon ahead of time, your eggs will break down and not emulsify.

Add your homemade mayo to the chopped ingredients and mix until well combined. Then fold in the potatoes. Don't stir them as you will break them all up, unless you like it this way. Salt and pepper to taste and viola, amazing potato salad.

Davis Family Japanese Secret Yum Stuff

This is a guest post my Mrs. MC.

So we steal recipes. It is true. And then we make them our own. That is a good preface for what follows. On a trip to Utah, I stopped by the Davis household and was served this for lunch; some of the best leftovers I've had. First is the Davis version, pure and unchanged. Following that is what we did tonight. As for what to call it, I'm at somewhat of a loss. I am sure it is in the stir-fry category, but I don't know the name. Anway, so I don't have to call for the recipe anymore (just calls for things like hooking siblings up) we are putting it down on paper. . . um internet.

2 Stalks Celery

8 oz Mushrooms

1 Green Bell Pepper

2-3 Chicken Breasts

Cook the chicken and then the vegetables before hand.

4 cups Water

1 tsp Sugar

1 Clove Garlic

1/2 Cup Soy Sauce

Dump this on the chicken and veggie mixture and bring it to a boil. While it's getting there, combine

4 TBLS Cornstarch

1 TBLS Water

Turn this into a slurry and when *AND ONLY WHEN* the pot is boiling, add this slurry. It thickens almost immediately. Serve this over noodles or rice.

A word about rice. In the McLean Clan, there are really only 2 kinds of rice; basamati and now (thanks to the Davis Clan) Cal-Rose. We can do Jasmine, but really the others are IT. If we want dry rice, it's basamati and if we want sticky rice it's Cal-Rose. Don't skimp and use plain white rice and don't ever even consider that awful, repugnant stuff termed "minute rice". Please, don't make me roll over in my kitchen!

Anyway, now that we're past that, here is what we did. The sauce is the same, but I really like vegetables, so they are loaded in this. We have overdone it before, so I'm not advocating too many, but this seemed to hit perfect tonight. Good Ratio.

2 Carrots, julienned

2 ribs Celery

4 oz mushrooms

3/4 cup Broccoli

3/4 Red Bell Pepper (the rest was eaten beforehand!)

1/3 cup Fresh Green Beans

Oh and I used Tofu. Often we use chicken, but when we use tofu, it's best to marinade it in something like chicken broth with rice vinegar and sesame oil, ground ginger, red pepper flakes and brown sugar. Then bake it on 350 for 1/2 hour or so, turning them when they begin to brown. This gives them a really nice texture that my 2 year old can't get enough of.

The humungous bonus of this dish as per Davis family recipe is that it really is done within a half hour! Ours took longer since we baked tofu, steamed broccoli, carrots and green beans, in addition to stir-frying the other veggies. It's great their way; it's great ours!