Potato Salad

We eat a lot of potato salad at our house, I find it to be one of my comfort foods. In the summer it just seems to be the perfect partner with so many of the main dishes we enjoy, especially those that come off the grill. I think another reason I love it so much is it is made ahead, so I don't have to be in the kitchen at the last minute. Face it by dinner time in the summer the kitchen is one of the last places we want to be, especially on a hot day. With potato salad I can make it early in the day and let it sit in the fridge all day. It is one of those dishes that really does need the time to sit too, the flavors need to have time to come together and the potatoes need some time to soak up some of the dressing.

This (like most of my potato salads) is a mayonnaise based version. I grew up eating mayo based potato salad and to me that is what makes it potato salad. I have eaten a few oil/vinegar based salads that were good but for me they don't hit that same comfort food level.

In today's version of potato salad I use a trick I picked up from a friend over 30 years ago. She made the best potato salad and one day I asked her what her secret was. She told me she always used pickle juice in her potato salad in place of vinegar that most recipes call for. I tried it and it is magic.

I may post other versions of  Potato Salad in the future because I tend to change it up a lot from time to time. This is just a really basic version that goes with everything (especially the Beer Can Chicken I am going to post tomorrow)

If you don't have any hard boiled eggs on hand you can boil the eggs along with the potatoes if you want to. Just add them to the pan with the potatoes. They should cook in about the same amount of time as the potatoes. That's a little hint I picked up years ago from another friend.

Potato Salad

6 medium (about 2 lbs.) potatoes, peeled and cut up

1 ½ cups mayonnaise

1 Tablespoon pickle juice

1 Tablespoon prepared mustard (any flavor you like)

1 teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1 bunch green onions, white part and tender green part chopped (about ½ cup)

½ cup chopped bread and butter pickle (or your favorite pickle)

4 hard cooked eggs, chopped

paprika (optional)

Place peeled, cubed potatoes in a pan of cold, salted water. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat and cook until fork tender (mine usually takes about 7 to 10 minutes) Be sure to check them with a fork from time to time. You don't want to over cook them.

Drain and cool potatoes to room temperature.

Meanwhile combine mayonnaise, pickle juice, mustard, salt and pepper until well combined.

In a large bowl combine potatoes, chopped onions, chopped pickles and chopped hard boiled eggs. Add the mayonnaise mixture and mix gently to combine.

Put into a serving bowl, cover and chill until serving time, at least 3 or 4 hours.

Sprinkle top with paprika if desired.