
Best Potato Salad Ever!
A New Love for Potato Salad
One of my favorite assignments in culinary school was making potato salad. I wasn’t a big fan of this salad for a long time until I made this one. Wow! I was in heaven. It was so good! I think it was because everything was made from scratch.
Recipe & Kitchen Equipment
You’re in for a treat today! Three recipes will be shared in this one post. Yay!
Yields: 4 servings
- ½ pound of organic waxy potatoes
- 1 ½ fluid ounces of a basic vinaigrette
- Vinaigrette recipe
- 3 fluid ounces of organic red wine vinegar
- 9 fluid ounce organic canola oil
- 0.5 ounce organic Dijon mustard
- Kosher salt, to taste
- Organic black [epper, to taste
- Vinaigrette recipe
- Pinch of Kosher salt
- Pinch of organic white pepper
- 1 ½ ounce organic celery, small dice
- ½ ounce organic onion, fine chopped
- ¼ cup mayonnaise
- Mayo recipe
- 2 organic egg yolks
- ½ teaspoon organic dry mustard
- 1 ½ teaspoons organic white wine vinegar
- 1 ½ teaspoons cold purified water
- ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
- 14 fluid ounce organic canola oil
- Orangic lemon juice, to taste
- Organic cayenne pepper, to taste
- Mayo recipe
- Mixing bowls/spoons/cups for mise en place ingredients
- Food scale
- Mixing bowl
- Whisk
- Saucepan
- Cutting board
- Chef knife
- Colander
- Paper towels
- Container (for storing)
- Bottle (for storing)
Cooking Instructions
Vinaigrette recipe:
- Sanitize kitchen (sink, countertops, stovetop/oven, cupboard handles, phone, computer).
- Mise en place ingredients.
- Mix well with the vinegar, dijon, mustard, salt, and pepper.
- Whisk in the oil gradually.
- Store at room temperature.
Mayonnaise recipe:
- Mise en place ingredients.
- In a medium bowl, beat/whisk yolks until they become frothy and ribbon-like.
- Add dry mustard, salt, vinegar, and cold water and beat/whisk together.
- Add the oil, one drop at a time, until the mixture thickens and the emulsion forms.
- Once the emulsion formulates, add the oil in a steady stream until desired thickness.
- If the emulsion becomes too thick, add a few drops of water or lemon juice to thin it.
- Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt, lemon juice, and cayenne pepper.
- Refrigerate.
Potato salad recipe:
- Scrub the potatoes.
- Rinse the celery.
- Cut onions and celery.
- Mise en place ingredients.
- Fill the saucepan with water.
- Bring to a boil, then to a simmer.
- Add potatoes and simmer until tender. Do not overcook.
- Drain potatoes and leave in a colander to cool.
- Use a paper towel to drain excess water.
- Combine the vinaigrette, salt, and pepper in a bowl and add the potatoes.
- Marinate overnight in the refrigerator.
- If the potatoes do not absorb any vinaigrette, drain them off.
- Add the onions and celery and mix gently.
- Add the mayonnaise and mix gently until combined.
- Keep refrigerated until ready to be served.
Emulsions in Culinary Arts
I made two emulsions: a vinaigrette, which is temporary, and mayonnaise, which is permanent.
The basic definition of an emulsion is a uniform mixture of two unmixable substances, such as oil and vinegar.
A temporary emulsion is when two liquids, oil, and vinegar, separate after being shaken together.
On the other hand, a permanent emulsion is when the two liquids don’t separate, such as mayonnaise. What holds the oil and vinegar together is a strong emulsifier. In this case, egg yolks.
Happy cooking,
FS x
References
Gisslen, W. (2018). Professional cooking (9th ed.). Wiley.