Hi Everyone,
A Sunday afternoon in the kitchen with my sister, Pat, and my cousin, Yohann, was an occasion where too many cooks did not spoil the broth, or in this case, the potato salad.
I love potato salad. Scratch that, I love homemade potato salad, but I am picky about eating it too. I don’t like it too tangy or with so much mayonnaise whereby there’s more of the mayonnaise dressing than the potatoes itself. And, I am one of those people who believe less in more when it comes to potato salad. For me it is all about the potatoes, the mayonnaise (full fat), some grainy mustard and thinly sliced green onions. However, I am not opposed to other luscious ingredients such as chicken, boiled eggs, or vegetables.
When I was in Guyana in October, I requested that potato salad be on the Sunday lunch menu that my sister, Pat, was preparing. I stayed clear of the kitchen, looking forward to the feast my sister was cooking up; she is an excellent cook. However, I wandered into the kitchen in the final stages of the meal being done (I went to get a drink refill). I found Yohann in the kitchen with Pat admiring the Spanish rice, Pot-roast Pork, Baked Chicken, Tossed salad and Potato salad.
“You know what would be great in this potato salad, a few boiled eggs and some meat from the baked chicken stripped up,” said Yohann. I “ooooed” at this and then quickly caught myself and kept my reaction in check. I looked at Pat apologetically and a little scared; after all, the woman had already mixed up her salad. The dish was already prepared. But Pat, is a much more generous person than I am. At that stage of the meal I would have probably said no, leave it as it is, but not her, she told Yohann to go ahead.
Some cooking tips ensued. First, I noticed that Yohann set the pot with water to come to a boil before adding the eggs so I explained to him that’s it’s a good idea to put the eggs in the pot at the same time with the water and let it come to a boil, this way, the eggs would cook evenly. I went on to tell him the number of minutes to cook the eggs and how to cool it down when it was finished cooking to avoid that ugly grey sulphur ring. And then I said, “Of course if you had read my column a couple of weeks ago you would know this because I talked about it in the Devilishly Delicious Eggs article.” I turned around and asked aloud, to no one in particular, “Does anyone read my column?” Yohann, with his bold-face-ness says, “Well, why read the column when we have the source right here in the kitchen?”
“Because I don’t live here mister smart-mouth!”
The second tip was to suggest that the breast meat of the baked chicken be put into the salad as that is usually the most uninteresting part of the chicken meat (I find) and it always works well in things like salads because it adds body. It’s meaty.
The third tip was to advise that it is a good idea to mix up the dressing ingredients for the salad separately, toss all the other ingredients together to mix evenly, and then add the dressing to coat everything. This way, the potatoes won’t break up too much and become like mashed-potato-salad (frankly, I don’t mind mashed-potato-salad, just as along as it tastes great).
Several minutes later the entire meal was done and we set about eating. Everything, everything was exceptionally tasty. The potato salad totally satisfied the craving I had been having for potato salad. The baked chicken definitely added something special to the flavour. I think it is because the meat had marinated overnight and then baked tenderly. It was not dry. I ate and I ate and then I ate some more. And then I felt sad as I whispered to myself: ‘Gosh how I wish I were here for so many meals with my family.’
What I liked about Pat and Yohann’s potato salad is that it was cooking at its best – cooking without a recipe. Deciding at the last minute to add other ingredients and making something extraordinary. It is one of those impromptu cooking situations that cannot be repeated. Trust me, I tried. I made the same salad when I came home and while it was good, it was not as good as Pat and Yohann’s salad.
With the holidays approaching, I encourage you to give this potato salad a try. I know I’m going to be making it. Given that this is free-style cooking, there are no quantities or measurements, just go with your instincts and taste.
Pat & Yohann’s Potato Salad
Ingredients
Potatoes
Baked chicken breasts, shredded
Finely chopped sweet peppers
Boiled eggs, chopped
Thinly sliced green onions
Mayonnaise (full fat)
Grainy mustard (optional)
Salt and black pepper to taste
Directions
1. Put a large pot of water on the stove on high heat and bring to a boil. Salt the water when it comes to a boil.
2. Meanwhile, peel the potatoes and cut into large chunks; or, you can leave the potatoes whole and cut them up after cooking.
3. Add potatoes to salted boiling water and cook until a knife inserts easily. Be careful, you don’t want the potatoes so soft that they disintegrate at the touch.
4. Drain potatoes well and let cool completely (cut into large chunks if you boiled the potatoes whole).
5. Add the cooled potatoes, chicken and sweet peppers to a large bowl and toss to mix. Now add the boiled eggs and most of the sliced green onions (reserving a handful for garnish); gently toss to mix and set aside.
6. In a separate bowl, mix together the mayonnaise, mustard and black pepper.
7. Pour the mayonnaise dressing over the potato mixture and toss/mix to coat all the ingredients. Transfer to a serving bowl (that is if you are not using the same mixing bowl to serve), sprinkle the remaining green onions on top, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve.
NOTES
● You can scrub the potatoes clean and boil them in their skin and then peel when they are finished cooking.
● Salting the boiling water seasons the potatoes and this is the best way to add taste to the potatoes and the salad. Adding salt to the salad mixture will result in the salad yielding liquid as the salt melts, also the salt does not melt completely because the salad is served cold, you then find that as you eat the salad, you taste the grains of salt.
● Blanched and cooled diced carrots and thinly sliced bora are good additions to potato salads.
● When serving potato salad at large gatherings, anchor the bowl of salad in a larger bowl filled with ice so that the salad remains cool and well chilled.
