Potato Salad With Ingredient X

Hi! I'm now working from Wordpress. I've spent a great deal of time editing and reorganising this post on Wordpress and it is so much friendlier to read & follow my recipe from there. Click on this link to take you directly to the recipe:

Potato Salad With Ingredient X

Link to my newest and old recipes, click:

https://kitchenbaroness.wordpress.com/

Comfort food for sure but thank goodness it can be lightened up, if only by a little.

A full blown mayonnaise dressing can be an overkill with this already carbohydrate loaded salad. So to lighten it up and convince myself that it is not going to fatten me too much, I reduce the mayonnaise and replace it with some greek yogurt. 

It does make for a better tasting salad as it is less cloyingly rich. Now don't even think of using that bottle of low-fat mayonnaise nonsense. It doesn't even taste like mayonnaise! If you are going to blow your diet on a potato salad, please, at least use real mayonnaise. Your taste buds will thank you.

Dare I tell you why this potato salad is not just good but very good? Your opinion of me might dip thereafter but the difference in taste is so pronounced without ingredient x, that sharing with you how to make an equally good potato salad, by far out weighs an ego setback. Ready? Throw in a cube of chicken bouillon. That's right. For details as to when and how, you would have to read further on. Now, I am going to curl up into a ball and hide. 

POTATO SALAD WITH INGREDIENT X                               

Prep:	30 minutes
Cook:	30 minutes
Inactive:	-
Level:	Easy enough
Makes:	6 cups
Oven Temperature:	-
Can recipe be doubled?	Yes
Make ahead?	Taste best freshly made but it can be made in the morning to be consumed within that day.

Just the ingredients 1 lb (450g) waxy or all-purpose potato 2 - 3 eggs 1 chicken bouillon cube (small) OR  the equivalent of 3/4 - 1 teaspoon chicken granules 1 Tablespoon boiling water ~1/4 cup frozen green peas ~1/2 cup diced cooked peeled shrimps/prawns 4 - 5 rashers of bacon 1/4 cup finely diced onions 1 clove grated garlic 1/2 cup diced water chestnuts OR 1 red apple 2 Tablespoons raisins/cranberries 1/4 cup mayonnaise 3 Tablespoons greek yogurt  OR  3 Tablespoons light sour cream 1 - 2 teaspoons sugar or adjust to taste 1/4 teaspoon pepper pinch of salt

Ingredients

1 lb (450g) waxy or all-purpose potato

A waxy potato keeps its shape after cooking. Example, Nadine. An all-purpose potato such as Yukon Gold would taste even better and it's my favourite (Desiree would be fine too). However, do not buy a starchy potato, that is, one that you would use for making mash potatoes such as Russet, Idaho or King Edward unless you prefer a potato salad that is more mash.

As a rough guide, potatoes with a smooth and thin skin are often waxy potatoes. Rougher, darker brown coloured potatoes are starchy potatoes. All-purpose potatoes look in between the two.

2 eggs

1 chicken bouillon cube (small)
OR 
the equivalent of 3/4 - 1 teaspoon chicken granules

1 Tablespoon boiling water

~1/4 cup frozen green peas

~1/2 cup diced cooked peeled shrimps/prawns

I prefer to buy them fresh, cook them quickly in their shells in boiling salted water, peel and then dice.

4 rashers of bacon

1/4 cup finely diced onions

1 clove grated garlic

1/2 cup diced water chestnuts

I prefer buying them fresh as the sweetness and crunch of these are not the same as those from a can. Either omit or use the ones from the can if you like those. Drain well and dice.

OR

1 red apple

Peel, core and dice small.

1 - 2 Tablespoons raisins/cranberries

Little pops of sweetness helps offset the creamy richness of the potatoes and mayonnaise.

1/4 cup mayonnaise

Full fat, no low-fat nonsense here. It doesn't taste the same!

3 Tablespoons greek yogurt OR light sour cream

Using all mayonnaise will make the salad too cloyingly rich. I lighten it up with greek yogurt (greek because it has a thicker consistency and won't make the finished dressing too runny) or a light sour cream- I am permitting light, in fact, insist it has to be light to offset the full fat mayonnaise. Adjust the mayonnaise:yogurt/light sour cream ratio to suit your taste.

What to do with the remaining light sour cream? My Pasta Tossed In A Radish Sprouts Light Sour Cream Sauce is perfect and easy to execute.

1 - 2 teaspoons sugar or adjust to taste

Yogurt/light sour cream will help lighten up an all mayonnaise dressing but you would need some sugar to adjust for the tartness.

1/4 teaspoon pepper

pinch of salt

Method

Place washed but unpeeled potatoes in pot, fill with water to cover above 1" (2.5cm). Add the eggs in there as well. Always wash your eggs with soap and water just before using. Use a sheet of scrunched up kitchen paper towel to rub off all dirt. You do realise that all manner of chicken goo gets stuck on the shells right?

Cover pot, bring to boil over high heat. Remove cover and lower to a medium-high heat. Time 10 minutes from this point, remove eggs to cold water and when cooled, peel and dice them. Set aside.

Whilst potatoes are cooking, bring to boil 3/4 cup of water in a small pot. Remove 1 Tablespoon of the boiling water to dissolve the chicken bouillon. Set aside.

Salt the remaining pot of boiling water and cook the frozen green peas. Takes 1 - 2 minutes. Use a strainer to lift up the peas. Set aside.

If you are using fresh shrimps/prawns, now is the time to cook them. 

In the same pot of boiling water, add the prawns/shrimps. When they turn completely pink, remove with the strainer. Cool, peel and dice. Set aside.

Mix well, the mayonnaise, greek yogurt/light sour cream, sugar and pepper. Adjust to taste. Do not salt as the bacon and chicken bouillon is salty. Set aside.

Check on the potatoes. They are cooked when you can slide a skewer easily through. Drain. Potatoes are easier to peel whilst still warm. After peeling, dice them.

Whilst the potatoes are cooking or cooling, cut bacon into 1" (2.5cm) slices and in a large pan, fry the bacon until crisp (no need to add oil). Turn off the heat, remove from stove top but leave bacon with the drippings in the pan. 

Place the diced potatoes, diced onions and grated garlic directly into the pan where the fried bacon is sitting and mix quickly. Dressing the potatoes whilst they are still hot will ensure that the potatoes can soak up maximum flavour. And, if you had left the potatoes to cool for too long, the residual heat in the pan will reheat the potatoes a little which is a good thing.

Now, add the chicken bouillon liquid and mix. 

Fold in the salad dressing. 

Next goes in the green peas, raisins, prawns/shrimps and diced water chestnuts/apple. Fold in gently.

Lastly, fold in the diced eggs. Don't over mix or the egg yolks will start to collapse and turn the salad into mash.

Adjust seasoning to taste, using the pinch of salt only if necessary.

Chill immediately if not eating warm. 

Tips

• Potato salad can go rancid pretty quickly, especially if you live in an area with high humidity. If I am not eating the salad straight away, I refrigerate my still warm salad immediately into the refrigerator. Do not cover it whilst it is still warm, condensation sets in and you don't want the water vapours to pool down into the salad. Cover only after it has completely cooled.
• This potato salad taste best if eaten within 6 hours or at most, within the day.

WHAT'S COMING UP NEXT?                                                
It's apricot season and let me tell you how to get them nice and sweet for this delicious fresh mozzarella salad.