Captain OCD used to run down to Fred’s and come back with potato salad that was a bit unusual in that it came from a store in a plastic container, but had lots of flavor and was delicious in a sturdy, potluck-picnic kind of way. Turns out that Diane, who worked there, made all the salads (her macaroni salad was also excellent), soups, baked beans, and most of the other typical deli-case dishes. While what you see in those glass cases in small, unfancy stores is usually mass-produced, bland crap, what resided in Fred’s case was a delightful surprise. I’m pretty sure she made them in her kitchen, which assuredly was not a certified kitchen, but no one cared: her stuff was good. Like all good cooks, she didn’t adhere to specific recipes, but she finally obliged Captain OCD and wrote down an approximation of her potato salad recipe. That’s below, exactly as she wrote it.
I found this recipe, scribbled on the back of part of a cigarette carton. A hastily scribbled favorite recipe on a torn-off part of a cigarette carton is a pretty good description of this potato salad. Bring this to your next picnic and, when someone condescendingly asks if that’s mayonnaise dressing those potatoes, say, no, it’s just a simple rustic emulsified vinaigrette.
Potato Salad
Ingredients
- 4 –5 pounds red potatoes boiled and diced
- 1 medium onion finely chopped
- 6 hard boiled eggs chopped
- 1 cup relish: sweet or dill whatever you like
- 1-1/2 –2 cups mayonnaise
- 1 –2 tablespoons mustard the kind you choose greatly influences the flavor of the salad
- 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
- 2 teaspoons Mrs. dash
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
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Gently combine all ingredients.
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Chill thoroughly.
