Jun 02, 2013 in potatoes, recipes, salads, epicurious, under 400 calories, vegetarian. Read the original on: cooking in my heels
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You may have noticed I’ve been a bit quiet of late. Well, hopefully you’ve noticed. The reason there was no pithy commentary last week was because I was taking a peek at my new world in the Beaver State. Ok, stop snickering. Oregon’s nickname is the Beaver State. And the beaver is a very noble creature. No, really…it is. Anyway, over Memorial Day weekend I visited Hood River, and was warmly welcomed by my friends, their friends, and a passel of very happy dogs. Oregon is an assault on the senses in the very best way. Visually, tactilely, and orally, it’s a pretty amazing place. The landscape is breathtaking, so much so that I nearly drove off the road several times on the ride from PDX to Hood River due to slack-jawed gawking at the world outside my windshield. Suffice to say the ride from Newark to West 24th Street isn’t quite so picturesque. Next there was the food…HOLY COW…the FOOD! Crazy good locally grown produce and the wonderful dishes they become, a plethora of tasty craft brews, fabulous baked goods (particularly in the Heights), and of course, the wine. I had it all and loved every tasty bite.
Since I did a bunch of research on the area before I decided for sure I wanted to move west, the resources, food and even the scenery were somewhat expected. But there are always a few things you can only learn by planting feet on ground, and I thought I’d share some observations with you. I have no doubt there’ll be more of these as this bold adventure unfolds, so for now consider this Oregon Observations – Chapter 1:
As I sat on the plane Tuesday night and headed east the sunset, I realized one thing. While the move will be hard, I’ll have a beautiful and welcoming place to unpack my Pradas in the Pacific Northwest. So thank you to Megan and Clint, Ashley, Heidi, Rob and everyone else I met (and especially Maddy and Romeo) from making me feel so welcome and introducing me to the Beaver State and Hood River. While I may not “blendâ€, I think I might just fit in.
So since last week was the “unofficial†start of summer, I thought it was time to break open the family vault and give my grandmother’s potato salad recipe to the world. Tante Betty’s (my grandmother) potato salad established its reputation in Portland East (Brooklyn) and was loved by everyone in the neighborhood who bought it by the pound at the deli where she worked. The legend grew over countless backyard BBQ’s and picnics, a hush often falling over the crowd when the dish was brought to the table, crowned in crispy bits of bacon. Ok, so maybe that didn’t happen, but it’s really good. I’m very democratic when it comes to spud salad and love many different types, but this is the potato salad of my memory. It will always bring back the vision of my grandmother’s hands slicing “good†potatoes into the dish.
I’m posting this exactly as it was written on the card tucked into my mom’s recipe box. I’ve added a few comments in parenthesis, since not everyone speaks “Tante Bettyâ€.
Good German Potato Salad (I kid you not, that’s how it’s written on the card)
Makes about 4 cups
Cook 2 lbs good potatoes not too soft.
(I used white potatoes, but you could use yukon golds, new potatoes, or another waxy type, cover with cold water, add a good pinch or two of salt, bring to a boil and simmer about 20-25 minutes, but start checking at 15 minutes or so.)
Boil together:
To the boiled mixture, add 1 grated small onion (about 1/3 cup), a heaping teaspoon of grainy mustard and mix. Put some of the mixture into a dish. Slice the potatoes into the dish, layering more mixture over it. Continue layering, finishing with the dressing mixture on top. If it looks too dry when you finish, you can add a little hot water till it suits you.
To make EXTRA good (and who wouldn’t want extra good), fry up about 3 oz. bacon and crumble over.
This is best served warm. Do not refrigerate.
Calories: about 150 per ½ cup
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Filed under: Potatoes, Recipes, Salads Tagged: epicurious, Recipes, Under 400 calories, vegetarian
Read the original on: cooking in my heels
Welcome to Cooking in my heels, the ramblings and recipes of an ex-executive and serious food lover in her fabulous shoes. I’m Karin, a cook, baker, recipe developer, cooking and baking teacher, aspiring entrepreneur, blogger… and that well-shod ex-exec. After years of a career in the NYC non profit and corporate world, a lay-off in late 2009, the subsequent crappy job market, and a mid-life realization that life was short and I wasn’t doing what I loved, I gathered up Pradas, pots, pans and a BIG bucket of chutzpah and this Gotham gal moved from NYC to small town Oregon to live, work, blog and hopefully grow a business from my love of all things food. These days my world is a little smaller but my kitchen has grown, and you can find me in it developing recipes for clients, creating artisanal products like grissini and chocolate truffles for local shops and restaurants, or tutoring new cooks and bakers in Hood River, OR. And of course, writing about it all, and the adventures of a life-long city gal in a small west coast town in Cooking in my heels. This, as they say, should be interesting…