Red Potato Salad

It’s one of those uncharacteristically hot San Francisco Fall afternoons. Which means it is the perfect time to make my favorite potato salad. It’s the kind of potato salad that even the potato salad haters—who characterize potato salad as a slimy mayo-drowned side dish of evil — go back to for seconds.

Red Potato Salad Recipe

  • 3 lb bag baby red potatoes
  • 1 small Russet potato
  • 2 eggs, hard boiled
  • 4 pieces of bacon, crispy
  • 1 bunch green onions, chopped
  • 1/2 cup mayonnaise
  • 1/4 cup yellow mustard
  • fresh ground pepper

Bring a large pot of water to boil for your potatoes, while hard boiling 2 eggs in a small sauce pan for 10 minutes and frying up your bacon. Clean red potatoes and quarter or chop into bite-size chunks. Peel Russet potato and chop into bite sized chunks. Boil potatoes until cooked through and soft, 15-25 minutes. Once potatoes are cooked through, drain off water and add potatoes to bowl.

Cool hard boiled eggs in an ice water bath, then remove shell and chop up and place in large bowl. Chop bacon into small chunks and also add to bowl. Clean green onions and chop up whites and light green portions and add to bowl. Add mayonnaise and mustard to bowl and gently combine all ingredients with a wooden spoon. Add freshly grown pepper to taste.

Serve warm or chill for an hour in the refrigerator before serving. Yields approximately 8 servings.

Potato+Leek+Artichoke Casserole

image from farm7.static.flickr.com

We had a nice bit of Fall weather in September, before the Indian Summer fell upon us and made the apartment unfit for cooking. While it was still cold enough to use the oven, I did some side dish experimentation, and made this truly delicious casserole to accompany pork chops.

Potato, Leek and Artichoke Bake

  • 1 TBSP olive oil, plus 2 TSP or a mister
  • 3 Leeks (white and light green portion only), thinly sliced into half moons and rinsed of all dirt.
  • 1 14oz can of atichoke hearts, drained and rinsed
  • 1/2 cup chicken broth
  • 3.5-4 oz cream cheese
  • 2 TBSP freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 2 medium russet potatoes, thinly sliced (via mandolin)
  • salt and pepper to taste

I adapted this from a recipe in Everyday Food. I omitted the celery and changed up the cheese including decreasing its amount, and bumped up the amount of leeks.

Preheat oven to 425. Brush 1 1/2 quart baking dish with olive oil and set aside.

In large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat; add leeks. Cook 8-10 minutes until softened. Add artichokes, broth and cheese, and stir until combined. Remove skillet form heat, add lemon juice and season with salt and pepper.

Arrange half the potato slices in overlapping rows to act as the base for your casserole. Season with salt and pepper. Top with the artichoke mixture, making sure to evenly spread it out across the potato slices. Layer with remaining potatoes. Mist with olive oil and salt and pepper. Bake 40-45 minutes until mixture is bubbly and edges of potatoes are crispy and golden in color. Let stand about 10 minutes before serving.

Makes 6 servings.

The leftovers from this made a great addition to my lunch as well. Reheated for 2 minutes in the microwave at work.