Summer is one of those things in Vermont that we do not take for granted. It ever so sweet, but incredibly short. The other reality is that everything up here is a bit of a ways to get to. You can’t get there from here and once you do get there, you will want to spend the day. This is the perfect Authentic German Potato Salad for spending the day because it doesn’t have a lick of mayo or egg or anything else that would go bad. It can safely sit out for hours and actually is intended to be eaten slightly warm. So save the shady spot on the picnic table for grannies buttercream cake and confidently claim the sunny spot.
Pickles and bacon aren’t a worry, but we all know that onions can be problematic. Onions are high in FODMAPs which is a collection of short chained carbs and sugar alcohols and they wreak havoc on your tummy. They are a natural magnet for bacteria as well, but the answer to that is to cook them first. this breaks down the sugars as well as sterilizing over the heat. Add a healthy vinaigrette and you have resolved the food poisoning issue through science.
This is the potato salad that accompanies me to the all day, lay by the lake Fourth of July celebration that is my favorite day of the whole year. We eat first at two and then again at six, but basically its an all day grazing event, so your food had better be safe.
The other thing I like about my Authentic German Potato Salad is that you could conceivably do all your chopping and potato cooking the day before. The thing I find most challenging about potato salad is the peeling of the potatoes. My mother taught me to boil the whole potato with the peel and then peel after it was cooked and cooled, but I get kind of freaked out by the sticky, clingy peels. I started microwaving peeled potatoes, but the cooking is often uneven and requires you to do in batches. Cooking them peeled and whole tends to give you a mushy outer layer, which I am also not very fond of. Some folks suggest running your knife around the skin before cooking to allow for easier peeling and some folks peel, cube and cut before they cook. So many choices! Stay tuned for my easiest potato salad which has you roasting your potatoes and forgetting about peeling them at all! What ever your method, I’m sure you will enjoy this recipe.
Thanks for visiting, Flatlanders welcome.
*the photo contains egg, the original recipe does not.
Authentic German Potato Salad
This authentic vinaigrette based potato salad is the perfect take along to outdoor picnics.
Ingredients
- 6 large red potatoes or eight small
- 6 strips of thick cut bacon
- 1 small onion
- 1/2 cup dill pickle, chopped
- 1/2 cup fat (combination of drippings and olive oil
- 1/2 cup pickle juice
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1 tsp sugar
- 2 tbsp chopped parsley (for garnish)
Instructions
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Boil, peel and cut potatoes into cubes
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Finely chop pickles and set aside. Chop onions roughly.
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Cut the bacon into small pieces and place in a pan. Saute bacon until almost crisp and then add chopped onion to the pan. The idea is to soften the onion a bit which will make it much more tolerable to digestive track.
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Turn off the stove and drain the fat from the pan into a glass measuring cup and add enough olive oil to equal a half of a cup. Then return to the pan to the stove a add the oil back in. Add the salt, sugar and pepper to the reserved 1/2 cup of pickle juice and pour into the pan with bacon, oil, and onions. Turn the heat up briefly to warm. Do not boil, you just want to take the chill off the pickle juice.
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Pour the contents of the entire pan over your cubed cooked potatoes and toss.
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Garnish the bowl or each serving with chopped fresh parsley. Serve at room temperature
