Potato Salad

I love potato salad.  It is one of my go-to side dishes for the summertime.  I found this recipe from BudgetBytes: http://budgetbytes.blogspot.com/2010/03/southern-style-potato-salad-363-recipe.html

I have made this recipe with many variations:  With/without eggs, with/without green onions, I never use celery, because I don't care for that stuff.  I also have experimented with different amounts of mustard, sweet relish, vinegar and seasoning salt.  It has always turned out delicious!  I have found that I like it best with green onions and almost double the relish, mustard and vinegar.  She doesn't give an amount for the seasoning salt.  I use slightly less than 1 Tbs.  I know that's a lot, but the flavor really mellows out once it has been in the fridge, and this way you can still get some of the yummy flavor.

Here's the recipe:

INGREDIENTS          

3 lbs. yukon gold potatoes (I'm not sure what kind I use, but they are white)

1 tsp. salt

2 large hard boiled eggs (see step #2)

3/4 cup light mayonnaise

2 sliced green onions

1 stalk celery (I always skip this)

1 Tbsp sweet relish (I use almost twice this much)

1 Tbsp mustard (I use almost twice this much)           

1 Tbsp red wine vinegar (I use almost twice this much)

to taste fresh black pepper (I skip this)       

to taste tony caschere's (or seasoning salt)  (No amount is listed, so I use about 1 Tbsp.)

STEP 1: Peel, wash and cut your potatoes into one inch cubes. Place them in a large pot and cover with cold water. Add 1 tsp of salt to the water and bring it to a boil over high heat. Boil the potatoes until they are tender (about ten minutes) then drain in a colander and let them cool. It is crucial that the potatoes are fully cooked otherwise your salad will be ruined. To test the potatoes, pull out the largest piece you can find and test the softness with a fork.

STEP 2: While the potatoes are cooking, begin to cook your hard boiled eggs. Place the eggs in a small pot and cover them with cold water. Bring the pot to a boil over high heat. If your eggs were cold (just out of the fridge), let them boil for one minute. If they were room temperature, turn the heat off just after it reaches a rolling boil. After the one minute of boiling (for cold eggs), turn the heat off and cover with a lid. Let the eggs sit for exactly 15 minutes (use a timer) then place the pot in the sink and run cold water over them for one minute to stop the cooking process. This should yield the perfect hard boiled egg.

STEP 3: While the potatoes and eggs are boiling away, rinse and finely dice the celery and green onions.

STEP 4: While the potatoes and eggs are cooling, mix together the mayonnaise, mustard, pepper, relish and red wine vinegar in a bowl. Sprinkle on a little Tony's or seasoning salt, mix and taste test for more. Once you have the dressing to your liking, mix in the chopped celery and onion. Remember, you want your dressing to be a little on the strong side because once it mixes with the starchy potatoes it will mellow out.

STEP 5: Peel and dice the hard boiled eggs. Mix the potatoes and eggs into the dressing. Taste the mixture to test for any additional seasoning needed. Refrigerate until cold then serve!