Momma's Potato Salad - Step by Step for the Future Generations

My mother's potato salad. It is legendary. I kid you not. Her recipe is well known in our church and there are people that still request I make it.  It is not a complicated one. No fancy ingredients or special equipment. I feel the need to record it, however, because no one else makes it anymore. I am sure one day, one of my kids will be sitting around saying, "You remember when mom used to make that potato salad?" So what is going to follow is a very basic, step by step direction.  There are not a lot of measurements as this is a taste as you go sort of deal. You just have to know what it tastes like to get it right.  Let's begin with the potato:

I use your basic Russet potato.  They work the best for this type of potato salad. It is what my mom used and it is what I use.  Peel them with a good potato peeler and not a knife so that you minimize potato waste.  Get them on your cutting board and cut into chunks like so:

I believe (and you can call me crazy....because I am) that the chunk of the potato is important. You don't want to big or too small.  They need to pretty uniform so they cook at the same rate. You don't want some of them getting done before the others or you will end up with half mashed potato salad! Not cool.

Rinse your potatoes in COLD water, drain, then fill your pot with COLD water and set to boil on the stove. Yes I am emphasizing the COLD part. Sometimes people think they can speed this process up by using hot water but that is wrong. It messes things up. I am not sure why, I am not a professional chef so I don't know all the reasons....I just know that you must, must, must start with cold water.

While the potatoes are boiling, chop one medium size yellow onion and set aside in a bowl until later.

My onion chopper broke so I had to chop this beauty by hand. I was really starting to cry from the onion when I discovered something interesting! I let the cold water run in the sink (conservationists, look away) while I finished chopping the onion and I stopped crying. Running the water seemed to help dispel the "onion effect"

Next, while the potatoes are boiling, put on 8 eggs to boil.  

Now, here is where controversy sets in. You can hard boil your eggs anyway you please. I am going to tell you how I hard boil mine.  I bring the water to a full boil.  No lid.  I set the timer for 12 minutes and let them boil and a full boil for 12 minutes. OH, and YES, I start out with COLD water.  After 12 minutes I turn the stove off and immediately poured out the hot water and then ran cold water over the eggs until they cooled down.

By now, my potatoes were done. Drain the potatoes in a colander in the sink. Put the chopped onions in the bottom of the large bowl the potato salad is being made in first. I like to start with my onions on the bottom first.

Next, add the steaming hot potatoes.

Now, this is where everything gets a little tricky.  There are no exact measurements. It's time to travel back. Remember the days of sitting around the table at Thanksgiving or Easter or even Christmas when Mom made this and remember what it tasted like.  That will guide you through these next steps.  Open the refrigerator and take out the following:

Yes, it has to be Duke's mayo.  Nothing else will do.  Do not even consider anything else.

Yes, it has to be Sauer's Mustard. Nothing else will do. It is wonderful. No, neither Duke's or Sauer's paid to put this here. They don't even know about it.

Now, for the sweet relish....I am not picky about.  Generic brand, or whatever, it makes no never mind. Shocking, huh?

Add a couple of heavy spoonfuls of mayo to the potatoes.

Next add a couple of heavy spoonfuls of mustard to the potatoes.

Next add a spoonful of the sweet pickle relish.

Start stirring the potato, mayo, mustard, relish and onion together.  Don't forget to stir up from the bottom to pull the onion up.  Don't mash. You don't wan't mashed potato salad. STIR gently but firmly.

If it looks like this, it is telling you it needs more mayo or mustard or relish. So give it some more.

Start with a little mayo and then TASTE it.

Mine needed a little more mustard....but something was still missing....

It needed more punch from relish so I added more. Be careful adding relish as it has a lot of liquid. And now that I have it right, it was time to peel the eggs and add them in!

No fancy chopping method here either. I chopped them right over the bowl and let them fall on top.

Stir them gently in and you are done. Most people refrigerate before eating. I like it warm and cold!

Ta-da! The finished salad.  You know it is right when you close your eyes and see Momma's smile when you taste it. I know I can. I hope at least one of my daughter's learns how to make this. Or maybe Nick will surprise me and he will. I miss you Momma. I love you. 

Chicken Salad Adventure

No one, and I repeat, no one can make chicken salad like Ms. Stella out at our church. People have been known to volunteer for events just because they know she is making it!  I do not even pretend to think that I could replicate it but I have decided its time to create my own recipe. My mother had her own version. I was not a real big fan as it was heavily laden with Miracle Whip. That stuff makes me shudder. I guess it has its place....just not in my household. A very nice lady at our church named Linda made a chicken salad recipe that had dried cranberries in it that my daughter and I loved. I used that as the basis of inspiration for my first attempt at our salad.

The ingredients I used were as follows:

• 2 stalks celery diced
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 2 chicken breasts, boiled, shredded and cut up
• 1 4 ounce bag of dried cranberries for salad
• Duke's Mayonnaise
• 1 lemon
• Salt and pepper
• dried dill

I found bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts on sale at Kroger. I boiled these and carefully removed the bones. This is a great opportunity to save the chicken stock for later. (I'm going to freeze mine in ice-cube trays!)  Just be very careful to get the bones out of the chicken.  Set the chicken aside to cool while you dice your celery and onions small.  Even my picky oldest daughter will eat this.  She loves chicken salad! She usually does not eat anything with vegetables but as long as the celery and onion are small, she eats!

After dicing the celery and onion, I shredded then cut up my chicken.  I like to shred the chicken with my hands. This way I can feel for any bones I may have missed the first time. After shredding and chopping the chicken, I mix in my celery and onion. I am still using my hands at this point.  I did not use all of the celery and onion.  It is a matter of taste at this point. As I mixed it in, I watched the ratio as I added it.  I really did not want the celery or onion to out-gun my chicken.

After washing my hands I decided it was time to switch to a spoon.  Here is where the measuring goes out the window! Once again it comes down to a matter of taste.  I cut my lemon in half and only squeezed half into my chicken/celery/onion mixture.  I tossed in the bag of dried cranberries and stirred.  Next I added the first of what was to be three large tablespoons of Duke's Mayonnaise.  I kept stirring.  Added salt, pepper and approximately 1/2 teaspoon of dill weed.  I stopped. I tasted. I added more mayo.  More salt. More stirring.  This is where you just have to go with your gut....or more with your taste buds.  I did not want soupy chicken salad.  I did not want salty chicken salad.  I knew if I accidentally added to much dill weed my kids would not eat it.  It was a ballet of chicken salad in the kitchen.  Eventually I stopped adding things and called in the BIG GUNS.  My seventeen year old son has no problems telling me like it is when it comes to my cooking.  He came in.  He took a bite, nudged me out of the way, grabbed the bread and made himself a sandwich.

Later he came into my office and declared it was good.  He thanked me for dinner and asked me to make it again.  He said it needed a little something more.  "Mayonnaise?" I asked.  "No." he said.  "More crunch?" I said. "No, but maybe more of the dill weed next time." Hmm...I was surprised.   Stay tuned for the next chicken salad adventure...

Fried Okra from scratch

My sweetheart loves his fried okra. I am ashamed to say I usually just buy the pre-breaded kind from Food Lion but this time I decided to suck it up and buy it fresh and do it myself.  I started with fresh okra pods.

I chopped the ends off and discarded them and then chopped the pods into about 1/4" slices.

Next I broke two eggs into a bowl and beat them (they were naughty and deserved a good beating!).
I added the sliced okra and let them soak up the egg for about 10 minutes.

While the okra was soaking I got my hot grease ready.  I used shortening instead of vegetable oil. I figured if I was going to fry something, I should do it right.

When the oil was ready I transferred the okra out of the egg into a mixture of 1 cup of corn meal mixed with garlic powder, onion powder and a healthy dose of cayenne pepper.

Next I dropped (carefully) the okra into the hot shortening and let it fry until golden brown.

When they were finished I transferred them onto a plate with paper towels to drain and sprinkled with some sea salt.  My husband and son enjoyed them.

Overall it was a success and was actually more enjoyable than pulling them frozen from a  bag.  I guess I will never by pre-made ones again!

Jumbled-laya otherwise known as OOPS!

I set out tonight to make another batch of jambalaya.  I ended up committing "cook's homicide" when I did not check and make sure I actually had ALL the mandatory ingredients.  UGH.  I know better than that.  What follows below is an account of my maniacal recipe mangling, otherwise known as tonight's dinner.

It started out all good.  Here are my boneless, skinless chicken thighs frying in my large pan.  I sprinkled them liberally with Soul Seasoning and let them cook until done.  While they were cooking I chopped four small to medium yellow onions and two green peppers.  I did a large rough chop, not small dice.  It is important (I don't know, it sounded good!).

After the chicken was done (I forgot to tell you I fryed them in a little bit of vegetable oil) I put it aside on a plate with paper towels on it.  I drained away most of the left over oil but left a smidge to saute my veggies.

I only sauted them until just tender, I wanted them to retain some of their texture.  Next I sliced my package of Andouille sausage and microwaved it for 30 seconds.  After the nuke cycle I added the sausage to the peppers and onions.  I added the six cups of chicken stock and the bay leaf. 

And here my friends, is where my recipe ran OFF THE RAILS!!!!  As I started to slice my mushrooms I suddenly realized my rice was MISSING.  Good gravy! I thought I had an entire package and it was gone!

I did what an self respecting cook would do....I PANICKED!  I called my daughters into the kitchen because they are taller than me.  I wanted them to check up in the cabinets where Miss Shorty could not see.  No luck.  Next I called my son (who was not home, I called his friend's cell phone to find him).  He was like...NO. I don't know.

Of course, next, I pouted.  Fumed.  Paced.  Then my husband said, "just use pasta".  WHAT? Pasta in my jambalaya??? PFFTT....

Since the recipe was already wrong I decided to just add other stuff.  I added a can of drained and rinsed pinto beans.  I added some chopped green onion.  Then I paced some more.  What on earth could I add?  I did not have any rice.  I started looking at my pasta but I only had angel hair and I just knew it would turn to mush.  That is when I saw it.  I had two bags of Lipton Creamy Chicken Noodles.  They are flat noodles and are rather sturdy.  So I dumped both bags with their seasoning in. 

Well....it actually turned out pretty well.  I like the rough chopped mushrooms and onions.  I like the addition of the pintos.  Even the noodles work.  So, I have some new weird creation.  And the family is fed.  Mission accomplished.