The Country Hermit's Potato Salad
A friend from college taught me how to make this amazing Potato Salad. I have to be honest and say that it takes a long time to make but it makes a lot (enough for a few meals) and will be a family favorite. I tend to make this salad only in the summer – especially if we’re having a gang over for a steak barbecue. For best results it should be made in the morning so that it has time to chill for about five hours before being served at dinner. For those with an allergy or dislike to eggs, just eliminate them and the recipe will be just as good. You can add onions if you’d like but I think they are too strong for this dish and don’t taste good with the cheddar cheese. Don’t be afraid to taste test as your preparing this salad!
A friend from college taught me how to make this amazing Potato Salad. I have to be honest and say that it takes a long time to make but it makes a lot (enough for a few meals) and will be a family favorite. I tend to make this salad only in the summer – especially if we’re having a gang over for a steak barbecue. For best results it should be made in the morning so that it has time to chill for about five hours before being served at dinner. For those with an allergy or dislike to eggs, just eliminate them and the recipe will be just as good. You can add onions if you’d like but I think they are too strong for this dish and don’t taste good with the cheddar cheese. Don’t be afraid to taste test as your preparing this salad!
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 10 large potatoes
- 1 cereal bowl full medium cheddar cheese cut into small cubes
- 1 cereal bowl full bacon crisp and crumbled
- 1 cereal bowl full celery chopped into small pieces
- 1 cereal bowl full dill pickle chopped into small pieces
- 1 cereal bowl full hard boiled eggs (about 5 eggs) chopped into small bits
- 1 teaspoon each salt & pepper
- Carbohydrate 21.2535982512185 g
- Cholesterol 109.86198000355 mg
- Fat 17.7234320534202 g
- Fiber 2.87143506328942 g
- Protein 14.4213954001552 g
- Saturated Fat 6.51792307052063 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (197g)
- Sodium 778.122430081067 mg
- Sugar 18.3821631879291 g
- Trans Fat 4.78584087783854 g
- Calories 302 calories
Step-by-step
- The majority of the prep time is cutting and cubing the cheese, cooking and crumbling the bacon, boiling and chopping the eggs, cutting up the dill pickles, and cutting up the celery. Give yourself at least an hour to an hour-and-a-half to get all this done.
- Cut the potatoes and boil until slightly under cooked (you don’t want them mushy).
- When potatoes have cooled cut into bite sized chunks.
- In a very large bowl, mix everything together stirring well. Add even more mayonnaise if you feel the salad isn't creamy enough. Add salt and pepper as needed.
- Scoop into a serving bowl and sprinkle with Paprika.
Omitting the eggs entirely shifts this recipe from a rich, binding-heavy emulsion toward a sharper, ingredient-forward mixture where the cheese and bacon dominate the palate. Managing a yield of twenty servings requires deliberate attention to potato starch retention. Boiling tubers whole before peeling and cubing prevents waterlogging, ensuring each piece absorbs mayonnaise without turning crumbly. Pull the potatoes from the heat precisely when a paring knife meets slight resistance in the center, as residual heat finishes the softening process during cooling.
Scaling quantities up or down changes the ratio of surface area to dressing. When reducing the volume, decrease the mayonnaise incrementally rather than cutting it in half immediately, because starches from ten large potatoes demand heavy hydration. Conversely, doubling the batch requires mixing in installments to prevent dense pockets of cubed cheddar from clumping at the bottom of the bowl.
Fresh celery provides a crisp cellular crunch, whereas brined dill pickles contribute acetic acid and concentrated salinity that soften during the mandatory five-hour chilling window. Combining these raw and preserved elements requires consistent knife work; uniform quarter-inch dice ensures every spoonful contains an equal distribution of moisture and fat.
