Monday 6 April 2009

A potato salad

Another one not to forget. I had a craving. Sometimes such things just happen. Loosely based around something Elaine's friend Mary made the first time I met her, in Belfast in May nearly a year ago.

For one-and-a-half, without much else:
- 6 or so thumb-sized baby new or charlotte potatoes
- 1 dessertspoonful of mayonnaise
- 1 smaller dessertspoonful of plain yoghurt
- A small half teaspoonful of green pesto
- 8 or so slices of pickled green jalapeños, finely chopped
- 3 teaspoons of capers (it would have been better if I could have got them just in brine or salt...mine had vinegar in too) - these would be the making of the salad if I'd got REALLY good ones...
- 1 inch of chorizo, cut into half centimetre dice (so that's a piece about the size of the top joint of my thumb)
- Black pepper
- a drop of olive oil

Boil the potatoes until cooked but still firm - unpeeled and uncut, so they don't get soggy. Meanwhile, mix the mayo, yoghurt, pesto, chillies, capers and black pepper. When the potatoes are nearly done, fry the chorizo bits in the oil until crispy and then add the whole contents of the pan to the rest of the dressing ingredients. Combine and taste. I find it unlikely you'll need salt, but you never know. When the potatoes are cooked, slice into bite-sized pieces. Use a few bits to mop up the chorizo oil in the pan (don't waste it!) and then add the still warm potato to the mayo mix. Stir to combine. Eat, with gusto.

5 comments:

  1. Hmm - sounds a bit foreign to me.

    Try mayonnaise thinned with a little extra oil, add chopped gerkin and chopped boiled egg. Much better after being chilled overnight in the fridge - none of this eat warm nonsense!

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  2. Not really a fan of eggs in my potato salad - any sort of sausage or nothing at all is an improvement I feel. And there's not NEARLY enough chilli in your version. :-P. Try it! Go on! You can leave out the pork if feeling anti-pork product, but the chillies and the capers are most of the point :-)...

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  3. I think the entire point of my potato salad is that it does not contain chilli and indeed is pleasantly cooling. Capers might be nice though - salty and strong. Mmmmm!

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  4. Sounded great, until I got to the Jalepenos. I don't do Jalepenos, I do bland. :0)

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  5. ...weed! Leave them out, add extra capers and some sort of home-sprouted beans, and half a teaspoon of some good wine vinegar instead...

    *loves the hot*

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