Success: Creole Potato Salad

This potato salad involved a lot of chopping, and thus gives a novice chef plenty of opportunity to practice her knife skills on potatoes, onions, celery, peppers and eggs. One of the earliest lessons at Rouxbe Online Video Cooking School is on knife skills, and the words that stuck with me from that one are to the effect that, when your knife is in motion, you need to keep your eyes on the area between your knuckles (never fingertips) and the blade of your knife. And indeed, you look away at your peril, as I reminded myself today.  Ow ow ow friggin' ow.

'Nuff said. On to the recipe. I had new potatoes hanging about, so decided to make a potato salad because I haven't made one in forever. And I don't think I've ever made one with new potatoes. New red potatoes, no less, because red potatoes are my favourite. The picture? Oh, the picture is of IKEA's Charm egg slicer, which enabled me to chop the egg for my salad, without actually needing a knife. Charm, indeed. I'm very glad I spent that $1.99.

Creole Potato Salad

This is a great make-ahead salad, as extra time chilling in the refrigerator helps the flavors sink into the potatoes. (From Simply Recipes)

Ingredients

• 2 pounds Yukon gold or new potatoes, scrubbed clean (peel on or off, your choice), cut in 1 to 2-inch chunks
• 6 hard-boiled eggs, coarsely chopped
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 1 green pepper, diced
• 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 cup Creole mustard
• 3/4 cup mayonnaise (less or more to taste)
• Salt
• Cajun seasoning, for garnish

Method

1. Place potatoes in a large pot, cover with cold water by an inch. (If you haven't already hard boiled the eggs, you can boil the eggs with the potatoes.) Bring to a boil and add about a teaspoon of salt. Lower the heat to a simmer and cover. Cook until the potatoes are fork tender, about 10 minutes. Drain in a colander.
2. While you are boiling the potatoes, mix the sugar, vinegar, mayonnaise and mustard in with the celery, peppers and onion in a large bowl.
3. While the potatoes are still warm, gently mix them in with the dressing. Stirring them in while warm will allow the potatoes to soak in the seasonings better.
4. Gently fold the chopped hard boiled eggs into the potato mixture until well combined. Taste the potato salad and add salt to taste. Put the salad in the fridge for at least an hour before serving.

Serve chilled, garnished with paprika or Cajun seasoning.

Serves 6-8.

If you don't have creole mustard (as I didn't), you can make your own. The internets have several recipes for this. I chose this one for its brevity. Link

Creole Mustard

6 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Tabasco sauce or hot sauce

Mix all together.  Yields 1/4 cup.

(Though come to think of it, I used regular yellow mustard, not Dijon. Must change that for next time.) This makes a boatload of dressing, let me say, and I worried that it would be too much. And it might have been, but then again, I had slightly less than two full pounds of spuds by the time I'd washed and trimmed 'em, so maybe that made a difference. However, the hot potatoes do in fact absorb the dressing, and it was a heck of a lot less gloopy after an hour or two in the fridge than it was when it went in.  And I didn't have any Cajun seasoning, so had to settle for Tex-Mex, but I'm not sure it makes any difference; you don't use that much of it.

I call this one a success because S liked it. And so did I. Also, it makes a LOT if there's just two of you, so I've got a lot of leftovers. Think I'll take them to work, to share, because much as I like it, I'll weary of it before I can finish all that.

Culinary School - Your Way

This newfound interest of mine, in food and cooking, has brought me up short on a couple of occasions. The more I learn, it seems, the more I realize I have to learn. I thought I'd learned most of the basics from my mom, my friends, and in school, but with the preponderance of cooking shows and websites, I realize that, although I know a good deal more than some people, I know a good deal less than I'd like to.

This video, for instance - Gordon Ramsay making perfect scrambled eggs - was an absolute revelation.



I've made those scrambled eggs on several occasions now, for different people, and they get rave reviews every time. Who knew it could be so easy? I'd been doing pretty much everything wrong up to that point: blending the eggs, adding milk and salt and pepper and cheese and goodness knows what else before cooking, using too-high heat, cooking the eggs too fast... you name it, I did it wrong. And I was never happy with my scrammelacks, as my dad calls them.

I have good quality knives, cutting boards, appliances, and cookware, but without the knowledge and skills to back it up, it all feels like so much window dressing, akin to having good quality skis and poles and boots and a matching ski suit, before you've even taken a lesson: unnecessary and possibly a bit pretentious. I don't want to be a professional chef, but I sure would like to know what they know, cook like they cook, with confidence and creativity. I don't have the time, the money, the passion, to go to culinary school, so some other strategy is clearly required.

Reading cooking and foodie blogs has taught me a bit. (Serious Eats has a series of how-to's and knife skills that have helped.) Cooking shows help, too, though some of them are more focused on what not to do than what to do. The How to Cook Everything app for iPhone is also wicked cool.

But the most helpful thing I've found thus far? Rouxbe.com Online Video Cooking School. I found a link and a video on one of the blogs I read included a reference and a link to Rouxbe.com's lesson on how to heat a stainless steel pan properly to ensure the food doesn't stick, and a commenter mentioned that the whole (subscription only) site is amazing useful and worth the subscription fee, so I had a look. And then I signed up for the 14-day free trial. And I've been absorbing the lessons - on eggs, on bread, on equipment - all weekend. The bread one was so inspiring I actually bought yeast and bread flour today, with the intention of trying my hand at baguettes. There are more than 60 lessons, plus practice recipes and video recipes. The videos are compatible with iPad and iPhone, which is nice for those of us who commute from time to time.

I'm quite impressed, and considering buying a subscription when my free trial expires in 12 more days.