February 12, 2012

Warm Potato Salad with Green Beans

Summer and Fall time calls for picnics with chilled potato salads but with the season
being winter and having snow on the ground makes for warmer salads.

Here is a recipe for warm potato salad with green beans.

Recipe:
1 small bag of fingerling potatoes
1 small bag or 1 handful of string or green beans (fresh, not frozen or canned)
2-4 eggs (depending on # of people)
1 TBSP on grainy dijon mustard
1 inch of anchovy paste (optional) gives excellent nutty flavor
1 large garlic clove (grated)
1/4 cup white vinegar & water
handful of shredded or grated parmesan cheese (about 3-4 TBSP)
optional (hand torn rotisserie style chicken)

First, start with boiling some eggs.  Here's a no fail way to boil eggs-
Take you eggs and gently lay them in a pot and then fill your pot with COLD water,
enough that the eggs are completely submerged.
Without putting a lid on it, wait until the water starts to boil profusely.
When the water is boiling to the point of bubbling, turn your stove off and THEN place a
lid on the eggs and wait 10 minutes. (not five minutes, not 6 or 7 either)
After 10 minutes, drain/pour the water out and run COLD water over the eggs for
many, many seconds and then let the eggs sit in the cold water for a few minutes or until
you are ready to peel them. If you really need hard boiled eggs for something asap...
laying them in a bowl of ice and water will help tremendously. The cold water shocks the
egg and allows the shell to pull away from the egg itself making the peeling process way easier.





(sometimes it's better to put a little more water since the water evaporates- 
unlike mine in this picture as you can see the eggs are not completely covered)



Yes, I'm aware that lid is bigger than the pot. I'm always multi-tasking
so it's usually whatever I can grab that works!


Next, get your fingerling potatoes ready, they are called fingerling because they look like
fingers. You can obviously use any type of potato but I recommend a smaller type since this
is potato salad vs. just a baked potato. After the potatoes are washed, just boil them.


As the potatoes are boiling away wash and cut the end stems off of your green/string beans.


Once you've checked with a toothpick to see if your potatoes are soft...
you can literally just throw the green beans in on top of the potatoes.
Place a lid on it and you can turn the stove off.
The hot, boiling water that has accumulated from the potatoes will cook out the beans.


The dressing for this potato salad is...
1 TBSP on grainy dijon mustard,  1 inch of anchovy paste (optional) gives excellent nutty flavor
and 1 large garlic clove (grated) (I had some roasted garlic so I decided to use that this time)
and equal parts of white vinegar and water (about 1/4 cup)


Anchovy paste comes in a user friendly tube where you can simply squeeze it and 
then throw it into the refrigerator.
Here's BEFORE:

 Here's AFTER:

If you want to make this warm potato salad more of a meal rather than a side,
you can always add something like rotisserie style chicken pulled apart.


 Take you perfectly boiled eggs and cut them in half.  


Cut your potatoes in half and throw into your pot or a mixing bowl.



 Add your cooked but slightly still having a crunch...green beans


 With your chicken if wanted...


 And a handful of the shredded or grated Parmesan cheese.


Add the dressing and toss together and enjoy!


It's ALWAYS about making it the way you like... so if you like nuts,
you can always add a handful of nuts or even craisins... whatever you enjoy!