There is a hotel near us upstate — the Emerson — with a gift store that Suzen and I often visit. There is an exceptional blend of good things here: clothing, jams, dinnerware, coffee, and cookbooks. Suzen looks at her things and I look at mine. We do share coffee and we do find little cookbooks gems that we’ve never encountered.
Potato Salad was published in 2009 but I just never saw it anywhere. It’s one of those small, slim volumes that can get “lost” on bookstore shelves. It might be on display, but it can be missed in a crowd. At the Emerson, it seemed to occupy a prominent spot, not crowded out and not shuffled to the side.
I’m delighted I found it. Inside, you will find 65 very diverse recipes. Yes, it’s fall, but I consider potato salad to be a year round treat. That is not how I was raised, I admit. Potato Salad Season began the Monday after Easter. The hardboiled Easter eggs would be broken open, color shells discarded, and the egg contents applied to a giant bowl of potato salad. The Season ran from Easter to Labor Day and then, like white clothing, ended.
I’ve gotten beyond those limits and this book will make my potato salad adventures even easier. Author Debbie Moose is a Southern native with many publications and a web site you will enjoy visiting:
http://www.debbiemoose.com/
She is the author of Buttermilk: A Savor the South Cookbook, a book I have blogged about here. The best buttermilk cookbook, period.
Ah, but back to potato salad. There are four main sections to Potato Salad:
- Root Issues discusses which potatoes are best for salad and how to prepare each variety
- Picnic Pals presents both the classic recipes you know and some new and wild variations
- Uptown Taters looks at extended potato salads as a mini-meal, using ideas from around the world and some root veggies beyond potatoes
- Spud Suppers continues that theme by offering ideas that are complete, one bowl meals
Here are some representative ideas:
- Potato Salad Ole with green chiles and Mexican spices galore
- Sweet Potato Waldorf salad with chopped Granny Smith Apples
- Triple Cheese Potatoes with cheddar, Parmesan, and smoked Gouda
- Curry Potato Salad
- Hungarian with paprika, green bell pepper, bacon, and dill pickled relish
- Greek with olive and feta
- Sweet Potato with Orange-Poppy Seed Dressing
- Grilled Sweet Potato Salad with Chipotle Vinaigrette
- Prosciutto and Parmesan with green beans
- Carolina BBQ Potato Salad
Have you ever had even one of these? Ever imagined one? Potato Salad is a lovely book filled with ideas that will turn your table around. There is life beyond hardboiled eggs + mayo + celery. I think I need to send a copy of this book to my mother. She’s 90 but she still cooks. Of course, I’ll have to wait until Easter.