Grandpa Lou's Potato Salad

A Treasured Family Recipe

It's time for barbecues and picnics, and that means one of our favorite things: time to make Grandpa Lou's Potato Salad. Long ago, Lee's grandpa found a recipe that over time became a family legend. Served from Easter through Labor Day and beyond, family members take pride in making the best version of this potato salad (yes, sometimes it's a competition).

Taste Test Kitchen - Generations Style

Grandpa Lou started it, and his three daughters learned to make it and passed it on to their kids and grandkids. 

What makes it so great? Besides potatoes (yum!), the recipe incorporates hard boiled eggs, bacon, and vinegar for a bit of zing. This recipe is in the tradition of what's called "hot German potato salad," which is where you heat some of the bacon drippings, add in vinegar, and stir into the potato salad to finish it. The potato salad doesn't have to be served hot, but can be served warm or cold.

One of the daughters, our mom and grandma, passed on a lot of tips she'd discovered in making the recipe. So here’s some of the collective wisdom and evolution around the Grandpa Lou's Potato Salad. 

She always said make sure it's not dry. It would set up once refrigerated. And it's best made a day ahead to let the flavors blend. If you’re not sure how much vinegar, salt or other seasoning to add, err on the side of too little. We always taste test and adjust the seasonings the day we serve it.

Grandma liked celery seed and added more than the recipe called for. She’d sprinkle it right in instead of measuring because she knew by sight how much she wanted in proportion to the potatoes. Same with the vinegar. She'd add more than the recipe called for. 

Just like Grandma, we always add more vinegar. We like to bring it right up to where you can taste the vinegar yet doesn’t quite overwhelm the whole thing. 

Because we now have a family member with a pork allergy, we've also made a vegetarian version with avocado oil and no meat. It's nearly as good. Otherwise, there's no dairy or gluten in the bacon or non-bacon version, so we all can dig in.

Grandma taught us to be fearless in tasting and adjusting the seasonings in this recipe. It turns out a little different each time but that’s the fun of it. 

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Grandpa Lou’s Potato Salad

by Burnt Toast Food Blog June-1-2018

A family favorite, this potato salad incorporates hard boiled eggs, bacon and the secret ingredient: a bit of vinegar.

Ingredients

• 8 potatoes (see notes)
• 8-10 eggs
• 4 stalks celery
• 1/2 medium white onion
• 6-8 slices bacon, preferably uncured
• 1 teaspoon celery seed
• 2 teaspoons salt, or more to taste
• 2 teaspoons white pepper
• 2 cups mayonnaise, or more to taste
• 2-3 tablespoons bacon drippings
• 2-5 tablespoons vinegar
• paprika, for garnish

Instructions

1. Boil potatoes in salted water, one of two ways: (1) scrub and boil whole; when fork tender remove and peel while still warm (or leave peel on); cut into 1 ½” pieces (2) peel potatoes, cut in 1½“ pieces; boil in salted water until fork tender. 2. Place the cooked and cut up potatoes in an extra large mixing bowl. A large soup or pasta pot will also work. Add the celery seed and half of the salt and pepper. Mix carefully without breaking apart the potatoes. 3. Boil eggs, 10-12 minutes, until hard cooked. Cool. Peel the eggs and set aside 2 for garnish (refrigerate). With the remaining eggs, separate yolks from the whites. Mash the yolks with a fork. Cut whites into small pieces with a knife and fork. Place the yolks and egg whites in the bowl with the potatoes. 4. Dice the celery and onion. Add to the potatoes. 5. Cut the bacon into 1” pieces. Clean kitchen scissors work well for this. Fry in a skillet until crisp, and drain on paper towel, reserving the bacon drippings. Add the bacon pieces to the potato mixture. 6. Using two large spoons or spatulas, carefully mix potatoes, eggs, celery, onion and bacon, adding remaining salt and pepper. Add more celery seed and salt, to taste. 7. Add the mayonnaise. Mix gently. If dry, add additional mayonnaise. 8. Taste and adjust seasoning. 9. Heat the bacon grease in the skillet until just warm. Remove from the heat and add 2 tablespoons vinegar. Add to the potato mixture and gently mix. Taste to see if vinegar flavor comes through. Add more vinegar a tablespoon or less at a time, to taste. 10. Salad should be not be dry – it will set up when chilled. Refrigerate, preferably overnight. 11. When ready to serve, bring to room temperature. Taste again to see if more salt and vinegar are needed. Slice the remaining eggs and arrange on top for garnish. Sprinkle with paprika. Notes: - Several kinds of potato work really well in this recipe. White potatoes are the original. Red potatoes or Yukon gold are great. You can peel them or leave the skin on. We like to use Russet (baking) potatoes for the flavor and starchier consistency – just don’t use as many since they’re larger. - For a vegetarian version, omit the bacon and substitute avocado oil or other vegetable oil for the bacon drippings.

Details

Prep time: 2 hours Cook time: 45 mins Total time: 2 hours Yield: 12-15 servings