Thursday, August 09, 2007

Potato Blossom, Potato Salad

Potato plant blossom

Potatoes are not prized for their flowers. I thought this bud was rather handsome, but it (and all the others) aborted without even opening. To accompany this delicate pink blossom, I have clipped the recipe for "Red, White, and Blue Potato Salad from HINTS FROM HELOISE, Tuesday, August 7, 2007; Page C08. I think a half recipe would be plenty, at least until you're sure you like it.

RED, WHITE AND BLUE POTATO SALAD

2 pounds small redskin potatoes (unpeeled), washed and boiled
1 bunch of green onions, sliced, saving the tops for garnishing
1 can water chestnuts (drained), diced
8 ounces blue cheese, crumbled
16 ounces sour cream
1/3 cup white-wine vinegar
1 tablespoon celery seed
1 tablespoon dill weed
Salt and pepper to taste
Paprika (optional)

Slice just-cooled (but not cold) potatoes and put into a large bowl. Add green onions and water chestnuts to potatoes. Mix blue cheese, sour cream, vinegar, celery seed and dill weed together and pour over potato mix. Stir gently. (Warm potatoes absorb the flavors better.) Add salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle paprika and remaining green-onion tops over potato mix. Chill for two hours or overnight, which is best for flavors to blend.

2 comments:

Reya Mellicker said...

I didn't know Heloise was still around! Wow. I remember that column from when I was a child - a long time ago!

The salad sounds delicious. Crumbled blue cheese and potatoes? Oh yeah!

Rebecca Clayton said...

I understand it's actually Heloise's daughter that writes the column now. I check it online in washingtonpost.com