Food is Cynful: Mamma's Potato Salad (the best ever)

About the Cyn

As I have added more and more recipe's to this blog I've realized that these are such sweet tender memories for me. Just as a photograph or childhood story will bring back memories, food floods me with tons of remembrances of happy times in the past! From family dinners and times with friends to Grandma making toast in the frying pan, food has brought about a way to record my family history. Food has always been and remains a huge part of our gatherings and I feel so very blessed to be able to share my memories and such terrific recipe's with my family and anyone out there who has a few minutes to spare. It is my hope that someday my children and grandchildren will prepare these recipe's and know they were special to someone!

Cynful Explanations

Al dente – An Italian expression applied in all western kitchens to pasta cooked just until enough resistance is left in it to be felt “by the tooth.” Fresh pasta can never by cooked al dente as it is too soft. The expression is also applied to vegetables that have been cooked crisp by steaming, boiling, or stir-frying.
Baste – To moisten food during cooking with pan drippings, sauce, or other liquid. Basting prevents foods from drying out.
Bias-cut - To slice food at a steep angle increasing the surface area, makes a thinner cut easier and looks better.
Butterfly- To split a food (such as shrimp) down the center, cutting almost but not completely through. The two halves are then opened flat to resemble a butterfly shape.
Caramelize – The flavor of many foods, including vegetables, meats, and seafood, is often enhanced by a gentle browning that caramelizes natural sugars and other compounds and intensifies their flavor. Meats for stews, for example, are usually browned to caramelize juices that if not caramelized are much less flavorful. Chopped vegetables, especially aromatic ones such as carrots and onions, are often caramelized—sometimes with cubes of meat—in a small amount of fat before liquid is added to enhance the flavor of soups, stews, and sauces.
Dice – To cut into cubes (unlike chopping, which cuts foods into irregular pieces).
Dredge – To coat a food with flour, any finely crumbled ingredient, or, in pastry, with fine sugar.
Egg wash – A mixture of egg or egg white, oil, and water brushed over floured items, which are then deep-fried or pan-fried in clarified butter or oil.
Fold – To incorporate an egg-white foam into an egg yolk foam or a flour batter without deflating it so that it retains its full leavening power.
Julienne – To cut into long thin matchstick size strips.
Marinade – A mixture of ingredients used to flavor and moisten foods. May be liquid of dry. Liquid marinades are usually acidic based and dry marinades are usually salt based.
Mince – To chop very fine.
Piping - To force a food (typically frosting or whipped cream) through a pastry tip to use as a decoration or garnish, or to shape dough, such as that for éclairs.
Poach – To cook completely submerged in barely simmering liquid.
Puree – To work or strain foods until they are completely smooth.
Ramekin – A small, ovenproof dish, usually ceramic.
Render - To melt animal fat over low heat so that it separates from any connective pieces of tissue, which, during rendering, turn brown and crisp.
Resting – Roasted meats should not be served straight out of the over, but should be allowed to rest in a warm place for 20 to 30 minutes, loosely covered with aluminum foil. (The foil keeps the meat warm; loose wrapping ensures that the outside of the meat doesn’t steam and lose its crispness.) Resting allows the meat to relax so the juices become redistributed in the meat and aren’t squeezed out onto the platter during carving.
Sauté – To cook over high heat in a small amount of fat in a sauté pan or skillet.
Scald – To heat milk just below the boiling point. Or, to immerse a vegetable or fruit in boiling water in order to remove its skin easily.
Sear – To brown the surface of pieces of meats and or fish by submitting them to intense initial heat.
Simmer – To maintain the temperature of a liquid just below boiling.
Steam – To cook in steam by suspending foods over (not in) boiling water, in a covered pot or steamer.
Stew – A cooking method nearly identical to braising but generally involving smaller pieces of meat, and hence a shorter cooking time. Also, the dish prepared by using this method of preparation.
Stir-fry – Chinese technique of cooking think slivers of meat, shellfish, and vegetables in hot oil.
Sweat – To cook foods over gentle heat, usually covered or partly covered, until they release their moisture. Vegetables, meats, and seafood are often sweated when making soups, stews, and sauces so that the foods release their juices into the pan and surrounding liquid. Sweating is the opposite of sautéing.
Tempura – A Japanese method of cooking vegetables and shellfish. They are coated with a light cornstarch batter and deep-fried.
Wok – A round-bottomed pan, usually made of rolled steel, used for virtually all Chinese cooking methods.
Zest – The thin, brightly colored outer part of the rind of citrus fruits. The oils make it ideal for use as a flavoring. Remove the zest with a grater, citrus zester, or vegetable peeler. Be careful to remove only the colored layer, not the bitter-white pith beneath it.

Everybody has a potato salad recipe but no one has one like my

mamma! Now don't bother arguing, this will be the best you've ever tasted and you'll have to go back to your mothers house and tell her, "Mom, I'm sorry to say this but I tasted this other potato salad recipe and it was better than yours!" She'll be mad at first but then when you make it and let her try it....watch out, she will thank you!!! No seriously though this side dish is a staple and a tradition at almost all Ross BBQs or family dinners. It always makes me smile to reminisce about my mom and dad in the kitchen arguing over the amount of pepper and onions! Oh sweet memories! So now I pass it to the next generation, here's how my mamma makes it...

5lb Russet Baking Potato's
12 Hard Boiled Eggs
6 Green Onions (green and white parts)
8 Large Dill Pickles
2-5 Tbsp Ground Black Pepper
6-8 Tbsp Yellow Mustard
1 1/2 Cups Best Food Mayonnaise
1 1/2 Cups Kraft Miracle Whip
Paprika for garnish

Now this is the way my sweet dear Mother makes it and I'm following her directions because that's how it always turns out the best! Start by washing and boiling the potatoes just until they are barely fork tender. YOU DO NOT WANT SQUISHY POTATOES! Set the potatoes aside to cool in the fridge. Next boil the eggs. (How do you boil eggs? Cover your eggs just barely with water, add a tsp of vinegar, cover and bring to a boil. Once at a boil turn off the heat and let sit for 13 minutes. When 13 minutes is over remove eggs immediately to a bath of ice water.) Set the eggs aside to cool in the fridge. Next chop your onions and pickles in small dices and set aside. When your eggs and potatoes are cool, peel both. Cut the potatoes into large chunks. The chunks need to be larger at this stage so that when you're mixing it all later they won't be to tiny and break apart into tinnier pieces. Now peeling potatoes isn't fun but in front of good movie helps as does a sharp knife to help pull up the peel! When you peel the eggs make sure to keep the best two aside to garnish the top. When the eggs are finished being peeled dice them into the same bowl as the potatoes or whichever bowl is large enough to mix everything. It's easiest to use an egg slicer! They need to be about the same size as the onions and pickles. Now add all the other ingredients together and stir. Make sure to get the mixture well coated around everything. The next step is to taste. TASTE is everything. It should be creamy and savory with a kick from the mustard and pepper. If you don't like pepper that's fine but it has to have a little to balance everything so just add less. Also if you want to try to go with a little less calories, no one will blame you but try to stick with the name brands listed. Those salad dressings work well with each other and add the perfect amount of zing! Don't skimp out and only add one because then your dish will be yucky! TRUST the mamma! She's been making it for as long as I can remember! Now that it's mixed dish it out into a prettier bowl, slice your eggs one way only, garnish the top with the pretty egg slices and add a few dashes of paprika. Eureka!!! You've just made the best potato salad ever and you'll never need to find another recipe.

P.S. My mom makes this by sight and memory. I tried pretty hard to make measurements for the blog but just know it's one of those kind of recipe's!!! I hope you love it just as much as all my family does!

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Mamma's Potato Salad (the best ever)

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