The greatest failure when making potato salad is overcooking the spuds—creamy mashed potatoes is a no-go for any potato salad recipe. You want a waxy variety like fingerlings, Yukon Golds, or red potatoes; these varieties will keep their shape and texture when cooked right. Bobby Seale, cofounder of the Black Panther Party, said it well in his 1988 cookbook Barbeque’n with Bobby, where he wrote under a recipe titled “Hunky Crunchy Potato Salad” that his mother’s potato salad was a “tasty quasi-mashed potato salad.” My pro tip is to season the potatoes while they are warm. Begin your training to be a queen.
You’ll need Banana Pepper Brine for the salad. Here’s the recipe:
(Makes 1 cup)
1 cup sliced banana peppers (cut into rings; stemmed before slicing)
3/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon mustard seed
1/4 teaspoon celery seed
Place the banana peppers in a clean heatproof jar. Combine the vinegar, water, salt, sugar, mustard seed, and celery seed in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and cook until the sugar is dissolved. Pour the hot liquid over the banana peppers and allow to cool to room temperature. Seal the jar with a lid and store in the refrigerator for up to a few weeks.
Southern-ish Potato Salad
Ingredients
- 3 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1/3 cup plus 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 8 ounces bacon (optional)
- 1/2 stick (about 4 tablespoons) unsalted butter (if omitting the bacon)
- 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
- 1 fennel bulb, cored and chopped
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley leaves and stems, chopped, plus 2 tablespoons leaves for garnish
- 2 teaspoons ground mustard
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika, plus extra for garnish
- 2 tablespoons lemon zest (zest of 2 lemons)
- 3 tablespoons Quick-Pickled Banana Pepper brine (see headnote)
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Peel your potatoes and rinse in cold water. Place the potatoes in a large pot and add water to cover (around 10 cups) and 1/3 cup of the salt. Bring to a boil over high heat and cook the potatoes, uncovered, until just tender but with some bite still, 18 to 25 minutes. Be sure not to overcook the potatoes—you don’t want mushy potato salad! Drain the potatoes and transfer to a large bowl. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of the salt and allow to cool for 30 minutes or so.
- Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook the bacon (if using) over medium heat until the fat is rendered and the bacon is crisp and browned, 7 to 10 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel–lined plate, leaving the fat in the pan. (If you’re omitting the bacon, melt the butter in a large skillet here.) Add the onion and fennel to the hot bacon fat in the skillet and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Season with the remaining 1 teaspoon of salt. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.
- Add the cooled fennel mixture to the bowl with the potatoes, then add the olive oil, sour cream, chopped parsley, ground mustard, paprika, lemon zest, pickled banana pepper brine, and pepper and stir to combine. Taste! Taste! If necessary, you may need to add a tad more of the seasonings and sour cream. Garnish with the parsley leaves and, if desired, an extra pinch of paprika.
- We’re talking about potato salad here, so: everyone has their way. Some people make it the day of; some people make it the day ahead. Store in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
Notes
Excerpted from WATERMELON AND RED BIRDS by Nicole A. Taylor. Copyright © 2022 by Nicole A. Taylor. Reprinted by permission of Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved. Photo by Beatriz da Costa.