Tags
bacon, cheddar cheese, dill pickles, gluten free, lemon juice, mayonnaise, mustard, rice flour, roasted garlic, Scallions, sour cream, Spices, Sun-dried, Yukon Gold potatoes
You know how The Goddess loves potato salads of all kinds. She’s given you Classically Good Potato Salad, French-Style Potato Salad and Grilled Potato Salad. This one is pretty much a basic potato salad, but she riffed on the dressing used for German potato salad and then threw in a few things she thought would be tasty. 
Really, what’s not to love about this? For The Goddess, this could be a meal unto itself. You know, with the bacon, sun-dried tomatoes, and cheese…and of course, the potatoes. But, we had this with burgers.
I par-boil the potatoes. I don’t bother to peel them, but you certainly can, if that’s what floats your boat. I cut the potatoes into slightly less than 1/2-inch pieces, which is larger than I would use in a traditional potato salad. When the potatoes are not quite tender, I strain them out of the water, but save the water, please. It makes a great base for soup. 
Place the potatoes in a bowl and add the onions or scallions, the dill pickle, roasted garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, celery seeds and black pepper. Lots and lots of black pepper. Oh yes, and a good amount of salt. I prefer not to salt the potato water, but rather the potatoes. Fold that mixture together, then fold in the cheese and bacon.
For the dressing, I pour off all but about 1-2 tablespoons of the bacon fat, but you can pour it all out of the skillet. Add the rice flour and whisk it around, then add about 1/2 cup of the reserved potato water and the lemon juice. Keep whisking it and cooking until it thickens up. 
Remove the skillet from the heat source and pour in the cold dressing ingredients. Whisk the mixture until it’s very well combined. (This picture makes the mixture look darker than it is…light is a fickle bitch!)
Pour it over the potato mixture and stir it together. 
Pour the whole mess into a casserole dish, sprinkle with smoke paprika and bake for about 25-35 minutes. Remove from the oven; let cool a bit and serve. 
Now, this is really good when it’s hot, but it’s pretty decent at warm room temperature and even cold…what can I say?
Hot Potato Salad with Bacon, Cheese and Sun-Dried Tomatoes
- 4 Yukon gold potatoes, unpeeled, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 6-10 slices bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces, fried and the bacon fat reserved
- 6 scallions or 2 Sweet Vidalia onions, including some of the green
- 2-3 dill pickle spears, diced
- 1/3 cup finely chopped sun-dried tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons roasted garlic, finely chopped
- 1-2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh dill (optional)
- 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (you may need more)
- 1/4 teaspoon celery seeds
- 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese or Mexican cheese blend
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise (light works fine)
- 1 cup sour cream
- 2-3 teaspoons ball park yellow mustard
- 1-2 tablespoons reserved bacon fat
- 1 1/2 teaspoons rice flour
- 1/2 cup reserved potato water
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- Smoked sweet paprika
Place the potatoes in a pot, cover with cold water. Bring to the boil; boil until the potatoes are almost tender. Drain the potatoes reserving at least 1 cup of the water; set aside. Place the potatoes in a large bowl; set aside.
To the bowl with the potatoes, add the scallions, dill pickles, roasted garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, salt, black pepper, and celery seeds. Toss the mixture together to combine. Add the shredded cheddar and bacon pieces; toss again.
In a bowl, combine the mayonnaise, sour cream and mustard; stir to combine. In the skillet that you cook the bacon in, drain all but 1-2 tablespoons of bacon fat. Heat over medium heat; sprinkle the rice flour over the fat. Whisk the mixture as it thickens; add 1/2 cup of the reserved potato water and whisk, loosening the browned bits from the skillet. The mixture will be quite thick. Add the lemon juice and whisk again. Remove the skillet from the heat. Pour the mayonnaise mixture into the skillet and whisk like mad until smooth. Pour over the potato mixture and fold together.
Pour the mixture into an oven-proof casserole. Sprinkle generously with the paprika. Bake in a 350°F oven for 30-40 minutes or until the mixture browns slightly and is bubbly. Remove from the oven; let stand for 10 minutes before serving.
NOTE: Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, is you wish. You may change the type of cheese you use and bleu cheese is delicious. Feel free to omit or add additional bacon. Use spring onions, scallions, Vidalia onions can be used interchangeably or in combination.
Hot Potato Salad with Bacon, Cheese and Sun-Dried Tomatoes Recipe©Marcia Lahens 2017. All rights reserved.
These are the proportions I used, but feel free to increase or decrease amounts to suit your tastes. 
I used Sweet Vidalia Spring onions that are like giant scallions. I include some of the green parts, too. Personally, I’m not certain the cheese is even necessary. I think this would be equally delicious without it, but it is cheese. And cheese is delicious. If you like mustardy potato salad, use the larger amount of mustard and use the ball park-type. Dijon just doesn’t have the needed punch. I think this would be delicious with some Onion Crunch® sprinkled over before (or after) you bake it. The Spicy Honey wasn’t all that enamored with the pickles, but I think they’re a nice addition.
I think this is a blank slate sort of concoction. I think one could omit the dill pickle, increase the sun-dried tomatoes and add some coarsely chopped fresh basil and very thinly sliced fresh garlic. Instead of bacon (and this isn’t a deal breaker) you could use finely minced prosciutto. Or you might use both! Life can be that good.
Goddess Cooks 