Rambling Recipe: QT's Killer-Diller Fourth of July Potato Salad

Ahhhh...  Fourth of July!  Five-Day-Weekend (Yeah, I took a couple days off)!

And I've been able to actually WALK for three days in a row! (Freakin' Miraculous!)

We're planning to spend the day on the boat tomorrow.  Arrive "fairly early" in the day so we can secure a parking space.  There'll be a big Firework Display at the Port of Redwood City - so the marina's gonna be REAL popular tomorrow!

We won't have a front-row-seat this year (we've moved our boat to a different marina so the fireworks won't be DIRECTLY overhead - but "close enough for government work" right?!).

So yeah, we'll probably putt around on the bay for a bit.  Depending on the winds, we may sail.  Or we may just motor.  Then we'll come back to the dock and take a nap.  Then it's BARBECUE TIME!!!!

Yep, we've got a gas grill bolted to the stern.  And an alcohol stove in the galley.  So the bill of fare shall be:

New York Strip Steaks
Fresh Corn on the Cob
Bush's Baked Beans (Yummmm!!!)
and...

I've accumulated an over-abundance of organic potatoes from the Farm-Share (so many, in fact, I ended up dumping a significant quantity of 'em cause they were starting to get a little - shall we say - squishy?!).  Time to vanquish the spuds, so I whipped up a batch of Tater Salad!

This is an adaptation of a recipe I got from mom's best friend, NanG (who always cooked for, like, the ENTIRE congregation of our church which was equivalent to the population of some Third World Countries!).  She kinda cobbled it together from memory - and she made a point of telling me that her "Secret Ingredient" was Del Monte Sweet Pickles "NOT Sweet Relish"

So that said, here is my Adaptation for a slightly more manageable quantity of Potato Salad.  And, as always, there is room for additional tweaks.  Adjust it to suit your taste-buds but I think it's PERFECT

QT's Killer-Diller Fourth of July Potato Salad
Time: Appx 1 hour of actual prep time + 2-3 hours (or overnight) "melding" in the fridge
Yield 8 cups of salad

Ingredients:

• 2.5 lbs smallish yellow or red potatoes (the non-mealy boiler kind). 
• 3 hard boiled eggs
• 4-5 strips bacon, cooked and drained 
• 1 medium sweet red onion (or sweet yellow onion - the key word is SWEET)
• 2-3 green onions (optional)
• 3 stalks celery
• 1/2 a small can (~4 oz) of chopped black olives
• 3 Del Monte Sweet Pickles (NOT relish) - finely chopped 
• 1-2 TBS chopped fresh parsley (or 1 tsp dried)
• 3/4 tsp celery seed
• 1 TBS plain ol' yellow mustard (Like Frenchs')
• A few shakes of paprika
• salt & pepper to taste
• ??? Mayo (I'm guessing appx 1 cup - but I didn't measure).
• 1 tsp of sweet pickle juice

Instructions:

1. Pre-Prep:  Cook your bacon 'til crisp and tamp off the grease with a paper towel. 
2. Boil and peel your eggs
3. Scrub your taters.  Don't peel 'em.  Cut 'em into ~3/4" cubes and cook 'em in a pot of boiling salted water 'til tender.
4. Chop up everything - except the taters and eggs - as fine as you can manage - almost unrecognizable - while the taters are cooking.
5. Add mustard and a couple of tbs of mayo to the veggie/bacon mix - along with the celery seed and parsley.  Stir it up and let the flavors start to meld.
6. If your eggs are cool, chop them up fine and add 'em to the mix.  Blorp in mayonnaise, as needed, to keep it somewhat stirrable!
7. Once the taters are done, drain them.  You may, or may not want to chop them slightly smaller with a knife (I did - because some of the skin-parts were bigger than I like).  
8. Once they're somewhat-cool, dump them in - a little at a time - stirring and adding mayonnaise as you go.  The taters should, more or less, disintegrate into the mix - but you'll still have some recognizable potato-chunks and that's okay...
9. At the very end, add just a tsp of sweet pickle juice, salt & pepper (to taste) and a generous shake or three of paprika.  Give it one final stir then stick it in the fridge for a couple of hours (or overnight) to let the flavors meld...
10. Sprinkle more paprika on top, just before serving.

Dee-lish!

Enjoy your Fourth!!!

-QT