America's Test Kitchen stole my family recipe!

[Giants Fan 85]

Dunno if you've ever seen the show on PBS ... well, they gave up my family's secret recipe ... or came up with the same trick anyway. Pickle juice. They added hard boiled eggs too ... which really is kinda cheating. I mean fock, let's put caviar in it too. That'll make it taste good. The whole point is to make a honkin' bowl of food for very little money.

 

Ok, I bought a 10 pound bag of potatoes for like $3.50. That's about 20 small potatoes. This recipe calls for about 5 ... ring it up: 87 cents (for a little more money, you can buy waxy reds or Yukon golds, but standard baking taters work fine)

 

Second, you gotta have celery. I can buy it by the pound at my local Safeway, just bought 3 stalks (get ones with leaves) for 30 cents.

 

Onions are super cheap. Go ahead and get the cheap yellow ones, use about a quarter of one large onion for this recipe: 25 cents

 

Now here's the kicker. It's all about the pickles. Splurge on the pickles. I like Clausen, and thy are about 5 bucks a jar. With about 10 pickles in the jar, that's 50 cents a pickle.

 

This recipe calls for 1 big one.

 

Now, they didn't talk about this on the show, but I think the lowfat mayo works fine, they used full fat and cut theirs with sour cream, and they also added some dijon mustard. I've tried the mustard before, and I don't think it really helps. It will be plenty tangy. Anyway, let's say it's 50 cents worth of mayo and spices.

 

That's a grand total of $2.37, for over 5 pounds of food. And it's good! Some tips:

 

After you drain the potatoes, pour some pickle juice over them while they are still hot. They'll soak it up and make it taste better. They said 2 table spoons, I use more. Prolly 4, but I like pickles.

 

Besides salt and pepper, I think a little curry adds a real nice flavor. Not too much. And my favorite spice that I use on almost everything works REAL GOOD here. Old Bay. I'd go as far as saying Old Bay is a MUST in tater salad.

 

So, give it a try. Make some for Thanksgiving, or bring it to a BBQ and everyone will love it. Guaranteed best potato salad you've ever had.

 

P.S. If you insist on adding bacon bits, don't mix 'em in. Sprinkle on top. I'm also not totally against using a little parsley if you have it lying around.

[Eagles Green 34]

Where have all the good men gone

And where are all the gods?

Where’s the street-wise Hercules

To fight the rising odds?

 

Isn’t there a white knight upon a fiery steed?

Late at night I toss and I turn and I dream of what I need

 

I need a hero

I'm holding out for at hero 'till the end of the night

He's gotta be strong

And he's gotta be fast

And he's gotta be fresh from the fight

 

I need a hero

I’m holding out for a hero 'till the morning light

He’s gotta be sure

And it’s gotta be soon

And he’s gotta be larger than life

Larger than life

 

Somewhere after midnight

In my wildest fantasy

Somewhere just beyond my reach

There’s someone reaching back for me

 

Racing on the thunder and rising with the heat

It’s gonna take a superman to sweep me off my feet

 

I need a hero

I'm holding out for a hero 'till the end of the night

He's gotta be strong

And he's gotta be fast

And he's gotta be fresh from the fight

 

I need a hero

I’m holding out for a hero 'till the morning light

He’s gotta be sure

And it’s gotta be soon

And he’s gotta be larger than life

 

I need a hero

I'm holding out for at hero 'till the the end of the night

 

Up where the mountains meet the heavens above

Out where the lightning splits the sea

I could swear there is someone somewhere

Watching me

 

Through the wind and the chill and the rain

And the storm and the flood

I can feel his approach

Like a fire in my blood

 

I need a hero

I'm holding out for a hero 'till the end of the night

He’s gotta be strong

And he's gotta be fast

And he's gotta be fresh from the fight

 

I need a hero

I'm holding out for a hero 'till the morning light

He's gotta be sure

And it's gotta be soon

And he's gotta be larger than life

 

I need a hero

I'm holding out for a hero 'till the end of the night

He's gotta be strong

And he's gotta be fast

And he's gotta be fresh from the fight

 

I need a hero

I'm holding out for a hero 'till the morning light

He's gotta be sure

And he's gotta be soon

And he's gotta be larger than life

 

I need a hero

I'm holding out for a hero 'till the end of the night

[Giants Fan 85]

It's also worth mentioning that you can use a small pickle, and more onions and celery, etc. depending on what you have in the fridge, or how you like it, but don't stray too far from this .... as I said, I even think you can ruin this with some cheap mustard ... but that's my tastes. And if you are rich, and can afford eggs, you can use the same recipe for egg salad. I like it with lettuce on multi-grain bread. But yeah, pretty much the exact same recipe. And if you like eggs in your potato salad, who's stoppin' ya? Go right ahead .... but I don't think it makes a major difference. Here's an idea .... if you are out of pickles and have JUST pickle juice .... you can substitute hard boiled eggs. Peel 'em, and soak 'em in pickle juice overnight. Then I can see it.

 

Of course, then you gotta toss a perfectly good jar of pickle juice, after you soak eggs in it. See, that's why you can buy a big ass jar of pickles for $2, and a smaller jar of Clausen's (always refrigerated) is more than twice as much .... it's all in the juice. They didn't tell you this on the show .... but cheap pickles are the suck. An empty jar of Clausen pickles ..... just juice .... has valid applications. I've tried converting cheap pickles in Clausen juice ... doesn't work. Of course, you can also make your own pickles .... but that's a whole different thread.

 

Also, itsatip that you can get Clausen pickles on sale, more like $3.69 a jar, and stock up. Last forever in the fridge. I like 'em straight outta the jar. There are other brands that are good ... but it amazes me that people even buy generic pickles. Clausen is what I grew up with, so it's what I like. There's a brand in NY, I can see the jar in my head, B and G or something, that isn't bad for a cheaper pickle. Same company makes real nice roasted peppers. Clausen, also makes top notch Sauerkraut.

[Giants Fan 85]

That's the very best thing, that you make food with love. And you share and enjoy with your friends and family. Trust me .... everyone will love this, even people who say they don't like pickles. If they don't taste the love ..... you just sneak up and shoot them in the back of the head at the dinner table. But ..... that wont happen .... heh heh ...... because this is some really, really good potato salad.

 

It'd be funny if SNL did it. Like .... the Grandson of Sam's Thanksgiving Dinner. They are all sitting around the table, and he has plots to kill each one, but they go wrong .... it's comedy .... get a ton of laughs. I should be a writer. Let's pitch it to Universal as a full script. It's gotta be better than that Gigolo in Europe .... whatever the fock that piece of stink was, they made a sequel even.

 

The Nephew of Sam

 

He's like a normal dude, but his uncle is a notorious serial killer. I see tremendous comedy potential there. Of course, i'm also totally baked right now.

[NorthernVike 2,087]

I can't believe I forgot about the pickle juice fiasco

[Isotopes 1]

Maybe we are related. My family also puts pickle juice in their egg salad and potato salad.

[Giants Fan 85]

Maybe we are related. My family also puts pickle juice in their egg salad and potato salad.

 

Fock ... I thought this was like a really special family secret. Guess not anymore. Still, even with lesser spuds in my arsenal, I promise you that my potato salad is better than the America's Test Kitchen salad. They needed mustard.... hah hah hah .... Old Bay my friends, and a little curry powder. They didn't mention either. Matter of fact, I don't think they even added pepper. Morons.

 

P.S. Some people, and I have noticed it runs in familys .... don't like pickles, they like this potato salad though. They're all, "How do you get that tangy flavor in yer tater salad?" And the answer is PICKLES .... bizniches. Apparently you do like pickles ... you just don't know it.

[Isotopes 1]

Fock ... I thought this was like a really special family secret. Guess not anymore. Still, even with lesser spuds in my arsenal, I promise you that my potato salad is better than the America's Test Kitchen salad. They needed mustard.... hah hah hah .... Old Bay my friends, and a little curry powder. They didn't mention either. Matter of fact, I don't think they even added pepper. Morons.

 

P.S. Some people, and I have noticed it runs in familys .... don't like pickles, they like this potato salad though. They're all, "How do you get that tangy flavor in yer tater salad?" And the answer is PICKLES .... bizniches. Apparently you do like pickles ... you just don't know it.

 

I don't like pickles but I do like pickle juice in my potato salad...that sounds kinda ghey

[Giants Fan 85]

I don't like pickles but I do like pickle juice in my potato salad...that sounds kinda ghey

 

See.

 

And no son .....yer not ghey .... yer just a little confused.

[Giants Fan 85]

Another thing they didn't mention on the show .... refrigerate in a sealed container for at least 24 hours. It's not bad when it's still warm, but if you let all those flavors mingle .... it's better the next day.

[NorthernVike 2,087]

See.

 

And no son .....yer not ghey .... yer just a little confused.

 

 

How many times have you said this to six year old boys

[IronToe Nedney 0]

but I like pickles.

 

 

Shocker.

[Giants Fan 85]

How many times have you said this to six year old boys

 

Well first ... I'm not into dudes .... second, six is even too young for me ... like 10 years too young. So dude, I'm no psychologist ..... but we're actually talking about hot dogs here .....so ..... you may need like, serious psychological counseling.

[wiffleball 4,790]

I loves me a good potato salad sammich. Very tasty.

 

Pretty much usually see hard boiled eggs, but I don't see why. I don't really miss 'em.

[Giants Fan 85]

I say once you add egss .... it's egg salad. Nothing wrong with that ... just not potato salad anymore.

[heavy-set 39]

eat a d1ck