Ah, potato salad. My grandmother and mother must have made enough of this stuff to feed Pharaoh’s army, as my friend Steve would say. I’ve made my share, too. This is a simple recipe. You can, and I’ll admit I’ve done it, dress it up or down. Omit the hard-boiled eggs and sweet pickle relish and substitute finely chopped bacon, some horseradish, sour cream, and some chopped artichoke hearts. Add dill weed and subtract celery seed. Use tiny, skin-on new potatoes. These are all good, sensible variations, and I don’t want to go all potato salad authoritarian on you, but should you do this, you will not have Edna’s potato salad. Also? Everybody puts coleslaw on their barbecue. But try a scoop of this stuff, chilled, plopped right on top of your BBQ sammie. You can thank me later.
8 medium Yukon Gold potatoes, unpeeled
8 large eggs, hard-boiled, peeled, and chopped
½ cup finely chopped sweet onion
½ cup finely chopped celery
1 ½ cups mayonnaise
½ cup sweet pickle relish
1 Tbsp. prepared yellow mustard
1 tsp. celery seed
1 tsp. paprika
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. freshly ground pepper
1. In a large pot over high heat, bring the potatoes in salted water to cover to a boil. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender. Drain and let cool just until able to handle. Peel the potatoes and cut them into cubes.
2. Combine the potatoes, eggs, onion, and celery in a large bowl.
3. Stir the mayonnaise, relish, mustard, celery seed, paprika, salt, and pepper together in a separate bowl. Pour the mayonnaise mixture over the potato mixture and toss well to coat. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.