Red Potato Salad

My friend Whitney had her baby.  Gabriella is a beautiful baby.  I decided to make them Baked Beans, a favorite of Whitney and her husband Jonny, but I wanted to make something to go with it.  Potato Salad seemed like a good idea.  I like potato salad.  My family doesn't like potato salad, so when I make it, I'm the one who eats it.  Thankfully, the Martinez family are wonderful about eating food I make. Potato Salad is one of those dishes that can be very complicated or very simple.  It seems to be an American staple during the warmer months.  We had a warm day today, so I felt like I could make this salad.  

 This is American, eaten on the 4th of July comfort food.

Ingredients for this Recipe Are:

3 lbs. Red Potatoes
3 Green Onions
3 tablespoons Fresh Dill
5 Eggs
3/4 cup Mayonnaise
3/4 cup Sour Cream
3 tablespoons Yellow Mustard
1 teaspoon Sea Salt
1 teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper

Wash potatoes and place on a rack in a pressure cooker.  Add 1/2 inch water.

Pierce potatoes with a knife twice and sprinkle with sea salt.

Cover pressure cooker and cook on high for 8 minutes.

Remove potatoes from pressure cooker and cut into 1/2 inch dice and allow to cool on cutting board.

Place eggs in a medium sauce pan, cover with water about 1/2 an inch over eggs.

Set burner to medium-high.

When water boils, cover with lid.  Turn off burner and set timer for 14 minutes.

 Remove eggs from boiling water and place in ice water and allow to cool completely.

 Peel eggs and cut into 1/2 inch dice.

 Add mayonnaise, sour cream, and mustard, sea salt, and pepper to a small bowl and stir.

Place potatoes and eggs in a large bowl.

Remove excess stem from dill and cut into small pieces.

Slice green onions.

Add sauce, green onions, and dill to potatoes and eggs.  Gently stir, add more salt and pepper to taste.

Allow salad to cool in refrigerator and serve.

Enjoy!

Red Potato Salad

Printable Recipe Found Here

Ingredients:

3 lbs. Red Potatoes

3 Green Onions

3 tablespoons Fresh Dill

5 Eggs

3/4 cup Mayonnaise

3/4 cup Sour Cream

3 tablespoons Yellow Mustard

1 teaspoon Sea Salt

1 teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper

Process:

Wash potatoes and place on a rack in a pressure cooker, add 1/2 inch water.

Pierce potatoes with a knife twice and sprinkle with sea salt.

Cover pressure cooker and cook on high for 8 minutes.

Remove potatoes from pressure cooker and cut into 1/2 inch dice and allow to cool on cutting board.

Place eggs in a medium sauce pan, cover with water about 1/2 an inch over eggs.

Set burner to medium-high.

When water boils cover with lid, turn off burner and set timer for 16 minutes.

Remove eggs from boiling water and place in ice water and allow to cool completely.

Peel eggs and cut into 1/2 inch dice.

Add mayonnaise, sour cream, mustard, sea salt, and pepper to a small bowl and stir.

Place potatoes and eggs in a large bowl.

Remove excess stem from dill and cut into small pieces.

Slice green onions.

Add sauce, green onions, and dill to potatoes and eggs.  Gently stir, add more salt and pepper to taste.

Allow salad to cool in refrigerator and serve.

Enjoy!

Dill Pickles

This morning I went to the grocery store near my apartment and in the $1vegetable bin they had large bags of pickling cucumbers!  I hit the pickling jackpot.  I bought two bags and invited my friend Bridget over to make them and take a jar home with her.  These are super easy pickles to make.  I love pickles!

 6 lbs. of pickles!  You read right, that is a lot of dill pickles.

 Ingredients for this recipe: 2 1/2 lbs. pickling cucumbers, 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes, 10 cloves peeled garlic, 3 cups water, 3 cups white vinegar,  bunch of fresh dill, and 3 tablespoons salt.
Ignore the pepper, it was photo-bombing my photo.

 Cut the ends off the washed cucumbers, enzymes where the blossom was will prevent your
cucumbers from being crunchy pickles.  Cut each cucumber lengthwise into four equal spears.

Boil vinegar, water, and salt together in a non-reactive pan until salt is dissolved.  

 I used a 1/2 gallon mason jar.   The cucumbers can be put into pint jars as well.  Place the cucumbers
 in the jar straight.   I had my jar on its side to make this easier.  Just before you have packed the
bottom half of your jar full of cucumbers add half the garlic being sure to press the garlic with the
palm of your hand to slightly crush the garlic and release it's goodness.  Add half the pepper flakes,
and after tearing off the stems, add half the dill as well.  Squish some more cucumbers in the bottom
of the jar and repeat the layering of the rest of the cucumbers, garlic, dill, and pepper flakes. 

 The jars are very full and ready for the pickling liquid.

 Add liquid to jar(s), fill to the bottom of the ridged portion of the jar.

Screw lids on and place in refrigerator, these will last a couple of weeks as they are.  You are welcome to preserve yours.  By tomorrow these will be ready to taste.

Enjoy!

Tzaziki Sauce

I wanted Tzaziki sauce, isn't that a fun word Tzaziki?  Do you know what Tzaziki sauce is?  I have homemade Greek yogurt that is destined to be this most yummy sauce.

Where's a pita chip when you need it, want some?

 Ingredients for this recipe are: 1/2 English cucumber, small bunch of dill, 1 lemon,
4 cloves of garlic, Kosher Salt, 2 cups Greek Yogurt (I used homemade).

 I drained the yogurt for a few minutes in a coffee filter lined mesh sieve over a bowl.
I wanted to have a thick sauce.

 Cut the cucumber into small bits, cut the dill off the stalks and cut some more (not to much
or you'll have pulp).  Press the garlic, and slice the lemon in half.

 I put the cucumber in between several layers of paper towels and pressed it with a large can
in a bowl.  I flipped the cucumber and paper towels over after a couple of minutes.
This step removes extra liquid which could make your sauce thin.

My dry cucumber is ready.

 Dump everything in the bowl.

Stir.

Enjoy!