Classic Potato Salad (adapted for pressure cooking)

By Foodiewife

I've been making this classic American potato salad for many years, but have never written it out as a recipe. The salad dressing that I make includes classic ingredients, like mayonnaise, mustard and eggs. What's different about this recipe is that I cooked the potatoes and eggs in my pressure cooker, all together, at the same time-- in only four minutes! In one hour I had a delicious bowl of American Potato Salad. This is so easy! If you don't have a pressure cooker, no worries. Just cook the eggs and potatoes on the stove top the more traditional way. Pressure Cooker idea comes from the food blog "Pressure Cooking Today".

Ingredients

• PRESSURE COOKER:
• 6 medium russet potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 4 large eggs
• SALAD DRESSING:
• 6 to 8 scallions, sliced (or1/4 cup finely chopped red onion)
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1 dill pickle wedge, diced (optional)
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 2 tablespoons yellow mustard (or grain mustard)
• 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar (can use red or cider)
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 2 celery stalks, sliced thin (optional, but adds a nice texture)
• 1/4 cup sliced black olives (optional, but I love it)
• 1/4 cup sliced radishes (optional, but adds a nice crunch)
• Paprika for garnish

Preparation

Step 1

Pressure Cooker:

Add 1 1/2 cups water to the pressure cooker, and set the trivet in (if you have one, which I do).

Distribute the diced potatoes into the steamer basket and then nestle the eggs inside the potatoes.

Lock lid in place, select High Pressure, 4 minutes cook time and press start.

When the timer beeps, turn off pressure cooker and do a quick pressure release. When the pressure is released, carefully remove the lid.

Check that the potatoes are cooked, by inserting a paring knife. If it slides in easily, they are done.

With tongs, remove each egg and plunge into a bowl of ice water.

Carefully remove the steamer basket from the pressure cooking pot and dump into a fine mesh strainer/colander. Rinse with cold water to remove the excess starch and allow to drain well.

Stove top method:

If you don't own a pressure cooker you can easily adapt this. Just cook the potatoes for 15 to 20 minutes, until a paring knife comes out clean.

For the eggs:

PLACE eggs in saucepan large enough to hold them in single layer. ADD cold water to cover eggs by 1 inch. HEAT over high heat just to boiling. REMOVE from burner. COVER pan. LET EGGS STAND in hot water about 12 minutes for large eggs (9 minutes for medium eggs; 15 minutes for extra large). Plunge into a bowl of ice water.

Dressing:

Mix the mayonnaise, mustard, vinegar, 2 teaspoons. salt and 1 teaspoon pepper (to start) and whisk together.

Add the pickles, if using, and give it a taste. Adjust to your desired flavor-- you might want a tangier dressing, so add a dash more vinegar. If you don't like the taste of dill pickles, leave it out. But if you do add the dill pickles, the sugar helps to balance out the flavors.

Once you are happy with the flavor/seasonings of the dressing, add the prepared vegetables and onion and give it a good stir. Refrigerate.

To easily peel the eggs, remove them from the ice water, give them a good crack and remove under cold running water. The egg shells should slide right off. Dice the eggs, and reserve one whole egg. (I use an egg slicer and give it 1/4 turn and slice again, which gives easy and perfect dices.

To finish the potato salad, in a large bowl, add the cooled potatoes and diced eggs and add half of the dressing. Gently fold to combine. Add more dressing until the salad is the texture that you prefer.

Slice the remaining egg, as a garnish and sprinkle with paprika for color.

Chill for at least an hour, before serving.

Tasting notes: I love this salad with olives, but not everyone loves them. Potato salad is very versatile, so feel free to add or leave out any of the vegetables I like to use. You can use reduced fat mayo or yogurt and I've never done that. I just don't eat too much of it, at once! Because this salad has mayonnaise, take care to keep this chilled and protected from heat to avoid any chance of food poisoning. I know this sounds extreme, but it's better to be careful!