A first for me!

OK. I think everyone knows I do not like mayonnaise. Can't stand it. Have never liked it. If it shows up on something (sandwiches mostly), I scrape it off as much as I can. If I can't get enough of it off the sandwich, I remove that piece of bread. I don't know what it is, but I just can't deal with the taste and texture. I think you should have to ask for mayo on a sandwich, and the sandwich maker shouldn't assume you want it! Ick. Can't stand it. So...this leaves a lot of things off my menu. Items that have mayo as a major component of the recipe. Potato Salad is on of those.

I've never made a potato salad and I don't eat any mayo based potato salad.

This week changed. I found a potato salad that has a vinaigrette dressing.

Oh, and there is bacon in the this potato salad.

Yukon Gold Potato Salad w/Shallots, Chives, Bacon & Lemon Vinaigrette
from Fine Cooking, March 08, #91
Serves 4-6

1 3/4 lb baby Yukon Gold potatoes, scrubbed
Kosher salt
4 strips bacon
1/4 cup minced shallot (1 large shallot)
2 TB cider vinegar or white wine vinegar
1 TB fresh lemon juice
2 tsp finely grated lemon zest
1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 TB chopped fresh chives
Freshly ground black pepper

Put the potatoes in a 4-5 quart pan and cover with about 2 inches of water. Add 1 TB salt and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Boil gently until the potatoes are tender enough to pierce easily with a skewer, about 20 minutes. Don't overcook them or they will fall apart.

Meanwhile, put the bacon slices in a cold 10 inch skillet and cook over medium heat, turning occasionally, until crisp, about 1o minutes. Transfer to a paper towel lined plate, reserving the drippings. Coarsely chop or crumble the bacon and set aside.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine the shallot, vinegar, lemon juice, lemon zest, sugar and 1/2 tsp salt.

Drain the potatoes in a large colander and let them cool slightly. When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, cut in half any that are larger than a walnut. Taste a bit of the potato skin; if it's bitter or feels tough, peel all the potatoes with a pairing knife.

Drop the potatoes into the bowl with the shallot mixture. Add the olive oil, 2 TB of chives, 1 TB bacon drippings and the chopped bacon. Toss to combine. (It may appear that there's too much dressing, but it will be absorbed.) Let the salad sit for 20 minutes. Season to taste with black pepper and more salt, if necessary. Sprinkle with the remaining 1 TB chives. Serve warm or at room temperature. If you must refrigerate it, let it return to room temperature before serving.

Shallots, Lemon zest, Vinegar and Lemon juice.

I choose to add the Olive Oil, chives and bacon fat all at once, to the shallot mixture. It was very easy to mix into the potatoes. I was worried about mixing too much and breaking apart the potatoes.

I couldn't find baby Yukon Gold potatoes, so I used regular and peeled and cut them all.


The final dish. Very lovely. Light and lots of flavor. Now, there was a general consensus that the lemon flavors were very strong and nearly over-powered the potato. Next time I might cut back on lemon ingredients.