The biggest holiday of the summer is here, July 4th. Plenty of people will have cookouts at home and picnics at the park. I started thinking about a dish that would go great at any get together. Potato Salad is just that dish. No matter what you pair it with, either of these dishes will be a welcomed addition.
Today I have two different Potato Salad recipes. The first one is a little more spicy, Louisiana Potato Salad. The second one showcases my favorite shellfish, Crawfish Potato Salad. Both of these feature both mayonnaise and Creole mustard. I find it’s the best combination to end the decision between mayonnaise or mustard. So gather up your potatoes and Let’s head to the kitchen.
What makes this recipe a Louisiana Potato Salad? I feel it is the combination of Louisiana ingredients: tasso, crab boil, Creole mustard, and of course, the Holy Trinity of onion, celery and bell pepper. You can adjust this recipe to make it as spicy or as mild as you want. Do this with the crab boil to make it your own.
Louisiana Potato Salad
3 pounds new potatoes, halved or quartered if large
1/2 cup dried shrimp
2 tablespoons liquid crab boil
4 ounces tasso, finely chopped
3 large hard-boiled eggs, peeled and chopped
1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup onions, chopped
1/2 cup green bell pepper, chopped
1/4 cup celery, chopped
1 tablespoon Creole mustard
1 1/2 teaspoons Creole seasoning
In a large Dutch oven, add potatoes, dried shrimp, and crab boil. Cover with water and bring to a gentle boil over medium-high heat. cook until potatoes are tender, 20 to 25 minutes. Drain potatoes and shrimp in a colander.
In a large bowl, combine potato mixture, tasso, eggs, mayonnaise, onion, bell peppers, celery, mustard and Creole seasoning. Garnish with parsley, if desired.
Crawfish is an ingredient that goes with almost everything. So, why not potato salad. This dressing is close to a remoulade sauce. You could serve this on some lettuce and have a Crawfish Remoulade Potato Salad.
Crawfish Potato Salad
1 1/2 pounds small red new potatoes, unpeeled
Water
1 pound crawfish tails, chilled
2 celery stalks, chopped fine
Dressing
3 medium cloves garlic, peeled
1 1/2 cups mayonnaise
1/4 cup Creole mustard
1/4 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons prepared horseradish
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
4 green onions, coarsely chopped, including green tops
1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley, minced
2 fresh bay leaves, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons Louisiana hot sauce
Wash the potatoes well. Cut them into 1/2-inch dice. Place the diced potatoes in a 4-quart saucepan and add cold water to cover. Bring to a boil and cook until tender, about 20 minutes (do not overcook). Drain well. In a large bowl, combine the boiled potatoes, crawfish tails, and chopped celery; set aside.
Prepare dressing. In a food processor fitted with a steel blade and with machine running, drop the garlic cloves through the feed tube to mince them. Stop machine and scrape down sides of bowl. Add all remaining ingredients and process until smooth and well blended, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl once or twice. Fold the dressing into the crawfish and potato mixture, blending well. Chill well before serving
I hope that you enjoy these recipes as much as I enjoy sharing them with you. If you’re like me, you will use these recipes as a starting point to putting your own spin on them. My wife always says I never make a dish the same way twice. I’m always tinkering with recipes. That’s what make things fun in the kitchen.
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