I‘ve been watching more Food Network lately. I’ve always liked the channel (my cat’s name is Emeril after all) but I don’t consider myself a regular viewer. Sometimes I go for months without watching while other times I watch daily.
The other day I saw Paula Deen make the most delicious potato salad that made me drool. Since I was adapting her recipe for beef brisket, I figured it was only appropriate to make her salad as well. And boy, am I glad I did. It’s a doozy.
The potatoes are roasted until they are nice and crisp on the outside then paired with slowly caramelized onions. I could stop right there and be a happy camper. But I don’t. Oh no – I add a rich, velvety blue cheese dressing that gives it the perfect amount of bite.
This salad tastes best at room temperature, and I advise mixing the salad together right before serving. Ideally, I would roast the potatoes and caramelize the onions as close as possible to serving while allowing a little time (30 minutes) for them to cool to room temperature.
Otherwise, if you need to prepare everything the night before, I would suggest keeping the components separate (potatoes, onions and dressing) and bring the potatoes and onions back to room temperature before stirring in the dressing then serve immediately.
I loved the salad and will make it again and again. I think the next time I might crumble a few slices of crispy bacon to top it off and make it truly out of this world.
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Roasted Potato Salad with Blue Cheese Dressing
Adapted from Paula’s Best Dishes
Serves 12
Ingredients:
- 5 pounds red potatoes, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 6 tablespoons butter
- 2 large onions, sliced
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 3/4 cup mayonnaise
- 1 head of garlic, roasted
- 1 cup crumbled blue cheese
- 2 tablespoons sour cream
- 1 tablespoon horseradish sauce
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line a large shallow roasting pan with nonstick aluminum foil.
- In a large bowl, combine the potatoes, olive oil, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper, tossing gently to coat. Arrange the potatoes, in a single layer, on the prepared pan.
- Slice off the top of the garlic head and drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper. Wrap in foil and add to roasting pan.
- Bake until potatoes are tender and lightly browned, stirring occasionally, for 35 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool.
- In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Add the onions; cover and cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the vinegar to the onions. Stir until the vinegar evaporates, about 1 to 2 minutes.
- In a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise, roasted garlic*, blue cheese, sour cream, horseradish, and pepper to taste. Refrigerate until ready to use.
- In a large serving bowl, combine the potatoes, onions, and blue cheese dressing. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately, or cover and refrigerate. Bring to room temperature before serving.
Special Notes:
*You can make the blue cheese dressing ahead time without the roasted garlic. When the garlic finishes roasting, let it cool until you can handle it. Squeeze out the garlic and mash it into a paste. Add it to the blue dressing and mix well.
In her original recipe Paula used prepared horseradish. I used horseradish sauce, which is milder, in its place. You can certainly use prepared horseradish, but I would only use a teaspoon and go from there.
Enjoy!
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