BBQ Fixin's: Old Fashioned Potato Salad

Digger in a Potato Field: February-Vincent van Gogh

I don’t think I’ve had potato salad for exactly 21 years. Let me tell you why…

When I was 24 years old, I took a summer job at my mother’s cousin’s hotel in the middle of Hillbilly Town, USA. It’s very near the epicenter of all things hillbilly, Branson Missouri. Before anyone writes me an email trying to convince me that “Branson just isn’t like that anymore”… I beg to differ. I don’t care how many “new developments”, “new shows”, “new acts”, “new airports” or “new clientele” that Branson may offer in this bright day of 2015… It is still for hillbillies, even rich hillbillies. By the way, one time I was at my father’s shopping center called… I can’t remember but I do remember that it had a Walmart. So there I was, shopping at Walmart and out of the Ozark blue, I felt someone/something behind me. I turned around and standing too close for my personal liking were two overall clad (with no shirts underneath) authentic inbreds. I know it’s not their fault that they are inbreds (it’s their parent's fault who are most likely brother and sister) but nonetheless it gives a girl quite a shock. The funny part is that they were about 7 feet tall and 6 feet wide with the typical characteristics of an inbred like misshapen heads and no teeth and they were shopping for Easter baskets which I thought was rather cute. Regardless, I’ve had nightmares about Branson ever since. But back to potato salad…

The only saving grace about these parts of Missouri is my mother’s cousin’s hotel, Big Cedar Lodge. If you want to experience the true outdoors in a beautiful setting… Big Cedar Lodge is the place. The owner, Johnny Morris and his chic dropdead gorgeous wife, Jeannie, have created an Adirondack style five-star retreat. Every single thing from the cottages to the restaurants to the grounds is pure Ozark perfection. So, here I was, 21 years ago, given the opportunity to take over and manage the little café on the property called Truman Cottage. Take a look…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not only did I create the menu but I did all of the prepping and cooking all by myself. I had free reign of the main restaurant’s kitchen and its supplies. With permission from the head chef, I drove my little golf cart through the property, over the hills and through the woods, to the best stocked kitchen I’ve ever seen. Any creation I imagined for the little café was on hand and available to me. I wanted the menu at Truman Cottage to reflect its heritage and offer the clients an authentic Branson style picnic lunch. Barbecue pulled pork sandwiches, corn on the cob, tomato salad, coleslaw, sweet tea, peach cobbler and without fail every week three different types of potato salad.

Imagine trying to come up with three different types of potato salad every week. I really had to get creative. It’s easy and fun to start with the basics like German potato salad, potato salad with bacon, creamy potato salad, mustard based potato salad, potato salad with herbs and on and on and on. Every week I changed it up and got more inventive until I literally could not bear the sight of potato salad another day. That was 21 years ago and I’ve never had potato salad since but let me tell you, I am an expert on potato salad. Now that I have been shut off from American Midwest cooking for the past two years living in Paris, all I want is potato salad. I’m ready to give it its reprieve and try it again. This July 4^th in Paris, I will have the true definition of a hillbilly Fourth of July complete with barbecue and the fixin’s including potato salad. Not fancy potato salad either, just my mother’s white trash potato salad complete with mayonnaise and pickles. Here is her recipe:

 

Old Fashion Potato Salad

5  pounds of Idaho Potatoes, peeled and cubed

3/4 cup sweet pickles, chopped into small pieces

1 stalk of celery, diced in small pieces

1 1/2 to 2 Tablespoons mustard

1 1/2 to 2 cups mayonnaise

salt and pepper

Paprika for garnish

Cook the potatoes  in a large pan of water. Cover with lid. Bring to a boil.  Cook until tender but not very tender. Not like for mashed potatoes.  They need to still hold their shape.  About 10 minutes or so.

Drain, cool.

When potatoes are cool add the pickles, celery,  salt and pepper.  Taste to see how they taste now. Salt is important. Potatoes need a lot of salt.  Pepper also.

In a small bowl mix the mustard and mayonnaise together.  Sometimes I add a little of the sweet pickle juice to this...really good!  Pour this into the potato mixture.  You might add all of it or some of it or might need to make more.  It should be really coated with this mixture.  You be the judge of it.  Some people like to add hard boiled eggs and some minced onion to this but in our family we didn't.  You can garnish with the paprika for a nice touch of color.  Enjoy.... Anne

 

Just for fun here are a few other of my favorite potato salad recipes, some fancy, some country, some French yet all delicious! Click on the name of the potato salad below to get the recipe!

 

German Potato Salad

 

 

Chicken Bacon Ranch Red Potato Salad

 

French Potato Salad

 

Mixed Potato and Heirloom Tomato Salad

http://www.bigcedar.com/ 

 

 

Stay tuned for the next BBQ Fixin's: Peach Cobbler

A toute!

*Something you don’t know about me? The owners, executives and chefs at Big Cedar Lodge could not have been more supportive towards my culinary career. They suggested that I apply to the CIA. No, not that one… But the better CIA that involved food and pastries… The Culinary Institute of America. I sent off my application complete with a stellar recommendation from the head chef of Big Cedar Lodge and lo and behold I was actually accepted. I was two minutes from gearing up to start my culinary adventure at The Culinary Institute of America in New York when I found out I was pregnant with little Gracie. So no CIA for me. I like to remind Gracie of that fact when she’s complaining about dinner… “Really Gracie, the Chicken Cordon Bleu is a little dry? Well, had I been able to go to the CIA I’m sure that the chicken would be perfection.” And then she likes to remind me that “it’s not her fault that I chose to have a baby instead of following my dream.” It’s a very mature relationship we have and I wouldn’t change one single thing.

 

 

The Fixin's: BBQ Corn Casserole

Today’s recipe comes from my teeny tiny great-grandmother, Hannie. I didn’t really realize it until lately but Hannie was the true definition of a modern woman. Independent, self-sufficient, bold, brave, feminine, reserved, wise and boy, could she cook.

Hannie was my mother’s grandmother, my grandmother’s mother, my great grandmother. She lived to be nearly 100. I saw her almost every day of my life until I was about 13 years old when we moved from Missouri to California. Hannie lived directly across the street from my grandmother. My grandmother had the great big old stone house and Hannie lived at the end of the driveway in her own little cottage. She walked to my grandmother’s fancy house every day in her perfect dress with her perfect shoes, hair perfectly coiffed with her perfect manners… With a beer. I swear to God. Hold on, it gets worse, the beer was always in a beer coozy. Hannie didn’t care, she was her own woman.

 

My grandparents house circa 1980s. That is Hannie in the front.

Hannie had a story… A story we never spoke of. That’s how my family rolls… We never speak of anything uncolorful or painful. I do though… as evident in this blog. I don’t see the point of keeping secrets, bottling emotions up, hiding skeletons in the closet, pushing stories under the rug. I think the more you hide something, the more obvious it is. Everyone makes mistakes, everyone has disappointments, failures, scars and regrets. It’s called life and that’s how you grow and learn and… evolve. #NoteToFamily.

I think that everyone should praise Hannie for her bravado instead of shaming her. Her big secret? She got a divorce. That’s it! But back then, it was fucking unheard-of. Granted, she did get a divorce from a super bad guy… A bank robber, but who are we to judge. I’ve dated my fair share of psychos. Don’t pretend like you haven’t either. Trust me, my sweet little great-grandmother had no idea she married a bank robber. However, she knew enough to divorce him. This was a huge ordeal and never spoken of. We were all supposed to just pretend that Hannie had always been single and her children were born by immaculate conception.

Never wanting feel sorry for herself, Hannie just went about her business raising her daughters and… Getting a job! Yep, she worked her entire life. She was Beyoncé’s Independent Woman circa 1940s. She never remarried, lived on her own and supported herself. What I love about her also is that she always looked like a million bucks. Every day her hair was done, her manicure done, she always wore a dress and shoes with a little heel. The adorable part and the oxymoron for her bold character was that she was teeny tiny… Under 5 feet tall. I think that makes her legally an elf. The funny part is that this little elf drove a giant town car.

As reliable as a postman, Hannie walked over to my grandmother’s house rain sleet or snow every single day. She sunk herself into the big couch, legs crossed… with her beer. She loved her family and was always there for us. I think the moral to her story is to never feel sorry for yourself, be brave and that independence is a very womanly trait. Hannie lived her life on her terms, put her past behind her and evolved.

All of that, and she could cook! So, in honor of Hannie’s gusto, I present to you her Barbecue Fixin’s Side Dish: Corn Casserole.

The recipe is from my mother so I cannot be held accountable for misspellings, grammatical errors, erroneous punctuation, evidence of dyslexia, and overall confusion. The end result is fabulous, so just accept it.

Here is the recipe brought to you by my mother:

Hannie’s Corn Casserole

This was my Grandmother Hannie's (Ellie’s great-grandmothers) one dish that she always made in the summer for our summer dinners. We didn't go outside to eat like most people did for a BBQ.  My dad did not cook out. We always had dinner in the Dining Room.  No matter what time of year or what occasion. Hannie always made this at her house which was across the street from my Mom's (Ellie’s grandmother.)  So I would go over and watch her make it....

Hannie's Corn Recipe

6 or 7 ears of yellow corn

butter

1/2 and 1/2 cream

1 onion cut up in small pieces

1 green bell pepper cut up in small pieces

bacon  cooked crisp about 7 or 8 slices crumbed

salt and pepper

First take the corn off of the cob. 

Put the corn in a iron skillet or one that is heavy along with about 1/2 stick of butter and a little vegetable oil.   Add the onions, green bell pepper and cook for about 20 minutes.  You want the corn to be soft but not too soft. Just a little bit to it.  Now add about 1/2 cup of the cream.  Cook for about 10 to 15 minutes or until the cream is rich and getting thick.  Creates a little sauce. Add salt and pepper to taste.  At this point it can wait and keep warn until everything else is ready.  When time to serve put  the bacon on top. 

This recipe has not ever been written down.  So you can make it yours by adding or taking away.  Maybe a little more cream...more butter!  It is all up to you and what you like. 

Hope you try it .   Enjoy.... Anne

Voilà! The second installment of our Barbecue Fixin’s Series. Stay tuned for more…

A toute!

The Fixin's: BBQ Baked Beans

 

Wow! I didn’t realize that there were so many barbecue loving blog readers! I received a ton of emails from readers who were so excited to share their barbecue stories including one email from a woman this morning detailing how to barbecue a whole pig that involved a bathtub, beer and a truck. These are my kind of people.

Because I live in Par-ee, I didn’t realize that it is Memorial Day weekend back in the states! I wish I had thought of this barbecue blog series sooner so I could share all of my family recipes before the big weekend. Alas, we have a whole summer of barbecue ahead of us so not to worry.

I thought it would be fun to take a few days and share my mother’s, my grandmother’s and my great grandmother’s recipes with you that we have used for generations. These are the recipes we use for summer barbecues. Even though I like to go to dumpy barbecue joints, if we are doing barbecue at home, we still make it a formal affair because that’s just how my family is. Even though my grandmother’s recipe calls for a white trash can of Pork n Beans, it was always served on beautiful china in the formal dining room. Isn’t that funny?

Okay, these next few blogs are all about the barbecue fixin’s… The sides. These aren’t fancy recipes, they are not gourmet… They are real and they are delicious. However, I must warn you… My mother wrote out all of these recipes and with that comes a whole lot of funny. My mother has self diagnosed dyslexia, is a horrible speller and is just overall confusing. You have to have had to live a lifetime with her to actually understand what she’s talking about. I don’t know how she taught cooking classes because I know how frustrated she gets when we mere mortals don’t know what she’s talking about. She just assumes that everyone is or should be a master chef. When I was growing up, 90% of my life was spent in the kitchen with my mother watching her cook. Rarely, very rarely, she would let me stir a sauce but then she would take the spoon out of my hand and tell me that I was stirring it wrong. I’m pretty sure I do the same thing to my daughter, Grace.

My mother is the type of cook who “feels.” She doesn’t really follow recipes, no two meals are the same, she uses all of her senses to cook and the results are… Extraordinary. So, with that being said… I’m just going to let her recipes be themselves… Confusion, misspellings, improper verb tenses, condescension, assumption and all. She will most likely not tell you what temperature the oven should be because she assumes you should just know. And my God, you better be using the proper cookware or heads will roll. Doesn’t this sound like fun? Just kidding, trust me, it is fun because my mother has a wonderful characteristic of being able to laugh at herself.

Today’s recipe from my mother, Anne:

O’Connell Family Baked Beans

This recipe was my Mom's (Ellie’s grandmother) and I have never had a actual written recipe.  It was just as you go!

So here it is..as I go!

1  large can of Pork n Beans (I pour most of the liquid off) actually, make that two large cans.

about I/2  cup of ketchup

about 1/2 cup of brown sugar

about 1/2 of a green pepper cut in small sizes

about 1/2 of a large onion

a few splashes of Worchestershire Sauce

about 8 to 10 slices of bacon

Pour the pork n beans into a large bowl.  Add all of the ingredients, except the bacon, and mix together.  you might like to add more or less of each of them.  This is just how I start.   I probable add more ketchup and brown sugar and a whole onion and whole green pepper. I probably add more worchestershire because I like it to be a dark color and have a rich taste.  But it does add salt so be careful.  Taste it and see how you like it...a little sweet but a richness to it. I usually double this recipe.  Love the leftover beans the next day.

Now put it in a glass baking dish. Round or rectangle.... any size. It is better to have it in a smaller dish that will give it some depth instead of longer and not as deep.   Now place 4 or 5 slices of bacon across the dish and then the other 4 or 5 across the dish in the other direction to form a basket weave pattern.  Makes it look special!  The bacon is important to this recipe.

Bake in a 400 oven for about 45 to 60 minutes.  Don't let the beans over cook and dry out.  You want them to be moist.  I have burned them many times so be careful.  Put the timer on....Anne

Voilà! My grandmother’s baked beans via my mother. Welcome to my world. Stay tuned for tomorrow’s recipe… My great grandmother’s summer barbecue corn casserole.

Life's Lesson N°12: BBQ

Getting back to the 15 dishes you should master by the age of 30…

Just in time for summer, today we need to master barbecue. This ain’t easy. My first reaction is just to say that if you want good barbecue… Go to the South. Southerners have been mastering barbecue for decades and who are we to interfere?
 

For the first part of my life, I grew up in Missouri, was born in Texas, spent time in the South, and with conviction I can say that I know good barbecue. My parents and grandparents used to take us “to the wrong side of the tracks” in our little town of Springfield, Missouri for old school barbecue. A tiny barbecue joint that had been in operation for three generations… Crosstown Barbecue. It was a total dump but barbecue only tastes good that way. There’s nothing better on a hot summer day than barbecue ribs, coleslaw, baked beans, corn on the cob, watermelon and an icy cold Pepsi.

One sweltering summer my ex-husband and I drove from Missouri to South Carolina stopping at every barbecue place along the way. Our goal was to experience every type of barbecue… Mission accomplished. I learned that there were different types of barbecue depending on the region. Mustard base, tomato base, vinegar base, ketchup base, molasses base. Different types of wood were used… Hickory, pecan, or oak. Some joints used pork, some used beef, some used chicken. Sauces and sides were equally important and barbecue isn’t barbecue without some white bread, paper plates and paper napkins.

 

There was some buzz over here in Paris a while ago about a new restaurant… A barbecue restaurant… In Paris! I was skeptical. However, beggars can’t be choosers so without having any barbecue since I came to Paris two years ago, I thought I would give it a shot. The restaurant is called Flesh and is in the ninth arrondissement. I sent my husband for some take out with specific instructions… Pulled pork sandwich, extra extra barbecue sauce, and coleslaw. None of that came home. They only offered barbecue ribs, no baked beans, no coleslaw and offered Caesar salad as a side dish and offered wine as a beverage. What the fuck! You can’t have Caesar salad with barbecue. You can’t have wine with barbecue! It’s not right, it’s just not done. And what about pulled pork sandwich on a white trash bun… That’s the hallmark of barbecue. The owners of Flesh need to spend a solid summer in Memphis, Arkansas, Texas, Alabama, South Carolina, Kansas City, and North Carolina to get some schooling on what real barbecue is. Quelle horreur!

 

Even my mother who is an incredible cook, doesn’t take on barbecue. She leaves that to the experts and she focuses on the sides. We usually order the ribs, the pulled pork and the brisket and we make homemade sides of corn casserole, potato salad, baked beans, peach cobbler, strawberry shortcake, cornbread and sweet tea. So, that’s what we are going to do over the next few days to get us ready for the summer. Fasten your seatbelts… It’s hillbilly time.