Recipes that appear in Idea Alley have not been tested by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
"This is my recipe for potato salad," Tom Cain writes. "It reminds me of Cordell's potato salad as best I can recall, but we clothe the past in robes it never wore so it's just my opinion."
Cain notes the recipe is adapted from America's Test Kitchen.
Potato Salad Like Cordell's
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon dried parsley or ½ cup chopped fresh parsley
2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon Accent
1 package dry Ranch Dressing Mix
½ cup bacon drippings
3 ½ pounds waxy potatoes, scrubbed (not Russets), cut into ¾ inch chunks
24 ounces sour cream
1 (16 ½-ounce) container mayonnaise
1 pound bacon, sliced matchstick thick after freezing briefly, fried (bacon is optional -- changes texture)
½ cup finely chopped green onions
¼ cup minced fresh chives
1 cup chopped celery
4 hard-cooked eggs, chilled and chopped
In a large bowl combine vinegar, mustard, garlic powder, black pepper, parsley, salt, Accent, Ranch Dressing Mix and bacon drippings. These are your seasonings.
Boil potatoes 10 minutes. Place the hot potatoes in the large bowl with the seasonings, toss gently to coat. Allow potatoes to cool in seasonings.
In a separate bowl, combine sour cream and mayonnaise and add to the potato mixture and mix well (you may not need the whole amount -- for drier potato salad add less). Fold in bacon (if using), onion, chives, celery, hard-cooked eggs.
Makes 12 servings.
In keeping with the potato theme, here's a recipe from Joe Riddle that would be equally welcome at brunch or supper.
Hash Brown Casserole
1 (2-pound) package frozen hash brown potatoes, thawed
¾ cup melted butter, divided use
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of celery soup
1 (8-ounce) container sour cream
½ cup chopped onions
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
2 cups crushed cornflakes cereal
Heat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl, combine hash browns, ½ cup melted butter, soup, sour cream, chopped onion, cheddar cheese, salt and pepper. Place mixture in a 3 quart casserole dish.
In a medium saucepan over medium heat, saute cornflakes in the remaining ¼ cup melted butter, and sprinkle the mixture over the top of the casserole.
Bake, covered, for 40 minutes.
REQUEST
■ Thousand Island dressing like that served at Sir Loin's Inn, which closed in 2007, for Vauda Lower.
Send recipe contributions, requests and culinary questions to Kelly Brant, Idea Alley, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, P.O. Box 2221, Little Rock, AR 72203; email:
Please include a daytime phone number.
Food on 08/07/2019