Fingerling Potato Salad

I love fingerling potatoes, they are just so darn cute and when I saw this recipe in the July issue of Canadian House & Home Magazine , I decided I had to try it sometime. (Why Canadian House & Home Magazine? Well, in addition to my raging addictions to cookbooks and food magazines, I also have a smaller but still pretty healthy-sized addiction to home decor magazines. Canadian House & Home has been a favorite ever since I lived in Seattle and made frequent Vancouver trips--plus they often have really good recipes). When I found a small package of fresh looking and (somewhat) decently priced organic fingerlings at my local natural foods store the other day, I moved it up to the "try now" section of my box of magazine recipes. In the magazine, this one is called "Best Potato Salad" and while to me, that honor goes to my Mom's potato salad this one is still pretty darn good. (BTW--if you are not familiar with fingerlings there is a good write up on them at GourmetSleuth here)

Best Potato Salad

Jennifer Low, Canadian House and Home Magazine, July 2008

1 & 1/2 lb yellow fingerling potatoes

3 Tbsp Mayonnaise

2 Tbsp Dijon mustard

1 Tbsp cider vinegar

2 tsp caper brine (from jar of capers)

1 & 1/2 tsp sugar

Fresh black pepper to taste

2 stalks celery, very finely sliced

2-3 Tbsp chopped, fresh dill

Chopped, fresh dill and pepper for garnish if desired

Place whole, unpeeled fingerlings in pot of cold, lightly salted water. Bring to a boil and simmer 10 minutes, or until potatoes are tender when pierced with a fork. Drain. Run potatoes under cold water to cool. Drain and set aside. In a serving bowl, mix mayonnaise, mustard, vinegar, caper brine, sugar and pepper to make dressing. Slice cooked fingerlings in half lengthwise. add to dressing, along with celery and dill. Gently mix to coat. Serve at either room temperature or chilled (salad is best eaten on the day it's made). Garnish with more chopped dill and pepper before serving, if desired. Makes 6-8 servings.

Notes: I made a few slight modifications to the recipe. (Should I be worried about making modifications to a magazine's potato salad recipe? {if you don't know why check out Melissa's trials and tribulations with Cook's Country at her blog Alosha's Kitchen here}. Oh well, I don't think Canadian House & Home seems as anal as those guys!). I reduced the recipe by about I/2, took out the mayo and replaced it with 2% Greek yogurt and just put a pinch of sugar in. Also, since you add caper brine anyway and I love capers, I tossed about 1 Tbsp of them in. It ended up that I had no cider vinegar in the house so I used a champagne vinegar I had on hand. I think mine ended up with a bit more dressing than the ones in the magazine photo but since I used yogurt and reduced the sugar, i didn't feel guilty about that!

Results: Yum! It was really good, not too heavy at all. I liked the flavors of the mustard and dill and the whole capers added a nice touch. You could make this with new potatoes and get a great result too. I think it would even be light enough if you used the mayo as there isn't a lot in there to begin with. I made it and chilled it but ended up letting it warm up to room temp, where I think the flavors come out a bit more than when it is just out of the fridge. I also ate some for lunch the next day and thought it was still just as good. A keeper recipe that I will make again.