Having a Crownsville picnic? One of my all-time favorites since my brother first corrupted my palate with it is potato chips and California Dip — or French Onion Dip. I find it hard to justify sitting down and eating a bag of potato chips and a quart of dip anymore, so this idea struck me as the next best thing. I can pretend it’s healthful — the ingredients are almost all natural. (I’ve never seen a bouillon plant!)
Elaine’s Original French Onion Potato Salad
- 10 red potatoes, scrubbed clean,but not peeled. Ready to boil
- 4-6 ounces of mushrooms sliced – white or baby bellas
- 1 large red onion, cut into slivers (stem to root)
- Olive oil for sauteing
- 1/2 c. sour cream (with additional available if needed)
- 4 beef bouillon cubes
- 1/2 c. chopped fresh parsley
- salt & pepper, additional bouillon cube
Boil the potatoes. While they are boiling, crumble the bouillon cubes into the sour cream, mix, and let stand. Saute the onions in olive oil in a heavy pan until they being to caramelize. Remove to a large salad bowl.
Saute the mushrooms in the same pan adding more olive oil until they begin to caramelize. Add them to the salad bowl.
When the potatoes are fork tender, drain, cut into bite-sized pieces, and add to the salad bowl. Add the chopped parsley. Toss the ingredients to evenly distribute. Stir the sour cream once more and add to the salad. Toss to coat all the ingredients. Adjust the seasoning with pepper and salt, or instead of salt, crumble in another bouillon cube. Since the potatoes vary in size you may need to add more sour cream to give the salad the desired texture.
All these proportions are approximate. If you like lots of mushrooms, add more– same with the onions, sour cream, etc. It’s a salad, not a chemistry experiment. The result is to your taste not an absolute. Just remember what you did so that if you liked it, you can repeat it.
I suggest letting it sit for at least a few hour — overnight is better.