Texas-Style Potato Salad

This post is going to be short and to the point. The sun is shining and I'm going to spend the weekend outdoors!

Bottom line: if you want to add a little heat to your basic potato salad recipe, this version is an awesome way to do it! The gist is that you pickle your own onions and jalapenos while the potatoes cook. I could have eaten the pickled onions straight - they were so good! The hot potatoes are tossed with a bit of the pickling liquid and allowed to cool for 20 minutes to absorb the flavor completely. Then, the pickled peppers, onions, potatoes, eggs, and celery (if you like celery) is tossed together with a mustard-heavy sauce to coat and allowed to chill in the fridge until ready to eat!

I have written before about how every single pregnancy I have experienced an intense craving for all things vinegar. This has caused me to crave eating mustard and ketchup by the spoonful with a side of pickles and a cider vinegar shake. Gross,but oh-so-good at the same time. I think this is the reason both my kids are huge ketchup eaters. They also will just eat ketchup by the spoonful. Anyway, this potato salad - with the huge punch from the pickling juices and mustard sauce - was a dream come true for this pregnant gal. I kept sneaking bites of it from the fridge. Delicious!

Paul also loved this salad. Not surprising since he is always trying to add jalapeno to everything we make. The kids, of course, would not touch it. There was definitely a little too much heat for them. A little too much "Texas." However, Emma made up for her inability to eat Texas-style potato salad by dressing like a cowgirl for story time.

Texas-Style Potato Salad
from Cook's Country

1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
Salt and pepper
1 teaspoon yellow mustard seeds
1/2 small red onion, sliced thin
2 jalapeno chiles (1 sliced into thin rings; 1 stemmed, seeded, and minced)
3 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 3/4-inch pieces
6 tablespoons mayonnaise
6 tablespoons yellow mustard
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 large hard-cooked eggs, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
1 celery rib, minced (We omit because Paul cries if I put celery in anything)

Combine vinegar, sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and mustard seeds in bowl and microwave until steaming, about 2 minutes. Whisk until sugar and salt are dissolved. Add onion and jalapenos and set aside until cool, 15 to 20 minutes. Strain onion and jalapenos through fine-mesh strainer set over bowl. Reserve pickled vegetables and vinegar mixture separately.

Meanwhile, combine potatoes, 8 cups water, and 1 tablespoon salt in Dutch oven and bring to boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until potatoes are just tender, 10 to 15 minutes.

Drain potatoes thoroughly, then transfer to large bowl. Drizzle 2 tablespoons reserved vinegar mixture over hot potatoes and toss gently until evenly coated. (Reserve remaining vinegar mixture for another use - like a vinegar shake - kidding!) Refrigerate until cool, about 30 minutes, stirring once halfway through chilling.

Whisk mayonnaise, mustard, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and cayenne together in bowl until combined. Add mayonnaise mixture, reserved pickled vegetables, eggs, and celery to potatoes and stir gently to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover and refrigerate to let flavors blend, about 30 minutes.