Monday Night Dinner

Dinner – July 29th . . . . Or Are You Going to Scarborough Fair?
Buttermilk Roasted Chicken
Corn Chowder Potato Salad
Tomatoes with Balsamic Drizzle & Basil
Salad
Watermelon

Buttermilk Roasted Chicken

Recipe previously given: Cooking the Book, or Not

Corn Chowder Potato Salad
(serves . . . 12+ people)

I suffer from a curious mental block when it comes to potato salad.  I always always end up making egregiously too much potato salad.  I start by weighing out a completely reasonable number of potatoes, but look at them in the bowl and think ‘well, I’ll add a serving for the pot’ (which is my default response when cooking for Dinner).  Then I look at them again and think that it doesn’t look like enough potatoes, so I’ll just add a few more, and then maybe just one or two more.  Then, before you know it, I have 4+ lb of potatoes simmering, and end up with enough potato salad to feed a small battalion.  Not even Dinner can eat all of the potato salad I make in one sitting.  Fortunately, everyone wanted to take home leftovers of this potato salad.

I was torn between calling this Corn Chowder Potato Salad because it echoes all the flavors of a classic Corn Chowder, and calling it the Are You Going to Scarborough Fair Potato Salad because by happenstance I had parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme in my fridge and used them all to season the corn.  Also, I have a moral weakness for bad puns.

I used a mix of potatoes – red, blue, Yukon gold – purely for aesthetic value.  Use whatever kind of potato you happen to have on hand/like best.

4 lb potatoes
½ lb bacon, roughly chopped
3 ears corn, husked and kernals cut from cob
1 tsp each sage, thyme, rosemary, minced
4-6 scallions, thinly sliced
4 Tbsp white wine vinegar
½ cup sour cream
½ cup plain yogurt
1 Tbsp mustard
1 Tbsp mayonnaise
½ lemon, zested and juiced
3 Tbsp parsley, minced
1 Tbsp chives, minced
Salt/pepper

Whisk together the sour cream, plain yogurt, mustard, mayonnaise, lemon zest and juice, chives and parsley.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add the potatoes and cook until just tender – about 10-15 minutes for small potatoes, longer for larger potatoes.

In a large bowl combine the sliced scallions and white wine vinegar.

Drain the potatoes, and while still hot chop into bite sized pieces and then toss with the scallions and vinegar.  Allow to cool.

Cook the bacon until crisp and then drain on paper towels.  Drain off most of the rendered bacon fat, leaving a little in the pan.  Saute the corn in the remaining bacon fat until tender – about 2-3 minutes.  Add the minced sage, thyme and rosemary and cook until fragrant (less than 1 minute).

Add the corn and bacon to the potatoes and toss with enough of the sauce to coat everything generously without getting gloppy.  Season to taste with salt/pepper.

Tomato & Mozzarella Salad