German Potato Salad (Kartoffelsalat)

Every October I really take it upon myself to make a lot of home cooking, for my family that specifically means German foods or more specifically Pennsylvania Dutch classics. To me you really cant touch my favorites without approaching sauerbraten, macaroni and cheese, gingersnaps and whoopie pies. (ok I know its a long, growing list but I remember my life in food what can I say) So now that I've covered all of those things I'm going to start teetering into the whole other world of classic comforts. Although I do make these things regularly I just never thought to take notes I guess? Really is that not the point of a food blog? Shouldn't you note what you ACTUALLY make, things that you really eat and regularly share? Most of the time I find myself only flipping through the magazines and coming up with "new things" when really my family asks for "old things" most.

For me growing up I specifically remember a brand of jarred bacon dressing that I absolutely ADORED (can't find a link or what its actually called) we used it hot on lettuce salads, macaroni salad, and potatoes hot or cold. I still do kind of love it however I rarely ever buy it because well, I don't know? I've just convinced myself if the calories I'm consuming are at least scratch made, or made with love foods, its not as bad. Which really is the primary difficulty with my obsession with cooking. For this meal I made sauerbraten as well as stewed venison, the only sides acceptable to me for this meal are braised cabbage and of course hot German potato salad, although string beans are not traditional I had them on hand from the produce stand so I blanched them and tossed them in.  The best kitchen rule is there are no rules to recipes. (unless your baking of course) Cook what you love and what you have on hand. This recipe is very basic but its versatile and multi-purpose. I use this same dressing over top lettuce with eggs for a classic bistro style salad and any left over hot salad I mix with mayo or sour cream sometimes some dill and its a great cold salad. Its perfect with a traditional German supper  or even a turkey sandwich. This is how I've made it for years, its homey and rustic, I do adore it.

German References: Luchow's German Cook Book,  the German cookbook.

Hot Bacon Dressing:
The egg is optional, sometimes I use a tablespoon or so of mayo but often I leave it out entirely. (This makes the dressing slightly thicker and creamy.)

6 slices of good quality bacon cut into bits

1 medium sized onion diced, red preferably 

1/2 cup vinegar, I use regular or red wine vinegar. 

1/2 cup chicken stock/broth

1-2 teaspoons sugar (up to 1 tablespoon)

1 large egg beaten

1 teaspoon dijon mustard 

salt and pepper

In a skillet brown bacon until crisp. Remove the bacon from the pan and keep the drippings. In the pan combine onion, vineger, chicken stock, salt, pepper, sugar and mustard. Whisk together to combine. Remove from the heat and very quickly beat the beaten egg into the dressing. You want to temper the egg into the liquid essentially, otherwise you will have sour scrambled eggs.

Note: If you really don't like the wicked sour taste you can substitute some of the vinegar for wine, stock or even beer.

Potato Salad: 
2-3 pounds of cooked potatoes, sliced
*I added String beans, wax beans, spring beans etc. blanched (optional)

-Pour dressing over cooked sliced potatoes, blanched vegetables or salad. Sometimes I like to pan fry my potatoes in the bacon grease before making the dressing.

-For cold salad: Allow dressing to cool and whisk into the mixture 1 cup of mayo or sour cream or even a mixture of the two.