Sweet Potato Salad? Your favorite?

rotuts · May 23, 2012

I've been meaning to move from 'white' potato salad to sweet potato salad for some time.

Today's NYTimes:

http://www.nytimes.c..._r=1&ref=dining

had a SPS recipe which is an interesting starting point.

( I don't agree with the authors objections to commercial Mayo as Hellman's (Best Foods) does not contain corn syrup. Its fine to use from time to time. But writers write for their market)

What have you made? What would you make again? Have a favorite site with all the skinny?

thanks!

Edited May 23, 2012 by rotuts (log)

Darienne · May 23, 2012

I can't access the NYT recipe through your URL but I did find one for Sweet Potato Salad with Lime Pickle.

We have a family favorite recipe for roasted sweet potatoes and I printed out the recipe without its provenance and now can't fine where it came from. I looked up a number of recipes for Black Bean and Sweet Potato and they were all pretty much in the same league: roast potatoes, add black beans, onions, bell pepper, lime juice, etc.

To ours I have added roasted Poblano rajas and canned or frozen niblets. A whole meal and then some.

Love it! :wub: :wub: Will PM the recipe if wanted.

Jaymes · May 23, 2012

You know, for some forty-plus years, I've been taking this sweet potato salad to potlucks, church suppers, backyard parties, etc. It always seems to be a surprise to most folks, and it's also always a huge hit. True, it's nobody's idea of "gourmet fare" (including mine), and it's nothing like the fancy roasted sweet potato and black bean, etc., salads you were probably looking for, but it's darn sure tasty. I don't usually announce what it is - just say that I brought "potato salad" and let folks give it a go unaware. I've discovered that if I say up front it's sweet potato salad, some people will invariably say that they don't like sweet potatoes, and not even try it. When I don't announce what it is, those same folks will say, "I don't usually like sweet potatoes, but that was delicious."

Heheheh.

So here it is, for what it's worth:

Sweet Potato Salad

1 large (1lb 10oz) can vacuum-packed sweet potatoes, drained

1/2 C finely-chopped celery

3 nice fat green onions, whites and tops, finely-chopped

2 heaping Tbls sweet pickle relish

1/4 C mayo

1/4 C Durkee's Famous Sauce*

2 hard-cooked eggs, chopped

2 hard-cooked eggs, sliced, for garnish on top

6 slices bacon, cooked & crumbled

paprika

Mash potatoes, then add all ingredients except for sliced eggs, bacon crumbles and paprika. Stir until thoroughly combined. Turn into serving bowl. Top with sliced eggs, bacon crumbles and sprinkles of paprika.

Cover and chill well until serving time.

I haven't given out this recipe in a very long time. We moved a lot through the years and, the first time I took it to a party (decades ago), everybody wanted the recipe and I shared it freely. To my dismay, because it's so tasty and "different" and easy to make, it showed up at nearly every gathering I went to for the next couple of years until we moved away.

I haven't given it out much since then.

But now I'm an old gal and my days of "competitive entertaining" and proprietary recipes are long behind me. I hope all y'all make this.

And love it.

ETA: *Durkee's Famous Sauce is a staple in southern kitchens. In fact, recipes down here just call for "Durkee's" and everybody knows what you're talking about. It's a mustard-based mayonnaisey sauce. If you can't find it, I'm not sure what you can sub. Perhaps go online and see if there are any substitute suggestions.

And so I just did "go online" to find a substitute suggestion, and found this:

http://www.food.com/...ce-clone-108402

And this:

http://www.food.com/...ce-clone-300158

Don't know which is the best, as I can just go to the store and buy Durkee's.

But if you can't, and if you want to try it, perhaps one of these will do the trick for you.

Edited May 23, 2012 by Jaymes (log)

**Chris Hennes** · May 23, 2012

Jaymes, have you tried making that with fresh sweet potatoes? Is it critical to use canned ones?

JeanneCake · May 23, 2012

I am going to make Jaymes' sweet potato salad this weekend, but my favorite one comes from the Thrill of the Grill by Chris Schlesinger who owned the East Coast Grill in Cambridge MA. It uses fresh boiled potatoes, diced green and red peppers, red onion, scallions and an oil based dressing (it has olive oil, lime juice, garlic, tabasco, worcestershire and other stuff) and no one can get enough. I can make a 2x batch for 4 adults and there's none left for the next day :sad: Now I have to find the book!

HungryC · May 23, 2012

I like this sweet potato & roasted poblano pepper salad from Epicurious: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Sweet-Potato-and-Poblano-Salad-with-Honey-and-Rosemary-353851

Jaymes · May 23, 2012

Jaymes, have you tried making that with fresh sweet potatoes? Is it critical to use canned ones?

Never tried it. I often thought I would, and planned to, and definitely should have, but I led a pretty hectic life in those days, and frequently we were living in places where I couldn't get fresh sweet potatoes (at least not regularly) (like the middle of Alaska), so (unfortunately, I'll admit), I just defaulted to the easiest option.

Not proud of it, really, but, on the other hand, as I said, the salad was always such a big hit that, when push came to shove, just went with what worked. And it was so easy to keep canned sweet potatoes in the pantry for last-minute emergencies. And you add so much stuff to the sweet potatoes (Durkee's, mayo, pickle relish, etc.) that I figured it probably wouldn't have made a tremendous amount of difference.

But on the other hand, it wouldn't have been difficult to boil or roast or even bake to caramelize some fresh sweet potatoes. And I always intended to. Might have been better.

But, like I said....

Ah well.

Edited May 23, 2012 by Jaymes (log)

Darienne · May 23, 2012

I like this sweet potato & roasted poblano pepper salad from Epicurious: http://www.epicuriou...Rosemary-353851

Sounds good. Now all I would have to do is to add black beans and niblets. :raz:

Margaret Pilgrim · May 24, 2012

Jaymes' recipe is very similar to sweet potato salad that my M-i-L used to make decades ago. We always used fresh just because they were easy and cheap. Essentially, just substitute boiled or steamed, skinned or not, sweet potatoes for white potatoes in your favorite potato salad. Good stuff and healthful as a bonus.

I always use Best Foods or Hellman's. FWIW, homemade mayo is superb but it does create a totally different dish than BF or H. I use homemade more often in delicate preps where mayo is the prominent ingredient. In potato salad, I try to keep the mayo to a minimum, often subbing creme fraiche for part in a recipe.

rotuts · May 24, 2012

MP: agree with you completely on the Mayo. wonder why Hellmans/BestFoods dont use one name across the US. I never thought of just subs. sweet for white

in my case my favorite would be boiled/cooled potatoes, skin on with mayo that had some Penzies Chicaco Steak seasoning mixed in and green onions and HB eggs. Some times cilantro.

gfweb · May 24, 2012

Anybody have a picture?

Margaret Pilgrim · May 24, 2012

in my case my favorite would be boiled/cooled potatoes, skin on with mayo that had some Penzies Chicaco Steak seasoning mixed in and green onions and HB eggs. Some times cilantro.

Works for me! We usually use dill weed and sometimes, for DH, chopped sweet pickles, i.e., Bubbie's bread and butter slices. You could also add chopped apple or pineapple. Or.....

Panaderia Canadiense · May 24, 2012

OK, I go at this at about 180 degrees from you folks! Let me begin by saying that my sweet potatoes are purple, not violent orange in colour, and I'm used to calling them chamote - papa dulce is a completely different creature. What I do is a flying takeoff of the Volquetero, which is a popular salad-type dish in the neighbouring province.

Now, what I do is peel the chamote, cut them into 1/16" slices on my mandoline, and shallow-fat fry them in sunflower oil with a bit of cinnamon until they're nice and crispy (deep fat would probably be easier, but I'm lazy and normally don't have that much oil on hand). These come off to drain, and then I make chifles dulces in the same oil (ripe plantain chips), frying until they're medium golden. Drain those as well. Now fire up the hot-air popper and make popcorn.

As the crispy parts of the salad are draining and cooling a bit, I chop a couple of tomatoes (coarsely), a small onion (finely), some cilantro (very finely) and an aji pepper (in rings), and mix those together with the juice of 3-4 limes (or 5-6-7 limes, depending on how juicy they are - I want my encebollado to be fairly firm but still have enough juice to flavour the popcorn nicely. Other people like a very runny encebollado.) While I'm doing this, I'll also boil my chochos (lupini beans), drain, and cool them.

As the chochos cool, you've got two options. If canned baby shrimp are available to you without breaking the bank, open a couple of cans. Otherwise, p&d some large shrimp and cut them into chunks. You should still have the oil from frying the chamote - use this to pink up the shrimp, and give them a pinch of aji powder at the end to spice 'em up.

The salad (when I make it, at least) is built in layers in fruit-nappy type dishes (stemmed bowls), beginning with a foundation of chochos, then popcorn, then chifles dulces, then chamote crispies, and finally topped with the shrimp and encebollado, using enough of the encebollado juice that the other grains take up its flavour.

Unfortunately I don't have a photo; this is something I make on special occasions and it normally disappears the minute it hits the table (and since I'm serving, by the time the camera comes out, I've got empty nappies and happy-looking guests).

Jaymes · May 24, 2012

MP: agree with you completely on the Mayo. wonder why Hellmans/BestFoods dont use one name across the US.

That's because they started life as two different companies. Hellman's started in a deli in New York City back around 1900; Best Foods in California. When Best Foods bought Hellman's, sometime in the 30s, each company had such strong branding identification in their respective marketing regions that Best Foods decided to leave the Hellman's brand/name/recipe alone. So it's Hellman's east of the Rockies; Best Foods west. And supposedly they are not identical. The differences are supposedly minute, but I know folks that swear they can tell which is which because Best Foods has more lemon juice and is tangier.

Regardless, in the US south, most good cooks that I know use Duke's anyway. If you live in a region where it's sold, and you haven't tried it, you should.

Edited May 24, 2012 by Jaymes (log)

rotuts · May 24, 2012

is Durkee's Famous Sauce a substitute for mayo, or something completely different. I was the links and will give Fake Durkee's Famous Sauce a try.

Jaymes · May 24, 2012

is Durkee's Famous Sauce a substitute for mayo, or something completely different. I was the links and will give Fake Durkee's Famous Sauce a try.

It's definitely different. Much, much stronger flavor. In fact, although it's ubiquitous in the US South, and goes into a lot of things down here - potato salads, cole slaws, apple & fruit salads, casseroles, remoulade/seafood sauces, deviled eggs, dips & spreads & dressings, etc. - and everyone uses it and is accustomed to it and likes it, you STILL have to be very careful not to overdo it. It's got a strong vinegar/mustardy/sweet-sour flavor and it will completely take over the dish if you use it with too heavy a hand. Plain mayo is definitely not a substitute for Durkee's (or vs versa) and if you leave it out of a dish that calls for it, you'll easily notice the difference.

ETA: I see you're in Boston. I think you probably can find it in some of the stores up there:

http://www.durkee.co...s sauce&x=0&y=0

Chitchat about Durkee's - "The Holy Grail of Condiments"

http://www.nashville...l-of-condiments

Edited May 24, 2012 by Jaymes (log)

Margaret Pilgrim · May 25, 2012

is Durkee's Famous Sauce a substitute for mayo, or something completely different. I was the links and will give Fake Durkee's Famous Sauce a try.

One could use it instead of mayo, i.e., as a spread, just as one could use mustard. It tastes nothing like mayo. It is a sandwich sauce that taste a lot like honey mustard salad dressing.

rotuts · May 25, 2012

be getting some today!

rotuts · May 25, 2012

Its well worth trying the "Famous" if its in your grocery. they have it in New England! its like a sweet mustard + mayo+ vinegar

Margaret Pilgrim · May 26, 2012

Its well worth trying the "Famous" if its in your grocery. they have it in New England! its like a sweet mustard + mayo+ vinegar

It was a "must" in my husband's family for after-holiday turkey sandwiches. (I'm a mayo-only-on-turkey person, myself.)

Jaymes · June 30, 2013

Made this yesterday, just for a few friends and myself - Roasted Sweet Potato Salad with Black Beans and Corn:

http://www.girlcooksworld.com/2012/09/sweet-potato-salad-with-black-beans-and-corn.html

Was so good that I'm going to be taking it to the family July 4th gathering next week.

Delicious, and beautiful. A real winner!

Edited June 30, 2013 by Jaymes (log)

Darienne · June 30, 2013

Made this yesterday, just for a few friends and myself - Roasted Sweet Potato Salad with Black Beans and Corn:
http://www.girlcooksworld.com/2012/09/sweet-potato-salad-with-black-beans-and-corn.html
Was so good that I'm going to be taking it to the family July 4th gathering next week.
Delicious, and beautiful. A real winner!

Add roasted Poblanos and I'm in.

Jaymes · July 1, 2013

Made this yesterday, just for a few friends and myself - Roasted Sweet Potato Salad with Black Beans and Corn:
http://www.girlcooksworld.com/2012/09/sweet-potato-salad-with-black-beans-and-corn.html
Was so good that I'm going to be taking it to the family July 4th gathering next week.
Delicious, and beautiful. A real winner!
Add roasted Poblanos and I'm in.

Hadn't thought of that. But, of course, roasted poblanos are terrific in just about everything. I suspect that roasted poblano flavor would go great with the roasted sweet potatoes, black beans & corn.

Good thinking, chica!

GlorifiedRice · July 1, 2013

Do they get soft? or do they retain some firmness?

Jaymes · July 1, 2013

Well, like most potatoes (and other veggies, too, for that matter), how firm or soft they are is really a matter of personal preference, and how long you cook them.

I definitely like for them to retain some texture in this particular salad.

I do make another Sweet Potato Salad (recipe upthread) that basically has mashed sweet potatoes. I do like the texture of that other one to be lumpy, but nobody would confuse it for firm sweet potatoes.

Edited July 1, 2013 by Jaymes (log)

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