Potato Salad to Feed 55

use the potato salad calculator

Not a calculator per se, but the Times Pic had this:

"This potato salad recipe comes from a gentleman in New Orleans who has made this for groups of 10 to 200, using these basic ratios and options. This is one of the best potato salad guides I've come across. I had seen it before and picked it up from a different newspaper a while back, but it was recently in the "Exchange Alley" recipe section of the New Orleans Times Picayne in this format, so I'd thought I'd share it with you. -Keri


LAST WORD ON POTATO SALAD: B.L. of New Orleans sends a definitive ratio, not a recipe, for potato salad. "I can tell you that there is not a single recipe that suits everyone," he writes. "So here is a rule of thumb, and then add the other ingredients based on your guest's likes and dislikes. Some people hate sweet pickle or anything with sweet pickle in it. You have the dillheads vs. the sweetheads!

"Next is mayonnaise . . . people either love it or hate it, and the same can be said for raw onions or scallions. So here is the basic recipe.

"POTATO SALAD RATIO: Use medium-size potatoes (half the size of a man's fist), with a ratio of two potatoes to one egg. This allows you to size up the amount of potato salad you want to make." (B.L. prefers eggs hard-cooked for five minutes so the centers are "just a little squishy in the middle, which brings out more taste and means less mayonnaise.")

For
8 potatoes and
4 eggs, mix together and add
3 stalks peeled, chopped celery, and
3 level tablespoons of mayonnaise.

"Be aware that there is a ratio of potato to egg to celery to mayo. This is your foundation."

Option 1: Add 3 pickles, dill, sweet or both.

Option 2: Add 1 cup onion: Texas sweets, scallions, white or yellow onions, or a combination.

Option 3: Add 1 tablespoon brown mustard with 1 teaspoon liquid crab boil, plus 1 teaspoon hot sauce.

Option 4: Add 1 cup freshly fried, hot and crumbled bacon.

Option 5: Add 1 cup hot corn cut off a freshly boiled cob, or cut raw corn off the cob and fry in butter.

"Look over the options and use any or all that you want. I use everything listed and it is top-shelf potato salad," he writes.

8 potatoes and
4 eggs, mix together and add
3 stalks peeled, chopped celery, and
3 level tablespoons of mayonnaise.

yeah that doesnt seem like enough mayo but i never measure anyway. mayo goes in last, until it looks right

quote:

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For 8 medium potatoes, I'm using at least 1 cup of mayo. Am I in the minority?

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No, but my least favorite part of potato salad is the potatoes I'd rather just have a large scoop of egg salad on the side.

3 stalks peeled, chopped celery.

Peeled celery? Is that a thing? I have never peeled celery.

I make Shrimp potato salad. It's the dish I bring to cook-outs and parties. I cook my ingredients separately but in the same pot and same liquid to cut down on dishes and cross-utilize the water. First I poach the shrimp, then I cook the eggs and finally I cook the potatoes and mix them with the dressing while they are still hot. Once the potato salad is room temp, I fold the shrimp back in and adjust the seasoning and heat level. I'm making some tomorrow for a party and remembered your thread. Here's the approximate measurements.

Ingredients for the shrimp
#1.5 shrimp
8qts water
4each bay leaves
1each Zatarain's crawfish, shrimp, & crab boil in a bag
2T Zatarain's concentrated liquid shrimp & crab boil
4T Zatarain's granulated crawfish, shrimp, & crab boil

Bring water to boil in 12qt stock pot. Add all ingredients except the shrimp. Return to a boil, stir in shrimp and turn off heat. Put a tight-fitting lid on the pot and allow shrimp to poach 15-20 minutes (this is when I peel the potatoes and assemble the rest of my ingredients). Remove shrimp with a spider and leave them at room temperature while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

Ingredients for the eggs and potatoes
4 each eggs
#2 russet potatoes, peeled quartered or cut into large pieces
reserved shrimp cooking liquid

Return pot to a boil, remove eggs from refrigeration and add immediately to boiling water. Cook for 5 minutes. Turn off heat add a tight-fitting lid and allow eggs to poach for an additional 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, immediately remove eggs with a spider and shock eggs in an ice bath. Peel eggs, separate the yolks, dice the whites, and prepare the dressing while the potatoes cook.

Add potatoes to the reserved cooking liquid, heat to a boil, lower to a simmer and cook potatoes 10 minutes or until desired doneness. Once potatoes are done, strain and add to dressing.

Ingredients for the dressing*
4each egg yolks from boiled eggs
4 each diced egg whites
1c Mayonnaise
2/3c diced onion
1/4c mustard
1T salt
1t black pepper
1T sugar
1T white vinegar
1 small clove of garlic, minced
to taste: Zatarain's concentrated liquid shrimp & crab boil & Zatarain's granulated crawfish, shrimp, & crab boil (about 1-2 teaspoons of each).

Blend the egg yolks with the vinegar to make sure they are broken down well, then add them to the mayonnaise.Mix all ingredients and reserve until potatoes are ready.

Mix everything and refrigerte overnight for best results.

*all measurements are approximations. adjust to your preference.