Cooking and "Tour/French" Food

I don't write much about cooking, but I will tell you that I really enjoy cooking. Probably more than knitting, weaving, or reading, or even listening to NPR. Hard to say about that one, I do a lot of my cooking with the radio tuned to Public Radio or it is streaming on the computer. Hubband has accused me of not needing more than one button on my radio in the car (I had to remind him that in SLC we had two different NPR stations). In addition to normal stuff like chicken soup, sourdough pancakes, etc., yesterday's cooking involved making six loaves of bread and I had made three the day before that. For the record, my family doesn't go through that much bread that fast. I am making it for folks from church going on a mission trip. They need to eat, I like to make bread, it makes for a good fit. Today I am going to get some granola made for them as well. That happens after the oven is clean from DTY's beef jerky making last night. She made that for the Sawtooth Mountain backpacking trip she and Hubband are leaving for tomorrow (yeah, there is bread for them too).
While I was baking yesterday I kept thinking about the Tour, yummy French food, and summer salads, and now I am craving my favorite potato salad. I think I know what I am making today as well as the granola. Yeah, the kitchen is my favorite room in the house. Not happy about the broken dishwasher right now, but it isn't stopping me from doing what I love.

French Potato Salad (from the Joy of Cooking)

This is best made with small red waxy potatoes boiled in their jackets, peeled if desired, and marinated while still warm. (I am usually too lazy to peel them myself.) Don't use cold left-over boiled potatoes, they just won't absorb the flavor the same. The real key is the dressing, which is good on all sorts of things.

2 cups sliced or cubed boiled potatoes
1/2 cup (or more to taste) warmed French Dressing
let marinate and cool at room temp.
Gently stir in:
1 TBS chopped parsley
1 TBS chopped chives or finely grated onion

French Dressing (Sauce Vinaigrette)
Place in jar or processor and blend:
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground pepper
1/2 to 1 tsp prepared mustard
1 to 3 cloves crushed garlic (optional)
1 cup lemon juice
Add slowly to make emulsion (shaking between additions if using a jar):
1 1/2 to 2 cups extra virgin olive oil
Adjust seasonings to taste.


My variation:
more potatoes
more dressing
more parsley
additional items depending on what I have around, feel like eating, or who I am feeding:
chopped sweet onion to taste
chopped celery
capers to taste
Crisp cooked fresh green beans (add to potatoes when hot to marinate)
quartered tomatoes
chopped boiled egg if serving right away (I rarely put these in and NEVER for a pot luck)
what ever else strikes my fancy at the time