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Sunday, September 2, 2012

Potato salad with Stilton and bacon for a Labor Day Cookout and #SundaySupper


Labor Day weekend. The last big hurrah of summer. Parties, trips to the beach, barbecues, a whole host of last-minute summer fun jam-packed into a few short days before school starts and work settles in for the long haul of fall.


For me this year, it's a final wild sprint at the end of a somewhat exhausting summer. This is the first time I've been home with my son all day since he was a newborn, while at the same time maintaining a pretty full schedule as a freelance editor and writer on weekends and evenings. I am a little worn out.

If I think about it, the end of summer is always a little tough for me. I key in to the waning of the light, my energy drags, my tolerance for the heat reaches its end, and the fun parts of summer just don't seem that fun anymore.

But in a few weeks, I will start to perk up again. The temperature will slowly come down. The angle and quality of the light will change, mellowing, growing richer, gilding nature while the leaves turn color. And I will crank up the tunes while I fly down highways, exulting in the light and adventure that fall always seems to promise. And there will be fall food: rich stews, apples, hot cider, warm soup, pumpkin caramels, cookies.

For now, though, there's Labor Day, and it is still hot here in Northern Virginia and is likely to be for several more weeks. Which is why a nice cool potato salad seems a great choice to bring to a cookout, like the one that #SundaySupper is having this week. This potato salad is salty with crunchy bacon and smooth Stilton (by far my favorite blue cheese), acidic with the tang of apple cider vinegar, and mellow with the earthiness of potatoes. I like to use a mix of small potatoes, blues, reds, yellows, but you can use any type you've got. Just make sure to cut up the potatoes into nice bite size pieces. This recipe was inspired by a recipe I read in Bon Appetit magazine about 12 years ago, which I have simplified a little. Both versions taste fantastic and really turn a simple potato salad into something special.

Ingredients

  • 3 lbs of potatoes (mixed colors if possible), cut into bite-size pieces
  • 6 Tbsps olive oil
  • 4 Tbsps apple cider vinegar
  • 1 shallot, minced
  • 1 Tbsp grainy Dijon mustard
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp ground white pepper
  • 1 small bunch of chives, chopped finely
  • 1 cup Stilton, crumbled (you can use another blue cheese if you prefer, but make sure it's a very good quality cheese)
  • 6 slices bacon, cooked until crispy, crumbled
Directions

  1. Whisk olive oil, apple cider vinegar, minced shallots, mustard, salt, white pepper, and chives in a large bowl. 
  2. Cook bacon until it's crispy, drain it on paper towels, and crumble it. 
  3. Boil potatoes for 10-15 minutes until they are tender when you poke them with a fork, but still hold their shape.
  4. Drain the potatoes. While they are still hot, add them to the vinaigrette and combine thoroughly. Allow the potatoes to cool to room temperature. 
  5. Just before serving the potato salad, add the bacon and the Stilton to the potatoes and combine thoroughly.
To find out what the rest of the #SundaySupper group is bringing to the Labor Day Cookout, check out all these great recipes, which we will be sharing all day long on Twitter. Also, don't forget to join the #SundaySupper live chat at7 pm ET and tweet your own cookout recipes.


Starters and Snacks

Main Dishes

Salads and Sides

Drinks

Desserts

Wine Pairings
  • Labor Day Cookout Food And Wine Pairings by ENOFYLZ

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