Russian Potato Salad from Smashed Mashed Boiled and Baked by Raghavan Iyer

I just posted a review of brilliant potato book: Smashed Mashed Boiled and Baked. Author Raghavan Iyer grew up in India where his mother used potatoes regularly. It’s a long way from Peru to India, but potatoes have made the journey worldwide. Every country in the world now seems to grow and relish potatoes. They have become an essential food.

And, they can be exciting. Raghavan displays recipes here that range across every continent. I’m a potato salad fan, but I must admit I’ve not seen one this dense in so many of my favorite flavors. Here you will find capers, scallions, dill, anchovy, and more. This salad is stunningly beautiful and bombastic in flavor.

You may think of potato salad as a summer dish, but, why wait for a sunny day. Potato salad goes equally well with snow. Trust me.

Russian Potato Salad

Yield: serves 4

Ingredients:

For the salad:

1 ½ pounds new red potatoes
6 medium-size to large red radishes, scrubbed, trimmed, and thinly sliced
4 ribs celery, leaves discarded, thinly sliced
1 large English cucumber, peeled, cut in half lengthwise, seeds discarded, and thinly sliced
4 scallions, beards trimmed, green tops and white bulbs thinly sliced
¼ cup baby capers, drained
¼ cup finely chopped fresh dill
½ cup finely chopped fresh chives

For the dressing:

6 anchovy fillets
2 egg yolks
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 large cloves garlic, crushed
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
¼ cup canola oil
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon coarse sea or kosher salt
½ teaspoon coarsely cracked black peppercorns

Preparation:

To make the salad, scrub the potatoes well under running water, cut them in half, and place them in a medium-size saucepan. Cover them with cold water and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Briskly boil the potatoes, uncovered, until they are just tender but still firm, 12 to 15 minutes. Take care not to overcook the potatoes.

Drain the potatoes in a colander and rinse them under cold running water to cool them down. Give the colander a few good shakes to rid the potatoes of excess water, and transfer them to a large bowl. Add the radishes, celery, cucumber, scallions, capers, dill, and chives to the potatoes.

To make the dressing, place the anchovy fillets, egg yolks, mustard, and garlic in a blender jar and puree, turning off the blender and scraping the inside of the jar as needed, until smooth. Combine the two oils together in a small bowl. With the blender on low speed, drizzle the oils through the hole in the cover in a steady stream. Once the oils are added, you will have a thick emulsion, which is your own homemade mayonnaise. Add the Worcestershire, lemon juice, cayenne, salt, and peppercorns and pulse the dressing to ensure a smooth mix.

Pour the dressing over the salad and give it all a good toss. Serve at room temperature, but because this is a mayonnaise-based salad, do not leave it at room temperature for long periods of time.