German Potato Salad

Ok, it's been a while since I have posted anything, and I'm sorry for that. Life gets in the way (and when you don't have a weekly thing that needs to be posted, you just push it off). That doesn't mean I haven't been taking pictures of my food, it just has been tough to get them on the blog. Alright, enough blubbering!!

I made this side dish a few weeks ago for a pot luck for a coworker who is moving departments. It was already stated that sandwiches will be served so I was trying to think of what I wanted to bring...potato salad it was! Now, I'm not talking about that nasty, mayonnaise-y, gloppy potato salad you buy at the store (which I have to say, every now and then is good). I'm talking about a warm, potato with a kiss of vinegar.

It seems no one around here has heard of this stuff, and I find that very interesting since there is a very high population of Amish around here and THEY are German. On a side note, for those of you from the West, do not eat anything labeled "Amish Macaroni Salad"!! Bleh! I made that mistake once I got here, thinking it would be like regular macaroni salad you are used to from anywhere else...spoiler alert - it has TONS of sugar in it!! Yuck!! On to something more appetizing...

BACON!!

Thaaat's better. So I have seen a lot of recipes running around the internet for bacon cooked in the oven and I've been meaning to try it. Using it in my potato salad recipe seemed like a good idea. It was really easy to do.

Oven Cooked Bacon

• 1 package bacon
• aluminum foil
• rimmed baking sheet

1. Line baking sheet with foil. Lay out bacon in a single layer (you may need multiple sheets for an entire package of bacon, I don't have multiple sheets right now so I tried to crowd them all in there by overlapping them and the parts that overlapped did not get crispy, just an FYI).
2. Place baking sheet in a cold oven and set temp to 375. Then set timer for 20 min.
3. Since I made the mistake of overlapping my bacon, I had to separate them at 20 min then I put them back in for about 5 more min.

The reason I chose to use this recipe for cooking my bacon was that I was trying to make the potato salad vegetarian friendly. What is vegetarian friendly about bacon you ask? Well I was using this recipe as my inspiration for the dish. It calls for cooking the bacon first, then using the bacon drippings as the base for the dressing. Delicious, yes. Vegetarian, no. So I decided that I would omit the use of bacon fat and replace it with olive oil. I think it turned out pretty well.

German Potato Salad

• 2 pounds yukon gold potatoes
• 1/2 lb thick-cut bacon, cooked and crumbled (optional)
• 2T olive oil
• 3/4 c finely chopped onion
• 1/3 c white vinegar
• 1/4 c sugar
• 1 T dijon mustard
• salt/pepper

1. Cut potatoes into similar sizes (about bite size). Place in a stock pot and cover with cold water. Add few big pinches of salt and bring to boil. Cook until tender when stuck with a fork, about 15-20 min. Drain.
2. In same pot, add oil and cook onion until translucent and beginning to brown. Whisk in vinegar, sugar, mustard, salt and pepper. Adjust seasoning to taste.
3. So this is where I had some road blocks - without the tastiness of the bacon, the salad lacked A LOT. I ended up adding much more mustard and vinegar (switching to apple cider vinegar), more salt, etc. 
4. Top with bacon, if using. Serve warm.

I, of course, had to try some for dinner that night and added bacon to mine. It made a big difference in the flavor, just so you know!