Proving that almost anything is supremely better when prepared on the grill, here’s a great sorta uptown side dish for your 4th of July celebration next week.
I can’t exactly remember where we dug this dish up except that it was at a party in Bozeman several years ago where the cohost was a very pretty fisher gal who hailed by the name of Madison. Alas, our friend (dumbass that he is) let her get away but we saved the recipe anyway.
Having traditional Texas fare, as tasty as it might be, prominently branded into our food psyches we’re always on the lookout for a really, really nifty alternative to some of the old standbys such as the time-honored picnic potato salad.
Madi’s Grilled Potato Salad is one of those very nifty alternatives.
There are two keys to this incredibly simple recipe. One is to not overcook the potato slices when you parboil them – they need to be firm when you put them on the grill to hold their shape.
The second key is to well coat the potato slices with olive oil, salt and pepper and then grill them to a crispy, golden brown perfection, almost like a flawless, twice-cooked french fry (the ones you hardly ever see anymore….).
Cilantro haters will leave it out or cut it way back, though you’ll be missing another flavor note, and you really can’t go wrong with more garlic and hot sauce.
You’ll make this one again.
4 to 5 large Yukon Gold spuds
1/4 cup everyday olive oil
Coarse salt and fresh ground black pepper
1/3 cup mustard seeds, heaping, toasted if you feel uptown
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup parsley, rough chopped
1/4 cup cilantro, rough chopped
2 tbsp. minced garlic
1/4 cup fresh squeeze lemon juice
Generous blast of Tabasco (as in the 16-20 dash / splash range)
Fire. Fire the grill to medium-hot.
Prep the spuds. Bring 3 quarts of salted water to a boil. Wash and trim the spuds; cut into 3/4 inch thick slices. Parboil the spud slices for 7 to 10 minutes until you can pierce with a fork but there’s still considerable resistance there. You’re goal is keep them firm but help the cooking along a bit. Rinse under cold water and drain well.
Grill time. Coat the spud slices with olive oil; salt and pepper to taste. Grill over the medium-hot grill until browned, marked and crispy on both sides. Watch these; it doesn’t take long. Remove, place on cutting board and cut into bite sized pieces (largish bite size pieces).
Stir it up. Dump the grilled spuds into a large bowl, add the remainder of the ingredients and combine thoroughly.
Serve hot or cold; we usually end up serving it hot as we just can’t wait long after stirring this one together. The crispiness of the spuds is at it’s old fashioned, french-fry-like best right off the grill.
Enjoy.
