A Good Dish

making food simpler

Connie’s Macaroni Salad – A Long Time Savory And Filling Summer Favorite

 

Connie’s Macaroni Salad
Earthenware plate by Sean O’Connell

One of my favorite summer foods for a summer barbecue or picnic is a recipe for macaroni salad I learned as a teenager from a cousin’s mother-in-law. Long story. I have seven first cousins on my mother’s side. Even though we lived in different parts of the country, our families got together at least once a year and sometimes more, depending on vacation schedules and what occasion needed to be celebrated. My gentle, thoughtful cousin Mindy was the first to have a wedding and she married a wonderful guy who is a classical guitarist and one of the most generous people I know. When we gather, for example, Rob is often the first to pick up the bar tab. After a discussion of books we’ve read, he often gifts copies of titles he thinks our son will enjoy. When he found out I had arthritis in my hands, he sent me a special knife to make chopping easier. 

Rummo is our current favorite
 commercial pasta

Before Mindy and Rob married, his mother, Connie, moved for work from Cleveland to Hartford, where I lived growing up. She came to our house for social events, never talking down to us, even though we were kids, and often bringing something tasty to eat. The recipe of hers I remember best (and the only one I thought to request—probably one of the first times I ever asked someone for a recipe) is a delicious macaroni salad. I suppose macaroni salad, with it’s mayo base, is the Americanized version of what we know as pasta salad, which usually has a vinaigrette or pesto-based dressing. 

Peas plus fresh herbs add extra greens

Besides macaroni—use shells, rigatoni, penne, gobetti (large elbows), spirals or even orecchiette, any short pasta, even whole grain or gluten free, that will hold sauce—the recipe lists hard boiled eggs, red onion, dry dill and dry mustard and mayo. I added fresh dill, peas and parsley for more green. When I served it the second day, I added in chopped cooked kale and some extra mayo and salt. Connie’s version was made with bacon (I omit it sometimes when we don’t want to use meat) which adds another flavor dimension. I used the Hellman’s mayonnaise the recipe called for, but your favorite brand mayo will work or try a mixture of yogurt and mustard. I think chopped olives, peppers, hot sauce, beans or even cooked chicken or sausage could be appropriate add-ins. This is a great filling dish if you have to feed a crowd–it can easily be doubled. If  you want to bring it to an outdoor summer picnic, however, please use vegan mayo so you don’t run the risk of spoilage. The recipe was Connie’s gift to me and now I pass it on to you to enjoy.

Dilled Macaroni Salad with Peas
Earthenware plate by Sean O’Connell

CONNIE”S MACARONI SALAD

Mix together in a large bowl:

  • 1 lb cooked large macaroni shells, drained and room temperature
  • 4 hard cooked eggs, shelled and sliced or chopped
  • 4 strips crisp bacon, crumbled (optional-or use 1/2 tsp smoked paprika or chipotle chili powder)
  • 1 small red onion, finely chopped (heaping 1/2 cup)
  • 4 stalks celery, chopped (about 1 generous cup)
  • 1-2 tsp dry mustard or 1-2 TBs prepared Dijon, or to taste
  • 2 TBs dry dill weed (plus 1-2 TBs fresh dill, if you have it)
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
  • 1 cup cooked frozen peas
  • 1-2 tsps salt (taste and adjust before serving)
  • 1-2 tsps black pepper
  • Hellman’s mayonnaise, enough to wet (i used about 3/4 cup plus a little more before serving)

Make the day before you want to serve and store in the refrigerator. Serves 8 as a side dish and keeps 2-3 days in the fridge.

SEAN O”CONNELL

After years of reading about the Watershed Center Salad Days Fundraiser in Newcastle, ME,  I was able to attend for the first time this summer. Among other treasures, I found this plate by Sean O’Connell from the 2010 Salad Days and consider myself lucky! You can see the historical and contemporary inspirations in his work but his pieces are completely personalized twists on those stylistic  precedents. Not only does he make pots but also paintings and wooden utensils. You can read more about Sean’s work and find out about sales at seano’connellpottery.com

2010 Salad Days earthenware plate
by Sean O’Connell
Salad Days plate verso by Sean O’Connell

Grate Fresh Carrots To Make An Easily Variable And Appealing Salad In Autumn And Every Season

Grated carrot salad with orange/cumin dressing
Oval bowl by Sunshine Cobb

I don’t usually make carrot salad when so many late summer/fall vegetables are still at their peak. It is more a middle of the winter, not a green in sight situation that prompts me to get grating carrots. But when life gives you carrots…. I’ll explain. We recently visited friends in mid-coast Maine who have created a huge, lush and productive vegetable garden out of their back lawn – impressive in so many ways. Not only are they growing a wide variety of vegetables themselves with their young children underfoot in the shorter Maine summer but have kept out groundhogs and other critters and had started harvesting veggies in July! We had a good catchup and coffee on their lovely deck admiring the garden and when we left, Demetri gifted us a bag of beautiful, fresh carrots.

Gifted garden carrots
Oval bowl by Sunshine Cobb
A section of Caroline and Demetri’s garden
Beautifully hung garden tools on their garage

Carrots, celery and cabbage are my backup vegetables. They are always available, keep for a long time in the fridge and so versatile for making salads, soups and stir fries. Our gifted carrots were plump and sweet, perfect for eating out of hand or for salad. I grated them along with some fresh ginger for emphasis, added a finely chopped apple and nuts for crunch, parsley (cilantro or mint also delicious) for green, cumin and coriander for depth, lemon juice for acidity, dates and  orange juice for sweetness and finished up with olive oil to bind it all together. The result was fresh, crisp, lively and satisfying, a carrot salad I will be happy to serve and eat in any season. Bonus – Perfect color and sweetness for Halloween and Thanksgiving!

Carrot salad with dates and apples
Red clay bowl by Sunshine Cobb

ALL SEASON CARROT SALAD

Place in a salad bowl:

  • 1 pound raw carrots, grated or finely julienned
  • 1 apple, cored and finely diced
  • 1/4-1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley, cilantro or mint
  • 3-4 Medjool dates, pitted and chopped
  • 1/4-1/3 cup chopped raw or toasted walnuts or pistachios

In a smaller bowl, whisk together:

  • 2 TBs fresh orange juice
  • 2 TBs fresh lemon juice
  • 1-2 inch piece of fresh ginger, grated (a generous TBs)
  • Pinch salt
  • Pinch black pepper
  • 1/2 tsp ground cumin
  • 1/4 tsp ground coriander
  • Pinch cayenne, optional
  • 2 TBs olive oil
Pour dressing over other ingredients, toss and let sit 30 minutes or more before serving.

Keeps well refrigerated for a second serving for up to 3 days. Feeds 4-8

Optional add-ins:

Grated garlic, tahini, honey, pomegranate arils or a chopped pear can replace the apple

 

Montana based artist SUNSHINE COBB makes a wide array of colorful, appealing functional pottery sold on her website, through many galleries and shops and at various ceramic sales. She is the author of two thorough, encouraging books on hand building with clay and offers online and in-person workshops around the country, hand building tools she has developed and a number of generous youtube videos she freely shares. Often stamped, carved, cut, or simply fingerprinted, Sunshine’s work is usually textured in a way that makes you want to touch and pick it up. For many years she sandblasted her glazed ware to create a soft matte surface but recently moved to a new body of work with slips and glazes in a new range of colors. Check out her website and Instagram (and this wonderful interview with Jen Allen)for more information.

Garlic boxes by Sunshine Cobb
Photo courtesy of the artist
Votive candelabra by Sunshine Cobb
Photo courtesy of the artist
Ceramic baskets by Sunshine Cobb
Photo courtesy of the artist

An Old Time Martha’s Vineyard Potato Salad Recipe With A Few Updates For Late Summer Picnics And BBQ’s

My take on Cozy’s potato salad
Bowl – Desert Sunset Gradient
by Justin Donofrio

Potato salad is one of the traditional picnic, barbecue, cookout dishes that goes so well with not only hamburgers and hot dogs but all kinds of grilled fish, sausage, chicken and meat. It is both inexpensive and filling and although tasty, balances the often spicy or zesty flavors of the marinades and sauces that accompany grilled foods. We didn’t eat a lot of potato salad growing up. We were more a cole slaw household. Occasionally my mother would bring home some deli or grocery store concoction (probably from Ron Chast’s “Coffee Shop Vats of the Jersey Turnpike” – a version of her hilarious cartoon is reproduced below) and I always enjoyed it but never really thought about making it myself. All kinds of cabbage and pasta salads sure but until recently, I never tried concocting a potato salad.

Both yellow and red boiling potatoes
work well in this recipe
Purple potatoes are an option

So why now? Well, because a friend who worked summers at Cozy’s, a long shuttered Martha’s Vineyard restaurant, recently shared her recollection of the potato salad she used to make there. She had made it so frequently that the ingredient list was seared in her memory. Amy didn’t remember exact amounts but she also said it had never been precisely measured. I gave it a try and the measurements here are my best guess. Truly I think this is a completely flexible and forgiving recipe. I used yellow potatoes just because I like them (second only to purple) but I think any boiling (not baking) potatoes would work. I enjoy hard-boiled eggs, pickle relish or chopped gherkins and sometimes dill in my potato salad, but you may have other add-in preferences. I’ve heard of people adding capers, bacon, ham, basil and chopped hot peppers. I also use more mustard and vinegar, a little hot sauce, and olive oil instead of mayo altogether, especially if it is going to sit out a while. And many of you will want more salt than I use. Cozy’s may have closed long ago but their delicious potato salad lives on! Thanks, Amy!

Olive oil potato salad
a la Cozy’s (RIP)

COZY’S POTATO SALAD

Amy’s instructions from memory:

  • Boil, peel and cube potatoes 
  • Grate a carrot
  • Dice an onion
  • Chop some celery
  • 1 capful of white vinegar
  • 1 tsp yellow mustard
  • Salt and pepper
  • Celery seed
  • Parsley
  • Mayonnaise

My version:

Combine in a large mixing bowl:

  • 2 lbs boiled potatoes, like Yukon Gold, cut in bite-sized cubes-4-5 cups
  • I medium to large carrot, grated-about 1 cup
  • 1 medium onion, finely diced (yellow, Vidalia or red)-about 1 cup
  • 3 stalks celery, diced or thinly sliced-about 1 cup
  • 1/4 cup chopped parsley
  • Whisk together in a smaller bowl:
  • 1-2 TBs white or cider vinegar
  • 1-2 TBs yellow or Dijon mustard
  • 1 tsp celery seed
  • 1 tsp salt 
  • 1 tsp black pepper
  •  2 TBs olive oil (or 1/4 cup mayo)

Pour dressing over vegetables and mix well. 

Refrigerate until ready to serve. Makes 6-8 servings

Optional add-ins:

  • Chopped pickles or pickle relish
  • Chopped hard boiled eggs 
  • Capers
  • Scallions
  • White wine
  • Crumbled bacon
  • Finely diced radish
  • Fresh or dried dill, basil or toasted caraway seeds
  • Hot sauce or cayenne  
Desert Sunset Gradient Bowl Verso
by Justin Donofrio
Roz Chast’s New Yorker cartoon

 

This Celery Salad With Pomegranate Vinaigrette Will Add Crunch, Tang and Variety To Your Winter Salad Rotation

Celery salad with pomegranate vinaigrette
Porcelain bowl by Bryan Hopkins

I try to get some kind of salad on the table at least once a day. While I can happily eat a green salad daily through the warmer months, I don’t always feel like lettuce during winter. Perhaps because lettuces tend to be cooling or because the boxed and bagged supermarket options, or their packaging, don’t always seem appealing, I stick mainly with my favorite carrot, beet, cabbage and fennel salads with arugula making an occasional appearance through the coldest months. Celery as a main ingredient is a fresh addition to the winter salad rotation.

Celery/celery root salad
Porcelain bowl by Bryan Hopkins

Celery remoulade is the classic French preparation of celeriac (aka celery root) as salad but it always has too much mayo to even consider serving it to my mayonnaise-averse family. But julienned celery root adds texture and flavor when combined with sliced celery stalks and really comes alive with a pomegranate molasses (just evaporated pomegranate juice – if you see other ingredients, look for a different brand) vinaigrette. I found the recipe in Cook’s Illustrated and altered it to satisfy myself by eliminating the honey, shallots and frisée, adding a green apple, and making the cheese optional. Choose any nut you like and adjust the proportions to suit yourself. If you don’t have fresh or frozen pomegranate available (I think this year’s window on fresh has closed), use a smaller amount of dried cranberries or cherries – they will be a similar tart/sweet taste that you need here. And if, for some reason, you don’t want to buy pomegranate molasses, you could boil down some pomegranate juice to thicken it and use that – it is essentially the same thing.

Celery root at the supermarket
Pomegranate molasses should be 100% Pomegranate juice

The original recipe calls for shaved Pecorino and that is tasty but if you don’t want to use cheese, and we usually don’t, just leave it out. If you still want more protein involved, add a can of rinsed white beans. This is a really easy, crunchy, flavorful salad with a tangy vinaigrette that offers a welcome change of flavor and texture in mid-winter. It also keeps well for a day in the fridge so you can prepare it once and eat twice.

Celery salad with Pecorino cheese
Porcelain bowl by Bryan Hopkins

CELERY SALAD

Combine in a large bowl:

  • 1 bunch celery, with leaves, sliced thinly (2-3 cups)
  • 1 cup celery root, peeled and julienned
  • 1 tart apple, like Granny Smith, diced
  • 1/2 cup pomegranate arils or dried cranberries, cherries, etc)
  • 1/4 cup shelled pistachios or walnuts
  • A big handful of arugula – optional
  • Shaved Pecorino, Parmesan or Ricotta Salata – optional

In another bowl, whisk:

  • 1 TBs pomegranate molasses
  • 1 TBs lemon juice
  • 1 TBs wine vinegar
  • 1 tsp Dijon mustard – optional
  • 2 TBs olive oil
  • Pinch each of salt and pepper

Pour vinaigrette over celery mixture, toss and serve.

*   *   *

Bryan Hopkins makes both functional and sculptural vessels in porcelain but I would venture that even when physically utilitarian, all of his work is sculptural. Hopkins plays with texture, volume, line, rhythm, pattern and space in order to create works that pull us in, wanting to know more, wanting to touch and turn the pieces in order to understand them. His work is constantly evolving, perhaps a result of his continual experimentation, and always tactilely inviting. Hopkins is a teacher in Buffalo but also teaches via video posts on Instagram, sharing ideas, explaining techniques, promoting less well-known potters and encouraging others, the best kind of teacher. Find his work at hopkinspottery.com where he also shares a terrific pretzel recipe!

Porcelain mug by Bryan Hopkins
Photo courtesy of the artist
Pierced egg cups by Bryan Hopkins
Photo courtesy of the artist
Tumbler set by Bryan Hopkins
Photo courtesy of the artist

Make Summer Last A Little Longer With This Easy Fresh Corn Salad

Corn salad
Stoneware Bowl by Wayne Smith

Fresh corn is at its best from late August through September, if we are lucky. I grew up near farms that grew corn in Connecticut and we ate a lot of it, mostly just boiled. My father was so picky about his corn—he only liked small, tender kernels and wouldn’t eat it if it wasn’t freshly picked. Because of that insistence, we often drove out to farm stands selling that day’s corn, shucked it in the backyard and put it right into boiling water. While I am not nearly so fussy, I do appreciate fresh farm stand or farmers market corn, although I am willing to eat many varieties and will store it in the fridge for a couple of days, if need be. I am not positive it makes a difference but have always felt that keeping corn cold kept the sugars from turning starchy so I refrigerate it until just before using.

Lots of fresh corn
in markets right now

Sometimes we get corn in our CSA share. Otherwise I buy it at a farmers market or a roadside stand. Right now fantastically sweet corn can be had all over the Northeast. I am a sucker for the baker’s dozen deal where you get thirteen cobs for the price of twelve. What am I going to do with so much corn for just two people, you may wonder? Well, I boil or steam them all, serve two (or 4, depending on our voracity) and refrigerate the rest. This gives me the fixings for corn soup, a cold cob of corn for breakfast, corn in salsa, succotash or, perhaps easiest and tastiest of all, fresh corn salad.

Simple fresh ingredients
make a delicious salad

Making corn salad is as simple as cutting the kernels off the cob (use those cobs to make stock for corn soup), dicing some fresh red or green bell peppers and red or Vidalia onion, adding some fresh herbs and tossing it all with a tangy cider vinaigrette. Add peppery baby arugula, sliced cherry tomatoes, cooked cranberry or black beans or minced chili peppers as you please. This is perfect picnic or potluck food as it can sit out for a couple of hours if you bring it chilled and it stores well for a few days refrigerated. Fresh corn salad makes a terrific summer meal alongside a tomato or peach caprese salad. Buy that dozen so you have enough to share with friends and save everyone the heat of cooking for an evening.

Corn Salad in a stoneware bowl
by Wayne Smith

FRESH CORN SALAD 

  • Kernels from 6-8 cobs fresh corn, cooked
  • I red onion, diced finely
  • 1-2 red bell peppers, diced finely
  • 1-2 jalapeño peppers, diced
  • A big handful of fresh basil leaves, sliced in thin strips
  • Vinaigrette:
  • 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar 
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • Big pinch salt and black pepper(Optional pinch cumin, thyme, chili powder-taste before adding to see if you think it needs more flavor)

Toss prepared vegetables with vinaigrette and refrigerate a few hours or overnight. Serve chilled or at room temperature. If freezing, don’t add basil until serving. 

Rimmed bowl by Wayne Smith
Photo courtesy of the artist
Platter by Wayne Smith
Photo courtesy of the artist
Jardiniere by Wayne Smith
Photo courtesy of the artist