Brenden’s Super Bowl Side Dish: All-American Potato Salad!

Our son, Brenden called to say he was going to a Super Bowl party and wanted to bring a side dish to contribute to the buffet. Brenden knew instantly what he wanted to bring, his dad’s All-American Potato Salad!

He called his dad and asked for the recipe. While we didn’t have time to make this salad ourselves prior to Sunday, we typed up the recipe having all the confidence in Brenden’s culinary skills to be able to make this recipe without video instruction!

He sent us this picture of his potato salad, but he amped up the bacon quantity… instead of 6-8 strips of bacon, he chose to make it a pound! We’re always proud when our kids try out our recipes and have the guts to experiment with them on their own!

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Go Brenden! He’s who we were cheering for on Super Bowl Sunday!

Here’s our Recipe:

All-American Potato Salad
(The perfect make-ahead picnic salad)

Make this salad a day ahead to let the flavors blend. Garnish with bacon, eggs and parsley before serving; always a big hit!

Ingredients:

4 pounds large red potatoes, scrubbed
½ cup cider vinegar
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
¾ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 ½ cups mayonnaise
1/3 cup milk
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
3 large stalks celery, diced (about 1 ½ cups)
½ cup finely chopped red onion
2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Garnish:

8 slices crisp-cooked bacon, crumbled
4 hardboiled eggs, quartered
Parsley sprigs

Directions:

In a large pot, cover potatoes with cold water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium. Cook 25 to 30 minutes or until potatoes are tender when pierced with a sharp knife (being careful to not overcook as you’re not making mashed potatoes). Drain potatoes in colander.

Meanwhile, in large bowl, whisk vinegar, oil, salt and pepper until blended. When potatoes are cool enough to handle but still warm, cut into small chunks (about ¼ inch). We like to leave the red skin on the potato but if you prefer not to have skin in your salad, peel your potatoes while they are still warm. Add warm potatoes to vinegar mixture; gently stir to coat. Let cool to room temperature.

In a small bowl, whisk mayonnaise, milk and mustard until blended; pour over potatoes. Add celery, red onion and chopped parsley; gently stir to mix. Cover; refrigerate for at least 4 hours (overnight is best).

Before serving, garnish with crumbled bacon, egg quarters and parsley sprigs.

Yield: 12 servings.

Impress Your Guests with This Homemade Gourmet Pizza!

We mentioned recently that we had made a pizza from scratch for Harris’ mother’s Italian birthday, so we wanted to share our recipe with you! 

Gourmet pizza is always a great crowd pleaser and with Super Bowl Sunday coming up, this might be one of the best entrees to serve up!

Here is our recipe that worked great for us. But the beauty of pizza is that you can dress it anyway you like, so feel free to experiment with your own variations! What’s your favorite way to decorate your pizza? Have you made it at home before? What tips worked great for you that you would like to share? Leave a comment and we will let you know if we try any of your suggestions!

Arugula with Pesto, Cherry Tomatoes, Basil & Four Cheeses Pizza

The Dads: Pizza

For the Pizza Crust:

1 teaspoon active dry yeast
¾ cups of warm water, not over 110 degrees
2 cups all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon kosher salt
3 tablespoons olive oil

Directions:

(Note: If you do not have a standup mixer, then mix it by hand using a wooden spoon. An electric mixer would be too difficult to use in this instance.)

Pour yeast into the warm water and allow to sit for five minutes.

Using a standup mixer first combine the flour and salt. Next, set your mixer to run at low speed and drizzle in olive oil until combined with flour. Pour in yeast and water until just combined. The dough will be sticky. Coat a mixing bowl with olive oil and form the dough into a ball. Toss the dough ball in the bowl with olive oil to coat the ball. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside for one to two hours. It is best to place bowl in the refrigerator 24 hours ahead for the best flavor.

Punch the dough down and roll out to fit your greased pan (we used a standard baking sheet). Try to avoid stretching the dough.

For your Toppings:

1 unbaked pizza crust (as above)
2 tablespoons olive oil
Pinch Kosher salt
Pinch black pepper
Red pepper flakes
1/3 cup basil pesto
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 ½ cups red cherry tomatoes – sliced in half
1 ½ cups yellow or orange cherry tomatoes – sliced in half
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
¼ cup basil leaves, rolled and sliced thin
8 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, grated
4 ounces asiago cheese, grated
½ cup parmesan reggiano cheese, grated
½ cup ricotta cheese
4 ounce fresh arugula

Directions:

Preheat oven to 475 degrees.  Place cut tomatoes, basil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper to taste in a medium size bowl.  In small skillet, heat olive oil, add garlic and stir for one minute and remove from heat.  Pour over tomatoes mixture, tossing to coat evenly. Set aside.

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Roll out dough very thin, dusting with flour and transfer to oiled baking sheet.  Drizzle a little olive oil over dough and spread evenly.  Spread pesto over dough.  Sprinkle mozzarella, asiago, and parmesan reggiano evenly over pizza.  With a spoon place a small amount of ricotta over the entire pizza and sprinkle with red pepper flakes to taste.

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Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, until the crust is golden brown.  Remove from oven and allow to rest for five minutes. Then cover top with arugula, then spoon over tomatoes mixture.  Cut into squares and serve.

Bon appétit!