Steakhouse Potato Salad

I am that guy who is always at the grocery store. I am pretty much there five days a week, grabbing miscellaneous items, or a cart full of the weekly grocery list. I will also admit that pretty much everyone knows my name, even Santa shouted “Ho, Ho, Ho, Merry Christmas Dax!” yesterday. It through me off guard to say the least as I had no clue who was behind the costume, until I realized it was Nate, the floor manager. Many checkout clerks always comment on ‘what a great job you do’ when I check out of the store. There is little, if none frozen items, all fresh produce, good cuts of meat, and no boxed items, well, there is an occasional mac-n-cheese for the kids. I have the store map down pat, and if there was a grocery cart challenge, I think I could rank up there with the top of them in my city. I know where everything is at. There are things are however in the store that I simply do not even touch, primarily in the deli section.

Now sure, I purchase hard salami for my middle son, and smoked turkey or ham for the rest of the family, but I never buy any of those salads that you commonly see. You know what they are. The bean salad, the ham salad, the spinach and pasta salad, and the array of potato salads. Sure, I walk down the counter looking at everything while they slice my meats, and when I am looking, I always am amazed at how many people buy that stuff! Don’t get me wrong, maybe it’s good, maybe it’s even great, but I would lay my money down that it isn’t that great. There is one salad that does catch my eye however, and that is a potato salad. Every time I see it, I think, “I am going to make that, make it my own, and make it something wonderful”.

Instead of doing a Friday night fish fry this week, I decided to bust out the cast iron skillet and make some amazing cheeseburgers for the family. Instead of having chips for fries, I decided to make, what I call the Steakhouse Potato Salad, and boy, it was a real winner.

Ingredients:

• 5 large red potatoes, cleaned, skin on
• 1/2 cup of light sour cream
• 1/4 cup of light mayonnaise
• 1 tbsp of your favorite spice rub
• 4 strips of great bacon, cooked and crumbled
• 1 cup of shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 1 bunch of scallions, sliced
• water

Begin by cutting your potatoes into larger cubes. Cut them as how you would want to eat them in a potato salad. Add them to a large pot of water, enough to cover all of the potatoes. Bring to a boil, and cook until fork tender, roughly 12 minutes or so. During this time, add the mayonnaise, sour cream, and spice rub to a large bowl. Mix well. Toss in the bacon and scallions. Toss in the cheese. When the potatoes are done cooking, drain and let them come to room temperature. Add the slightly warm potatoes to the bowl, and mix to incorporate the dressing onto all of the potatoes. Cover and place in the refrigerator for at least one hour to let all of the flavors combine.

When you are ready to serve, plate up with your favorite steak or burger. Trust me on this one when I say you will probably want to replace your standard fries or baked potato on your next meal. This was a real hit, and I guarantee it would beat the deli version at the local grocery. Enjoy.