Mimi’s Potato Salad is, of course my favorite- though I have to admit that any Southern cook worth her salt generally has a recipe that is her family’s favorite too! And, it’s crazy, yet many southerners add potato salad to their meals almost all year round! Mimi didn’t. She considered it a Spring and Summer side dish or even put a scoop on a plate and with a few extras like tomatoes and crackers, she considered potato salad to be a light lunch or a cool supper. Here’s the thing. Mimi was particular about her food and the way it was prepared and for what reason and why. She instilled things like this into my brain- I can still hear her now…
‘ Now, grate that onion! Who wants to bite down on a big chunk of onion in their potato salad!’ Then later she would say- ‘Grate those boiled eggs on the coarse side of the grater!’ Why? Boiled eggs can look unattractive if they aren’t perfect and especially unattractive all mixed up ‘with a mess of potatoes’. Also Mimi simply liked the look of the coarse grated boiled eggs! Don’t ask me why. I was just a simple soldier and followed my orders. 
Mimi’s Potato Salad was singularly simple with few ingredients. Many southern cooks add other things to theirs, which is fine and also tastes wonderful. Still. If a recipe is the flavor from your childhood or family- I believe we tend to enjoy our own version the best! Mimi used russet potatoes, in spring, she sometimes combined new potatoes and russets, making sure they weren’t peeled yet were cut to approximately the same size. There’s an art to it- unpeeled potatoes hold their shape better, then it’s easy to slip the skins off after they’ve been brought to fork tender, definitely not overcooked! Cut the cooked and peeled potatoes into approximately the same size for the potato salad. (If the potatoes were overcooked? Start over. You don’t want mashed potato salad.)
While the potatoes are cooking, grate the onion and mix up the dressing of good mayonnaise, yellow mustard and spices. Now, Mimi’s rule for the celery was to either do a fine dice or thinly sliced. You might not want to bite down on a big chunk of onion, yet the celery gave her potato salad a subtle flavor with just the right amount of crunch and a pretty color. Again, I followed orders. My mother did too! Mimi boiled her eggs along with the potatoes- claimed the calcium from the egg shells made potato salad healthier. Who knows? I do it too. Gently mix the potatoes into the dressing and chill. This made the potatoes firm up and gave the flavors time to develop. Here’s how you make Mimi’s Classic Potato Salad:
Mimi’s Classic Potato Salad
- 1 1/2 pounds russet potatoes- scrubbed and washed
- 2 large eggs – boiled, peeled and grated
- 1 -2 stalks celery- fine sliced or diced
- 1-2 tbs finely grated onion with juice
- 3/4 – 1 cup good quality mayonnaise
- 1-2 teas yellow mustard
- 1/4 teas cayenne pepper
- salt and pepper to taste
- Boil potatoes with skins on until fork tender, not over cooked. Allow potatoes to cool slightly, slip skins off of potatoes and dice into approximately 3/4 inch cubes or slightly larger. Finely slice or fine dice celery. Grate onion reserving juice as well. In a large bowl, mix together mayonnaise, yellow mustard, grated onion and cayenne, until combined. Add diced potatoes and celery, toss gently so as not to break cubed potatoes, add diced celery. Toss gently to combine. Chill. Flavors will develop. Serve with a sprinkle of paprika if desired. This recipe doubles well.
With the spring and summer get togethers in full swing, I think you’ll enjoy Mimi’s Potato Salad, feel free to put whatever you want to in it. Some like pickles or olives. I personally will still be following orders… I sure wouldn’t want to think Mimi was rolling over in her grave if I didn’t! Oh me…
Love y’all, Camellia *all photographs are obviously mine!
Is meatloaf a weeknight or budget meal? Do you serve it when company’s coming? Our ‘Company’s Coming Meatloaf’ is easy enough to make during the week and special enough for a nice meal too. I happen to think that guests are pleasantly surprised to be served a beloved dessert like ice cream sundaes or a comfort food such as spaghetti, macaroni and cheese or… meatloaf. Dinner guests are expecting a fancy meal and instead you serve them the unexpected! Company’s Coming Meatloaf is a meat and potato lovers dream, it looks pretty and tastes amazing! Here’s how you make Company’s Coming Meatloaf:
I believe wrapping the ground beef mixture with bacon before baking the meatloaf, adds moisture and flavor that elevates weekday meatloaf whenever you serve it! Forming the meatloaf on parchment rather than baking in a loaf pan allows any excess beef or bacon fat to dissipate. Allow Company’s Coming Meatloaf to rest for 8-10 minutes before frosting with mashed potatoes so that any juices will be reabsorbed into the meatloaf. Top with shredded cheddar cheese and run back in the warm oven to melt– then add sautéed mushrooms if desired for decoration. 
Some of our most beloved Southern Sauces are as smooth as satin, others are cool as seersucker on a summer day. Then- there are Southern Sauces that are as hot as the devil’s back doorknob! Now, I’m not talking hot sauce in a shaker bottle- there’s one Classic Southern Sauce which stands out from the rest- it’s so mysteriously heated- who knows the original might have been conjured up in black cauldrons amongst gnarled roots in a swamp! If you look for any recipe for Jezebel Sauce– It hides out in the delicate pages of Junior League cookbooks from sea soaked southern cities, Charleston to Savannah, Mobile and all the way over to New Orleans.
I’m still convinced Jezebel Sauce was originally made in cauldrons among the roots in a murky swamp! It could be true. Looks right at home to me…What about that killer phrase? ‘Keeps indefinitely.’ Yet, it really does! Kept chilled there’s no worry and it’s so delicious, you won’t keep it long!
Some of the finest cooks I have ever known often left out a step or two that enhanced their southern dishes. I’ve often thought about this as I’ve tried to hang on to the heirloom recipes so near and dear to my heart. Often, as I’m cooking a flash of memory streaks through my feeble brain and I can ‘see’ the dish being made and realize what it was that made a subtle or distinctive difference in the recipe- whether ingredient or method. I rounded up a few and they are so easy…no recipe required!
Here, the zest of lemon is added to a mixture of chopped garlic, dried oregano, fresh thyme leaves- all warmed in a mixture of melted butter and olive oil- then lemon juice and a splash of white wine. Added before roasting chicken, fish or shrimp- it’s amazing! Even added to new potatoes, green beans or asparagus it’s wonderful. Any recipe that calls for citrus juice is greatly enhanced by the addition of citrus zest.
What rarely reported is that good southern cooks always add fresh, often home grown produce! Tomato Relish in this beautiful mixture of tomatoes, green onions, chopped garlic along with chopped basil. Combined with a bit of olive oil, red wine vinegar and allowed to sit while the spaghetti sauce is bubbling on the stove. This mixture is used as a cool topping much like salsa. You honestly won’t believe the flavor. And I’m here to tell you- in the summer when I make it- those tomatoes, green onions and basil are home grown!
While everyone else is wondering why your sauce or gravy always tastes a bit better than anyone else’s. Mixture ratio is one to one- 1 Tablespoon of butter to 1 Tablespoon of Flour and rolled into little balls. I generally do an 8 to 8 ration and make up a whole sheet pan of Butter Balls- place in a single layer in the freezer, when frozen place in a freezer bag and when your pan juices are ready- add 1 or 3 or 5! Believe me, these little simple pack real flour power and elevate your cooking from delicious to amazing! Also, while we’re talking about Flour Power– many wonderful southern recipes start with this fear inducing phrase- ‘First you make a roux’… and the truth is? if you get making a roux wrong- throw it out and start over! Okay. No more fear of making a roux! On a sheet pan, put less than an inch thick layer of flour. Put in cool oven set to 375 degrees… when the oven is preheated, check the flour it should be browning nicely… however, you will need to bake the flour for up to 20 more minutes! It needs to be a rich brown and will smell toasted and warm. Remove the sheet pan from the oven and allow to cool. Store in a tightly covered jar. This brown flour is your head start to elevating your spicy thick gumbos or even rich brown gravies! Mix the brown flour in some sort of oil- we use butter or bacon fat! Stir until all of the oil is absorbed and the mixture is even darker and thick, commence with the recipe with your quicker version of a roux. Just look at that rich mahogany color! That color is what you’re looking for when you’ve made a roux. 
Pack them in a heat proof jar. Heat apple cider vinegar to boiling and pour the beets and onions. Cool down before adding the lid. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours or overnight. They’re amazing with almost anything- let’s face it field peas, greens and summer squash with a side of pickled beets might be a match made in culinary heaven! And that’s not all! We tend to pickle almost anything that stands still long enough- especially our hot peppers! This is the best way to get that all important Pepper Sauce- so make lots!
And Fried Okra is a glorious treat, yet that also is an occasion. When I do? There’s a secret to that this as well. Please don’t batter okra and certainly not with flour- oh no, blend 2 parts self rising cornmeal with 1 part cornstarch! Read that again- dredge fresh cut okra (don’t rinse!) in a blend of self rising cornmeal and cornstarch! Get the frying oil hot! Add in dredged okra, but don’t crowd! Hot oil and self rising cornmeal give the okra that beautiful battered look, the cornstarch keeps it light and crisp!
My grandmother loved apricots- fresh, canned or dried. Mimi made an apricot casserole that wasn’t really a dessert, it wasn’t a savory casserole. What it was – is still one of my favorites! For years, I didn’t make it- couldn’t find a recipe, for sure not Mimi’s Apricot Casserole. In my collection of old cookbooks, perusing one day, I ran up on an Apricot Casserole! I knew the recipe was close to Mimi’s , yet I had watched her make it – so I knew the recipe I had found could be tweaked and what do you know? First time out? The flavors of Mimi’s classic Apricot Casserole filled me with such wonderful memories! And really, isn’t that why we all come to the table?
Camellia's Cottage 