So, I’m pretty famous for my potato salad, but normally I make my Southern German (Bavarian or Swabian variety). Today, I thought I’d try a new and different kind for the BBQ that I am going to: French-style Herb Potato and Egg Salad. A little sweet, a little dill, very herby and turned out really really well, for a recipe that I made up on the fly. The eggs are semi-soft boiled (“7 minute eggs”) so their yolks actually mix well into the dressing, making it very creamy.
October 19, 1999 is a date that will forever remain in my memory. Why, you say? What is so important about that very day? It is the day that I ate the most perfect Caesar Salad salad ever made in the history of Caesar salads.
Yes, I remember the date. I remember the place (it was a restaurant attached to a Holiday Inn between Sausalito and Mill Valley, CA) and I remember the salad as if I ate it yesterday and yet it is almost 17 years later. That is how good this salad was. Think that I am crazy now? Yes, I remember the date of a salad. 🙂 Ever since then, I have tried Caesar Salads often, in the hope that maybe, just maybe I could find one just as good. Either the dressing doesn’t taste quite right, or there is too much of it (nothing like dressing with a side of romaine [shudder]) or (more often than not) it is just bad.
This salad doesn’t come close to the 1999 Salad, but I have found this dressing to be pretty awesome. As you know, the base of Caesar salad is egg yolks, but dealing with raw egg yolks can be a little problematic at times, so I thought of what else I could use as a base and came up with mayonnaise, which is in essence … eggs! This dressing should stay fridge-stable for a couple of days, if you don’t end up using it all at once.
It’s been a bit of a crap day (understatement), so in an effort to redeem the day, I made myself “summer on a stick”, aka grilled corn on the cob. And I thought I’d share that with you because even if for just a moment, it made me feel better. Slathered it with smokey, spicy mayonnaise and cojita cheese, so I guess it is Mexican-inspired. The goodness of summer.
In all the years of having this year website, I can’t believe that I haven’t posted my Obatzda recipe. What is Obatzda? It’s a very Bavarian cheese spread (similar to pub cheese), served with pretzels (brezn) or bread, and accompanied often by radishes (radi), red onions, and other things like gherkins and cherry tomatoes and so on. There is no *one* recipe for obatzda and certainly no right or wrong recipe. Some people add a bit of horseradish, some people a few tablespoons of beer. If you can’t find quark, some people use cream cheese mixed with a bit of sour cream. All work well.
It’s Summertime. Biergärten. Beer, obatzda and brezn. What I miss about Munich.
