Potato Salad with vinaigrette

From Jane Grigson’s Vegetable Book, Jane Grigson, Penguin Books, 1988.

I wanted a salad but all I had in the house were potatoes and a few asparagus stalks. So I turned to Jane Grigson.

I put 2 large potatoes into a saucepan with some salted water and cooked them until they were tender but not too soft. They were then peeled while hot and cut into dice. These were placed in 75ml white wine.

I would not cook potatoes for a salad in this way again. When you cook them whole it is difficult to maintain an even cooking throughout and the centre can turn out slightly underdone while the skin side too soft. In future I would use the way I generally do it, and that is to dice the potatoes first them cook them for a few minutes while watching them to see they are just done right. This way they are more evenly cooked and it is easier to manage the final result.

The asparagus was cut into bite-sized pieces and cooked in the potato water.

When the potatoes had cooled somewhat the remaining wine was drained off and a commercial French vinaigrette dressing was added to the potatoes. The asparagus went in together with a little chopped Spanish onion and chopped parsley. It went into the refrigerator until cold.

I must say this potato salad was disappointing. It should have worked, but it didn’t and I’m not sure why. The asparagus was not from Grigson’s recipe but I felt I could use it up. I don’t think this detracted from the overall result. Oddly, the wine flavour did not really come through; I think the vinaigrette disguised it somewhat.

Taste: ✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔