Ottolenghi's Potato Salad with Yogurt and Horseradish

Potato salad. Two such innocent little words, so full of hope and promise on their own, but when put together, I don't know, they always seem to summon a vision of something gelatinous, yellow-tinged, rotting slowly in a glass vitrine somewhere. Potato salad makes me think of dingy midtown delis. Flies flying lazily over congealed mayonnaise. Potatoes, folding waxily under the pressure of a plastic fork, too-sweet mayonnaise glued stubbornly to the side of a styrofoam plate. In short, my friends, potato salad has never been my thing.

A few weeks ago, I was poring through my cookbooks to come up with ideas for a dinner party. Nothing fancy, just good food. There would be that carrot salad, a pile of asparagus in vinaigrette and chicken marinated in herbs. But I needed one more dish to round out the meal and, with a copy of Ottolenghi's cookbook open on my lap, kindly sent to me by the publisher and immediately stained with cooking juices by me, I found just what I was looking for: a dish called, innocently, "Crushed New Potatoes with Horseradish and Sorrel".

That was it, I thought. Who doesn't love a crushed potato? And horseradish is the bee's knees. I had almost everything I needed already in my kitchen. All I needed to do was boil potatoes, crush them with a fork and dress them with a yogurt-horseradish dress...Wait a minute! Potatoes. Dressing. Salad!?

Banishing all thoughts of rotting, fly-speckled, mayonnaise-bound potato salads to a faraway place (where I put thoughts of car accidents, Germany not winning the World Cup and dill), I boiled those potatoes, I whisked that dressing, I sliced those scallions and I snipped that cress. What resulted was what I will from now on call My Summer Potatoes. A gorgeously balanced, fresh-tasting, warm-and-cool potato salad that had an entire dinner table, six people, mind you, asking for the recipe. It was fantastic. The potatoes are sweet and tender, their fluff turning into the lightest mash. The horseradish adds bite and intensity, an unexpected sophistication. The scallions are very important - balanced by the cool, smooth yogurt, their fragrance feels essential.

I made a few changes from the original recipe - Ottolenghi calls for crushed cloves of garlic, but I have this thing about raw garlic, in that I hate it and don't want it near the food I eat, so I added a few more scallions in its stead. I left out the sorrel, because the scallions and watercress sprouts called for seemed to be the perfect amount of greenery and crunch. And instead of Greek yogurt, I used plain old yogurt - the moisture and silkiness of which the salad really needs. (Readers in the US, you should use Liberté if you can find it. You want something smooth and creamy and full of flavor.)

You can bring this salad to picnics, without fear that it will poison someone with salmonella. You can make this for dinner parties and sit back and garner compliments. You can make it after work, boiling potatoes in your underwear (I know how summer gets). It will be wonderful, over and over, and you will forget that potato salad once made your skin crawl. Potato salad!, you will think. Such lovely words, so full of hope and promise.

The cookbook is full of recipes like this - thoughtful variations on foods we already love, punched up with interesting flavor combinations from the Arab world and the Mediterranean pantry. Sumac, za'atar, sour cream, oregano, chilies and fresh lemons pepper the recipes. The soup chapter is already earmarked and worn, the salads are jewel-like, and I've cooked my first Palestinian recipe (chicken baked in a gorgeous slick of red-tinged marinade) from its pages. I kept the book by my bedside for a few weeks but had to stop - it kept making me hungry before bedtime.

And as my father always likes to say, if you find one shining recipe in a cookbook, one that you'll make over and over again, that will become part of your pantheon, part of your dinner table landscape for years to come, well, it's worth the price of the cookbook. This book has that in spades.

Potato Salad with Yogurt and Horseradish
Serves 4

1 kilo (2.2 pounds) new potatoes
300 grams (10 ounces, plus more to taste) plain yogurt (not Greek)
3 to 4 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon, or more, of prepared ground horseradish
4 scallions, thinly sliced (white and pale green parts)
Coarse sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
A small box of garden cress

1. Wash the potatoes, but don't peel them. Put them in a pan with salted water to cover, cover, bring to a boil and simmer for 25 to 30 minutes, until tender. Drain well, transfer to a large serving bowl and, while they are still hot, crush them roughly with a fork.

2. In a small bowl, mix the yogurt, olive oil, horseradish, scallions, salt and pepper to taste. Pour this dressing over the hot potatoes and mix well. Adjust the seasoning, adding more horseradish or more salt. You want the dressing to be assertive - the potatoes will mellow it out. Just before serving, snip in the garden cress and mix once more.

Comments

[charlemagne]

sounds delightful. what might work well to replace the cress? herbs are abundant where I am, but greens (lettuce, arugula, cress, etc) are nearly nonexistent.

[gastroanthropologist]

I have to admit I'm a sucker for potato salad, but I recently feel in love with another potato salad via Ottolenghi (from his new book Plenty). He swooned me with a warm potato salad tossed in fresh pesto topped with peas and soft-boiled quails eggs.

This horseradish crushed version looks equally amazing and I bet tastes delicious alongside a quickly seared steak. And I should thank you as I've just decided on tonite's dinner!

ps So sorry you couldn't make it to FBC, I was looking forward to meeting you.

[Bec]

So good!!
Evey family get together, my aunt brings the potato salad. Without fail. I love her version, she uses yoghurt too and I absolutely think its the secret!

[daniela]

I've the same cookbook and I want to try every single recipe!

[Mark @ Cafe Campana]

Yum, yum, yum. These potatoes look awesome. I could eat plates full of this.

[Alison M.]

*So* looking forward to this. If it's as delicious as that wonderful carrot salad I shall be a happy bunny :)

[Victoria]

My version of the cookbook is British so I wonder how the recipes translated when changed to the American version.

I use the Four-Minute Egg Gribiche from The Zuni Cafe Cookbook to make my potato salad, but this recipe sounds delightful; I am definitely going to try it.

Lately I've been dreaming about your rice-stuffed tomatoes, so that's on my agenda too.

[Anne-Renée]

I usually make my potatoe salad with a tangy vinaigrette made with rapeseed oil, cider vinegar, whole grain dijon mustart and lots of spring onions (scallions...).
This one seems like a winner too - I just need to get my hands on some lactose free yogurt...
Nom!

[Claire]

How fun, I made almost the same potato salad last night - with other veggies: shallot and radish instead of scallion and cress :)

[jonquil]

yum!

[James G]

I recently bought the Ottolenghi cookbook at the suggestion of a friend, and have been really impressed with it. If one recipe alone makes it worth the price of the book, then I should buy several more copies, since quite a few recipes have entered my repertoire from it!

[Luisa]

Charlemagne - you want something peppery and mustardy, how about mustard seed? I'm assuming you can't get mustard greens or watercress or sorrel...

Gastroanthropologist - I have that book, too, and the potato salad you mention was the first thing I noticed! Love the addition of crushed peas. I'm so sorry I couldn't make it - would have been lovely to put faces to my loyal commenters names! :)

Victoria - there is only an English edition - I did the conversions/tweaks myself.

Anne-Renée - One word: YUM.

[Koek!]

I picked up Yotam's book Plenty at the bookstore yesterday, then put it down (reluctantly) again because I wasn't feeling very rich... But I've decided to buy it come payday. Do you have Plenty as well as The Cookbook? Which do you prefer?

Robyn

[Clara]

Hi Luisa - You mentioned that you don't like raw galic. Try par-boiling it with the potatoes. This method cooks the garlic some, and really cuts down on that raw garlic punch.

[Luisa]

Koek - I have both and I think they're both stunning. But until now I've only cooked from The Cookbook; I'm planning on working through Plenty soon. I'll keep you posted!

Clara - very good point! Thanks for that.

[Adrienne]

That first paragraph is quite a doozy! I make a potato salad with new potatoes and red onion that's dressed in just olive oil and vinegar with plenty of salt and pepper. My fiance argues that it is not actually potato salad as it contains no mayonnaise, but everybody gobbles it up just the same.

[Vanessa]

I've had so many awful potato salads drowned in mayo or burning my throat but finally one I like, although I also have a weakness for warm potatoes over which your pour white wine vinegar and serve with scallions but yours looks more inspiring.

[Tyla]

This salad sounds great (mind you, I really love potatos and will eat almost any potato dish set in front of me) but the potato horseradish combination is really a winner. One of my favorite versions of mashed potatoes calls for quite a bit of horseradish and those are so good I just eat them out of the pot with a spoon!

Thanks for the recipe! Can't wait to try it out!

[noëlle {simmer down!}]

Looks delicious and I love that it uses yogurt instead of mayonnaise- I have been making my own yogurt lately and this seems a great use for it.

One small food-science note- it's a common misconception that mayonnaise is the culprit for food poisoning in potato salad. It's actually caused by a bacteria that feeds off the starch in the potatoes themselves when they're at room temp too long.

[Sommer @ A Spicy Perspective]

Wow! This sounds wonderful. I love adding yogurt in foods where one might normally add sour cream or mayo. We love spicy foods, so the horseradish sounds brilliant!

[Allison]

I just recently found appreciation for potato salad (and I'm from the South! [US] where it's all over the place). I've slowly started to realize, that at least for me, a good potato salad reminds me of a delicious deviled egg - and there are plenty of good variations of those. Rich, bitey but smooth! Anyway, you've really got me wanting to make this potato salad.

[Shira Howerton]

Love the image of the midtown deli potato salad...you had me chuckling. Twists on classics are the best, thanks for the recipes. Great pictures as well!

[Jennifer]

Love your blog- I've been browsing through it and now have a handful of recipes i will try at home- especially that eggplant spaghetti! yum! if you ever feel like it, check my food blog out. http://renaissancekitchen.blogspot.com

[www.google.com/accounts/o8/id?id=AItOawmJHiyPOz4AQ0zjdcEWF7JYsZgUhyOovQI]

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[Rose-Anne]

What a soaring review of a cookbook! Those bedside reading numbers are the best, aren't they? And potatoes really do have an affinity for yogurt--they are meant to be together.

[Suzan]

Yotam and Sammi are a talented bunch! I actually did a stint (5 days) in their Notting Hill kitchen before I was ever so politely ushered out for being, ahem...too slow (I am really, I can't believe it took them 5 days to notice).
The whole time my eyes were wide, my jaw was open, and the juices were running! Simply everything they make is divine and bursting with flavor and colour!

[Krista]

Oh my, that sounds divine!! Though I'd have to add every last bit of garlic and then maybe some more. :-)

[Sues]

Ooh yum! I love potato salad with yogurt and definitely like the idea of adding horseradish too. And it's pretty!

[Anne Parsons]

I love this recipe purely for the fact that it does not have mayo! Honestly, I don't like mayo slathered patotoes for the same reasons you wrote about. I prefer olive oil or dijon mustard myself. If you love horseradish, you'll love dijon... or even wasabi ;)

Cheers and thanks for a great read!

[Amy]

Ooh, this sounds good. If there's a potato salad continuum, American, fly-studded is on one end, German style (w/cucumbers) is in the middle, and this version is way on the other end. As an added bonus, for one second I read "boiling potatoes in your underwear" literally, as in you boiled them IN underwear somehow, and I'm still giggling about it five minutes later :).

[sara]

i am not keen on potato salad either, but you sure are a great sales lady. I do love yogurt, horseradish and herbs... so if anything could persuade me, it would be that combo. I hope to one day, find myself at your dinner table :)

[Josie]

I love horseradish....and thinking of yogurt over potatoes instead of mayo seems oh-so-summer light-and-refreshing...I can't wait to try it!

[Cheryl]

I invariably enjoy reading your blog, Luisa, and your recipes are almost always tantalizing. But I was moved to comment today because your writing really made me smile!

[Meredi]

Hahaha! I'm so glad you put a link to "that carrot salad"...otherwise I wouldn't have known that you have a new man at your table :) I didn't read that carrot salad post, so I totally missed the news. Congratulations! To tell you the truth, when you left for Berlin, I thought it would not be long before there would be something good cooking :) Lucky guy!

[Stephanie]

Thank you, Luisa! I, too, find potato salad to often be a big let-down: gloppy, mushy and never tasty enough. I love the idea of horseradish to dress the potatoes. I can't wait to try this!

[The Food Hunter]

This looks wonderful. I need to get this book

[guusje]

My love likes potatoes! Better make this.

♥♥

[Emily]

How exciting - as one of those whose skin crawls at the thought of most potato salads, I've been experimenting with nontraditional versions, and I can't wait to try this!

[littleclove]

My Dad had a famous potato salad that he always made that he was so proud of....full of mayo, bacon and hard boiled eggs.
It's close to my heart, but I GET what you are sayin' about those coagulated mayo-y potato salads.

But YOURS....is the only one that I've ever read that has made me want to stray from our family favorite. It sounds lite and yummy and I can't wait to make it this summer with a grilled piece of chicken with arugula and tomatoes!

[Judy]

Is "prepared ground horseradish" the kind in a jar, in liquid, or dry, like those little tins of wasabi? Thanks, and this is on my list.

[Luisa]

Judy - the kind in a jar, in liquid.

[tasteofbeirut]

I love that potato salad and have cooked from Ottolenghi's cookbook before; I like the fact that he and his Palestinian partner have teamed up and their fusions dishes are always a happy marriage as well.

[indie.tea]

It sounds delicious. I've always hated other people's potato salad too..."other people" being everyone but my mom. But this recipe looks pretty good, and everything I've seen so far from the Ottolenghi's cookbook looks VERY good. Guess I know what my next cookbook is to be!

[Ziu]

Ottolenghi again! Everyone seems to be talking about him, but I look at his recepies in e.g. Guardian and get annoyed by many different ingredients. Should I really give it a go..? The answer is obvious :)

Also, your introduction made me rather queasy! And I actually LIKE potato salad. Not the ones in dodgy shops with flies (yuk!), but home-made with a dash of horseradish, creme fraiche and watercress. Needless to say, this one sounds absolutely delicious. Super keen to try!

[Gabriele Spangenberg]

I love Ottoleghis Cookbooks as well! And potatoes and yes Sorrel!!! It´s one of those magic herbs that the northerners use...
Potato salad with majonese should be banned....

[Rowdy Chowgirl]

I'm in favor of any recipe that uses yogurt instead of mayo, but this! Wow. I haven't even made it yet, and I'm convinced that it is the perfect potato salad!

[k]

Yum, I made this tonight for fathers day. It was fantastic. I never had the garden sprout so used more onion. I ran out of horseradish and wanted more kick so added dijoun mustard. Opted out of the garlic as well. So good, I think I might have to throw the leftovers away so I don't eat them all myself.

[Eleana]

I made this over the weekend and there was somehow a sort of chalky after-taste? Any idea as to where it comes from, either the potatoes (used small yellow potatoes, don't know if they were "baby") or maybe the prepared horseradish, or the cold yogurt over the pot potatoes cause the yogurt to curdle? The flavor is fantastic, but the chalky aftertaste gets to me ... help!

[J2wade]

Thanks for your post! I made this on Saturday for a summer solstice party and it was a big hit. I used Greek yogurt because I already had some in the fridge, but I'll go with your suggestion and try regular next time because it was a tiny bit on the dry side (though it didn't seem to bother anyone!).

[Lana]

Luisa, following your blog, I have recently tried Ottolenghi's Eggplant recipe, and it was a success.
Last night this potato salad was on the menu, and I was extremely pleased with the results. I had to add a bit more horseradish, but otherwise, it was a perfect side dish, somewhere between a potato salad and smashed new potatoes.
Thank you for exposing me to another great cookbook!
Lana
P.S. Mu daughter just spent a weekend in Berlin with my sister and brother-in-law who live in Frankfurt. Cannot wait to hear all about it!