Before they created Gourmandistan, Michelle and Steve begat a blog called “Farm Share Squared,” in which they attempted to chronicle the travails of two people who somewhat unadvisedly signed up for two separate farm shares. The early, iWeb-based effort was a struggle on several levels (Michelle is so happy that the horrible photos were lost forever when Apple jettisoned the platform), not the least of which was what to do with all the produce. Now, simply because of Steve’s fanciful notion of a nice nostalgic walk in the neighborhood, we once again are in the middle of a summer of two farm shares.
A bit down the road is a lovely property now owned by some stupendously fortunate people who have gated off the end of our hollow. When we were young and the property was owned by a couple of regular old dairy farm families, we loved to hike there. While those old neighbors undoubtedly had guns galore, they never seemed to mind the intrusion and they certainly didn’t have an impressive security gate.
For several years after learning that the wealthy neighbors had a tenant offering an organic CSA, Michelle was able to dissuade Steve from joining (“Remember ‘Farm Share Squared’?” she always said), but finally she relented. During his first walk to pick up our (second of the week) share of vegetables, Steve suddenly remembered how steep our hemming hillsides are, and how much better shape he was in when a thirty- or forty-something walking that area before.
On the road to the CSA pickup
In the meantime, Steve’s been driving to the CSA pickup and we are left with a lot of vegetables, which recently included potatoes and scallions. (We are leaving out an almost literal mountain of other stuff.) Along with our own eggs (we have chickens again!) and parsley and chives from our herb garden, we produced this snappy-fresh, mustardy potato salad almost entirely from ingredients grown within a couple of miles of our house.
Even though Michelle is partial to creamy potato salads, she very much enjoyed this version, and it may reappear as our farmers continue to provide us with potatoes. Before then, however, we must figure out what to do with all this kale—and perhaps finally get that damned gate code and start hiking the neighborhood again.
POTATO AND EGG SALAD
(adapted from Bon Appétit Magazine)
- 1-1/4 pounds new potatoes, scrubbed and halved or quartered, depending on size
- 2 scallions, sliced thinly on bias
- 2 large eggs
- 2 TB apple cider vinegar
- 1 TB whole grain mustard
- 1/2 tsp. honey
- 3 TB olive oil
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 c. parsley and/or celery leaves with tender stems, roughly chopped
- 2 small stalks celery, sliced thinly on bias
- 1 TB finely chopped dill pickles (we used candied dills)
- handful of chopped fresh chives + additional chopped parsley
- 1/2 tsp. mustard seeds, toasted
Steam potatoes about 30 minutes, depending on size. Place in a bowl to cool. Throw scallion slices over.
Meanwhile, boil eggs in a saucepan of boiling water until set but yolks are still slightly jammy, about 7 minutes. Transfer eggs to a bowl of ice water and chill until cold. Drain and peel, then refrigerate.
Place vinegar, mustard, honey, olive oil, salt and pepper in a jar and shake.
While potatoes are still warm, toss with dressing. Add parsley/celery leaves and celery slices and toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to a platter or serving bowl. Slice eggs into thirds or fourths and tuck in between potatoes. Top with pickles, chives, additional parsley and toasted mustard seeds.
Gourmandistan 
Looks delicious! I love the mellow flavour that apple cider vinegar adds to dressings. Thanks for sharing. margaret
You’re welcome! It was quite tasty.
That’s a superior potato salad!
…and I love the picture of the old shack.
Looks more like Appalachia than our usual neighborhood horse farm pics, doesn’t it?
It looks like a good place for distilling whiskey 😉
What a delicious sounding version.
There’s a slideshow of potato salad recipes on Bon Appétit’s website, many of which look so interesting.
Will have a look, thanks
Farm Share Squared. Never forget.
R.I.P. 🙂
looks delicious
It was!
A right fine potato salad indeed. We used to do a CSA when we lived in KY and found it to be a pleasant experience. I can sympathize with Steve regarding what we could do and what we can now do.
Thanks, Ron! And, don’t we all know it?
Wonderful. I love seeing the mustard seeds! I was raised on the potato salad with vinaigrettes, an I do prefer them over the heavily mayo’d varieties. But I do insist on eggs as an ingredient!
And you know what’s funny? I forgot to put the seeds on before I took the photo. Those are just from the grainy Maille mustard (my fave).
Oh! You were going to add actual mustard seeds? so smart! I’ve never thought about that. Yes, I love the whole-grain mustard. It’s just so pretty!
This looks perfect for a summer lunch.
For sure!
Very nice salad indeed. I like those creamy potatoes salads well enough, but one like this is definitely more my speed, On CSAs, I once signed up for one. Didn’t last too long. As you said, it was too much produce (even though we eat a LOT of veg in our house) and couldn’t get over the fact we couldn’t choose the selection.
One of the two we’re in this year does allow some choice. I like to look at it as a weekly puzzle. How am I going to use all this? Luckily, we have some chickens, which will eat a lot of things and are great for assuaging the guilt I have when I don’t use everything.
This sounds really good! I thought I cant have potato salad without mayonnaise but this one will surely work for me
I know, right? Mayonnaise-based potato salad is so good. But this was, too.
love your header pic
whoa, that shack/barn looks freaky
yay for fresh chicken eggs!
This looks like an absolutely fantastic salad!