German Potato Salad

L. top-down: Baked, Oven ready, Ingredients for sauce, bacon ends, cooked potatoes, Top R: with slaw

Our grandmother made German potato salad – I loved it then and still do.  I thought this recipe for the salad, baked in the oven, looked like an easy way to serve it to guests, and there might be less breaking up of the potatoes.  It was easy to make, and very tasty too.  I used bacon ends from my brother-in-law Don’s hog – great-flavored bacon processed at the Leighton Locker in Leighton, Iowa.

I am giving it in the original 10 serving size recipe, and halved, which I made in my cast iron skillet.  Myrna loaned me her “granite-ware” bowl for the potatoes – we both remember our grandmother or her sister sitting on a kitchen chair with a bowl of cooked potatoes like this, peeling them with a table knife, in preparation for this dish.  I thought this recipe could have used a little more sauce; my husband says it was perfect just like this.

Whenever I am in a restaurant that has this on the menu, in Amana, or in Dubuque in a small restaurant we found there, or other German enclaves, I always try their recipe.  Our local BBQ place, Big Ed’s, also serves a version of German potato salad as a side.  I think the proprietor’s wife may be of German descent.  I love almost every version!                  

                        Baked German Potato Salad

10 Servings

  5        ounces  bacon -- diced (1 cup)

  1        cup  celery -- chopped

  1        cup  onion -- chopped

  3        tablespoons  flour, all-purpose

  1        teaspoon  salt

     2/3 cup  sugar

     2/3 cup  cider vinegar

  1 1/2 cups  water

     1/3 tablespoon  parsley -- chopped

  2        teaspoons  celery seeds

  2        quarts  potato -- boiled, peeled and sliced 1/8" thick

5 Servings

2 1/2   ounces  bacon -- diced (1/2 cup)

     1/2 cup  celery -- chopped

     1/2 cup  onion -- chopped

  1 1/2 tablespoons  flour, all-purpose

     1/2 teaspoon  salt

     1/3 cup  sugar

     1/3 cup  cider vinegar

     3/4 cup  water

     1/2 teaspoon  parsley -- chopped

  1        teaspoon  celery seeds

  1        quart  potato -- boiled, peeled and sliced 1/8" thick

Preheat oven to 375°. 

Fry bacon, remove, cook celery and onion; add flour, cook 2 minutes, add sugar, vinegar and water all at once, bring to a boil, cook 1 minute, add seasonings.  Place potatoes in 13 x 8” shallow baking dish, pour dressing over all, mix gently so potatoes aren't broken up. (I simply layered the potatoes and sauce like lasagna.)  Bake 45 minutes or until middle of casserole bubbles.  (25 minutes was enough for a half recipe – try a 7 x 11” pan or a 10” skillet).

  "Cooking from Quilt Country"

Per Serving : 175 Calories; trace Fat (1.5% calories from fat); 3g Protein; 41g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 0mg Cholesterol; 234mg Sodium.  Exchanges: 1 1/2 Grains (Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 1/2 Vegetable; 0 Fat; 1 Other Carbohydrates.