I recently made my world famous potato salad for a party. After making it over the past many decades, I've decided to share my secret recipe. This serves 12 - 16.
6 large Russet potatoes
6 extra large eggs
2 cups chopped onion
2 cups chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped pimento-stuffed olives
1/2 cup dill relish
3/4 cup sweet relish
1 cup Hellmann's mayonnaise
2 rounded tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 package Hidden Valley Ranch dressing / dip mix
Salt and pepper to taste
Paprika (optional)
DAY BEFORE:
Wash potatoes. Keep skins on. Place in large pot, cover with water, and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes, until largest potato is tender. You don't want potatoes to fall apart, but you do want them tender all the way through. Run cold water over potatoes to stop them from cooking. Drain off water. Let potatoes cool until you can handle them without burning. Using a small paring knife, slip the potato skins off each potato and place in a large bowl. If you have a rack to put under them, even better so any remaining water will drain. Cover and place in refrigerator overnight.
Boil eggs until hard-cooked, 10-12 minutes. I add 1/2 teaspoon salt to the water to help prevent cracking. Run cold water over eggs to cool them quickly and stop them from cooking further. Drain. Place in fridge to cool.
THREE HOURS BEFORE SERVING:
Peel eggs and chop into nickle-sized pieces. Peel and dice onions, and chop celery and olives.
Wash hands thoroughly before handling potatoes. Gently crumble each potato into a large mixing bowl. Aim for bite-sized pieces. To that bowl, add chopped onion, chopped celery, chopped olives, both relishes, and chopped eggs. Using a spatula, toss lightly with a lifting motion to combine ingredients.
For the dressing, take a large soup bowl and add to it the mayonnaise, mustard, garlic powder, dry ranch dressing mix, and salt and pepper to taste. I use a good 1/2 teaspoon of pepper but only about 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Remember, the ranch dressing mix has a lot of salt. Stir this mixture well with a wire whip.
Drizzle the dressing over the potato mixture and use a gentle, lifting motion with the spatula to combine all ingredients. You don't want this to become mushy.
Spoon into a large serving dish and top with a sprinkle of paprika. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until time to serve.
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