Blue Cheese Potato Salad with Capers and Mint

Xin Nian Kuai Le, Cung Chúc Tân Xuân (or is it Chúc Mung Nam Moi maybe someone can tell me?), Happy Valentines Day, and happy President's Day, all rolled into one! That's one heckofa holiday weekend that much is for sure. As is usual for us, we're kinda laying low, and will have our big meals a bit later on..... or perhaps the Missus actually believes me when I say, "but honey, every day can be Valentine's day!" Hmmm, probably not.....

Still, the Missus gets whatever She wants to eat today, and what She wanted was a BLT with thick cut bacon and sprouts on sourdough, and a potato salad! Huh? I can however, understand Her thinking..... the temperature today was in the mid-seventies, more like late spring than mid-February weather.... so you want a BLT, fine! Of course the potato salad wasn't going to be your basic potato-mayo combination salad. The Missus was thumbing thru Wanda Adam's The Island Plate II (I really can't say reading, because She's just looking for photos), and saw the recipe for Beau Soleil's Aegean Potato Salad. Which is sorta what She wanted.... I'll say sorta, because of course there were adjustments.....

The Missus wanted to use Blue Cheese instead of Feta, and told me to lose the Italian Parsley, but add scallions. I was interested in making the salad because it used both capers....

and mint....

 
Items that I've never used in a potato salad. Also the lack of mayo was something different for me as well. In order to have a reasonable portion for the Missus and I, the amount of potatoes was cut in half, but the amounts of other ingredients have been kept the same (or increased), since the salad sounded a bit bland to me, and my hunch was right. I really enjoyed the salad, the flavor of the mint was faint(if you were a poet, you could say, it was a "hint of mint"), and if you didn't know it was in the salad, your mind might be asking you, "what is the flavor, it's familiar, but I can't place it."

What was an even bigger coincidence was that I was born and raised in Kaimuki, and I have taken food to go from Beau Soleil when it was located on Waialae Avenue! Sorry to say, Beau Soleil moved back to Manoa, then closed down a couple of years back.

Blue Cheese Potato Salad with Capers and Mint.

1 1/2 lbs red potatos cubed
4 tb Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2-3 tb Red Wine Vinegar
1/3 Cup crumbled blue cheese
3 tb capers, rinsed, drained, and coarsely chopped
1/2 medium red onion minced
2 tb chiffonade of mint leaves
4 tb chopped green onions
Salt to taste

- Cook potatoes in salted water until tender.
- When potatoes are tender enough to pierced with a skewer, drain in a colander. Rinse immediately with cold water to stop cooking and remove excess starch, and drain.
- While potatoes are still warm, gently mix together all ingredients. Don't forget to taste, and adjust seasoning. Also, remember that flavors will be more intense after the salad "sets".
- Serve at room temperature or cooler.

So while the Missus had Her BLT and potato salad..... I had me some refreshing Cold Sichuan Noodles (Sichuan Liang Mian):

And I made this.....

Can you guess what it is????

Would you believe that it's dog food??? Yes, it's true, I cook for Da' Boyz, and for the next 4-5 meals it's be lean chopped pork and carrot rice with their kibble. We've noticed that since we've started cooking rice... usually rice with white meat chicken for Da' Boyz, Sammy's fussy stomach issues have not been a problem. Of course it could be that they are Asian Mutts! Still, for some reason I find the fact that Sammy and Frankie consume Three Ladies or Buddha Brand Jasmine rice, or Koshihikari rice a bit strange......

I hope everyone is having a great multi-holiday weekend!

Comments

[angel van]

happy lunar new year to you too kirk! either saying is appropriate. it is more common to say chuc mung nam moi when speaking and saying cung chuc tan xuan when writing.

[Dennis]

I looove potato salad... I remember my mother telling me Okinawa used to use the lunar calendar back in the day..

[Vicki]

Ha, my dogs eat 3 Ladies rice too. Happy New Year to you & the Missus.

[kat]

this version of potato salad sounds so good, I must try it soon :) happy chinese new year, valentines & whatever else there is to celebrate!

[Kirk]

Hi Angel Van - Thanks! Best wishes for the year!

Hi Dennis - I know that in the late 1800's that Japan adopted the Gregorian calendar..... too bad, because a double celebration is always more fun!

Hi Vicki - It's good to know we're not alone.... I don't feel so strange! ;o)

Hi Kat - Happy many holiday-day to you as well! ;o)

[Carol]

Gong xi fa cai, Kirk! The potato salad sounds great! I'll have to try it. The mint and capers sound really interesting.

[Alan]

Our girls are also Asian mutts. They prefer Asian types of food, but they will eat plain steak too. But other foods generally have to have the Asian flavor. Rice is good for dogs' stomach problems. The standard meal that the vet says to give them is rice with hamburger mixed in.

[Lynnea]

What a lucky lady, the Missus. That potato salad looks really great and with blue cheese it can't be bad. I'm very intrigued by some of the other additions; mint and capers are two of my fav. "mystery" flavors that always make things taste different.

[Erin Burnett]

Wow does this look amazing! It looks fresh and fabulous.Thanks for the recipe, I will be making this in the summer time for the girls! Thanks

[Kirk]

Hi Carol - It turned out rather well.

Hi Alan - We've found that plain meat mixed in with kibble gives Sammy some major problems.... the addition of rice fixed everything up. Oh, and then there's roast duck and rice.... which they get on their B-Day...

Hi Lynnea - The capers really lifts the salad, and the mint flavor in the background is very interesting.

Hi Erin - Thanks for dropping by and commenting. I hope the recipe turns out well for you!