German-Style Potato Salad with Smoked Alaska Sockeye Salmon
There's a version of potato salad that sits in a bowl at every summer cookout, glossy with mayo, cold from the fridge, vaguely disappointing. Then there's this one.
Chef Barton Seaver's German-Style Potato Salad with Smoked Alaska Sockeye Salmon is the kind of recipe that quietly resets your expectations. It's warm, tangy, deeply savory, and done in 40 minutes — and it stars one of the finest ingredients the Pacific can offer: wild Alaska sockeye salmon.
Serves 4 — Prep: 10 min — Cook: 30 min
Ingredients:
- 1½ pounds yellow or red new potatoes
- Salt
- 3 bay leaves
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 4 ounces smoked Alaska sockeye salmon (cold or hot smoked)
- 1 teaspoon mustard powder
- 1 teaspoon dried dill
- ⅓ cup red wine vinegar
- 1 cup red onion, thinly sliced
- 1 cup sliced celery, with leaves
- Fresh dill to garnish (optional)
Method:
Place the potatoes and bay leaves in a pot, cover with cold water, and season heavily with salt. Bring to a simmer and cook until the potatoes are very soft when pierced with the tip of a knife.
In a separate pan, melt the butter until it sizzles. Add the salmon and turn off the heat. Let the salmon warm through gently in the residual heat, don't rush this.
Combine the mustard powder, dill, vinegar, onion, celery, potatoes, and salmon along with all the butter from the pan. Use a whisk or the back of a spoon to lightly crush the potatoes and break up the salmon as you fold everything together. Season with salt to taste.
Serve warm or at room temperature, garnished with fresh dill if you like.
Recipe courtesy of Chef Barton Seaver via the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute.
