As you already know: I hate despise mayonnaise. The texture. The flavor. The consistency. Therefore, my entire life has been spent avoiding delicious foods such as potato salad, California Rolls, Salmon with aioli, or tuna salad sandwiches (well, actually ANY sandwich that mayonnaise has touched).
It is a despairing situation, but mayonnaise has RUINED the first twenty-something years of my life. It has inundated foods that I should love, but can’t because they are coated with that nasty substance. Well, I think I have found a solution for all the mayonnaise haters out there.When a friend of mine taught me this recipe, I jumped on the bandwagon. What is even better than mayonnaise in a potato salad? Creme Fraiche.
Oh, yeah! Creme Fraiche is basically just heavy-cream with a splash of buttermilk. Somehow, I have no problem with those two ingredients:)
Therefore, if you ask me, it is allowed in my potato salad, and my aioli, my tuna salad, and on top of my salmon. Creme Fraiche can be a spread for my sandwiches and even can come into this cake. The more Creme Fraiche in my life, the better. I figure, the world can be mayonnaise free if Creme Fraiche could just take its place.
But, don’t ask me to try to fit my hips in that pot again:)
Serves 4-6
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 1 hour (with chilling)
*Adapted from a recipe by Diane LaVonne
2 lbs. potatoes, (baby yukon golds, new potatoes, fingerlings), cut 1/2″ thick
8 ounces pancetta, diced small (you could also use bacon here)
1 tbsp. Grapeseed or Olive Oil
4 scallions, thinly sliced
6 garlic spears, sliced 1/8″ thick (reserve tops for garnish)
1/2 cup Creme Fraiche, I recommend Bellwether Farms or you could just make your own
Chives, snipped with kitchen scissors for garnish
Put the potatoes in a big pot of cold water. Bring to a boil, salt the water, and cook until al dente. Do not overcook. Chill on a baking sheet.
Meanwhile, Heat a saute pan, over medium-high heat. Cook pancetta until crispy and caramelized. Drain on a paper-towel lined plate. Pour off the fat, but leave a little in the bottom of the pan.
Add in a little of the grapeseed or olive oil and saute the garlic spears and scallions on medium heat until just tender. Set aside.
Combine all of the ingredients (the potatoes, the bacon, and the greens) in a large bowl, and refrigerate until chilled.
Once chilled, add enough, creme fraiche to coat the veggies and the potatoes and toss gently. Finish with salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle chives all over the top of the potato salad, and garnish with the tops of the garlic spears.
Other people on the Creme Fraiche Bandwagon:
Sassy Radish makes a warm potato salad with horseradish, bresaola, and creme fraiche
Deb at Smitten Kitchen makes Cabbage, Apple, and Walnut Salad with Creme Fraiche
Pithy and Cleaver made an Asparagus Soup with a dollop of lemony Creme Fraiche
Caviar and Codfish used Creme Fraiche in their dish called Cotriade Brettone
June 9, 2009 at 5:02 pm
Oooh this looks so yummy! I love the color contrast between the scallions and the potatoes.
June 10, 2009 at 11:45 am
i love that you also are mayo-phobic- seriously, looking at it makes me gag a little. i always tell mike that the fact that i put it on his sandwiches is proof of my deep and abiding love for him.
i’ve used greek yogurt as a sub in potato salad, but this is a nice and indulgent option- thanks! i also love this recipe and have made it several times- http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/23/health/nutrition/23recipehealth.html. it’s fantastic, but mostly because everything tastes better with goat cheese.
June 10, 2009 at 4:22 pm
you should make your own mayo! I used to be a mayo hater until i made my own and since then — love love love it. It’s so funny, I saw your potato salad and didn’t realize you linked to me and thought - mmm, potatoes, must make immediately… I’m such a predictable Russian. I’ve never met a potato I didn’t like.
June 10, 2009 at 6:41 pm
Kari,
I hope we can still be friends.
I love Hellman’s mayo so much I could marry it.
I hardly make potato salad because I eat the whole bowl.
It would be my last meal if I was dying and asked “what would you like?”.
Lots of chopped hard boiled eggs in it please.
June 14, 2009 at 2:38 pm
Kari,
Read your tweet that you were going to make gnocchi. My late Italian Aunt Olivia made the best ones ever. I couldn’t direct you because you don’t follow me.
Her secret was to use potatoes that had been stored in open air until they were starting to wrinkle up; the dryness made her gnocchi always come out as light as clouds. It works!
Love your Blog a lot. Your Moroccan Turkey Sliders are a staple with my family. Absolutely one of the most delicious dishes I have EVER tasted. Well played!
June 14, 2009 at 9:34 pm
I should mention that when I was in High School, one of the “initiation rites’ was to make the victim eat a quart of mayo with a spoon. The alternative was to be beaten. I would have taken the beating…
In spite of that I still love mayo for certain foods….
June 16, 2009 at 1:08 pm
Lovely take on the potato salad! I have the same irrational hatred of mayo. Home-made mayo, gourmet French mayo, basil mayo, whatever, yuk yuk yuk. In Russian foods, when mayo is required, my grandma uses 1/3 mayo to 2/3 sour cream and the taste is actually very nice. But creme fraiche is a great substitute!
June 17, 2009 at 6:49 pm
how funny! i can’t stand mayo either… i may have to try this out!
June 19, 2009 at 1:09 pm
Well, I don’t have quite the mayo aversion that you do (I heart it actually) BUT I think that creme fraiche in this potato salad would be 1000x more delicious than mayo. I need to use it more in savory applications…so thanks for this!