Ensalada Rusa & Mayonnaise

Recipe for 10 side servings.

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds Yukon gold or Russet potatoes

  • Note: Equivalent to about 6 Yukon potatoes or 4 Russets

• 2 hard-boiled eggs, cooled, then sliced or chopped

  • To hard boil eggs: place eggs into pot, cover with cold water, leave pot uncovered. Bring water to a boil. Turn off heat, cover tightly and let sit for 10 minutes. Remove from pan, rinse under cold water then peel.

• 1/2 cup finely chopped celery

• 1/4 cup finely chopped onion (optional)

• 1 5-6 oz. can of good quality tuna, packed in olive oil and drained

• 1/2 cup Green Spanish Olives, with pimentos, cut in half across the "belly"

• 1/4 red pepper, or jarred pimentos to decorate

• 1/4 cup frozen green peas defrosted

• 1 cup good quality mayonnaise - 3/4 of this to mix into the salad base, the remaining to coat (frost) the top.

  • Homemade recipe follows

  • Tip: If you use store bought mayonnaise, buy high quality, like Duke’s or Sir Kensington - but neither are as good as homemade!

• Kosher Salt

• Pepper

• Smoked sweet paprika to sprinkle over finished salad

Homemade mayonnaise ingredients:

• 1 whole raw egg, room temperature

• 1 tbl white wine vinegar (fresh lemon juice can be substituted)

• 1/2 tsp kosher Salt

• pinch ground pepper

• 1 cup oil; I use 3/4 cup canola and 1/4 cup olive oil. The olive oil gives it more flavor, but if you want to add extra flavor, like garlic, herbs or spice, use all canola oil.

Make mayonnaise: 

• In the bowl of a food processor (or using a hand held blender) add the egg, vinegar, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/8 tsp. pepper.

  • Tip: Now is the time to add any additional flavor you like to the processor with the egg; mustard, garlic, capers, shallots…

• Start the motor, then slowly drizzle the oil into the feed tube.

• The mayo will start to form as the oil gets drizzled in. It will get thicker as you add more oil.

  • The key is to drizzle the oil in very slowly letting the oil incorporate and “fill” the egg. Some people do this by hand, but you’ll need good forearm strength, or multiple arms helping out.

1. Cook Potatoes: Place the potatoes and 2 tablespoons of salt in a large pot of water and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and gently boil for about 10 minutes or until the potatoes are tender when pierced with a knife. Cool, then peel, and cut into bite-size pieces, tossing them in a large bowl.

Note: before cooking - if some of the potatoes are bigger, cut them in half, so all pieces are about the same size and cook in the same amount of time.

2. Prep the salad ingredients: Cut the olives in half, open and drain the canned tuna, Slice the red pepper thinly, defrost peas, slice or chop eggs. Finely chop celery. You don’t want any big chunks. They should blend seamlessly into the potato mixture.

3. Assemble: Save 1/4 the mayo, some olives, red peppers, peas and an egg, to decorate the finished dome. Blend the remaining ingredients together gently. Place onto a platter and form the shape you prefer, oval, square… it might depend on the serving platter you have. Place the remaining mayonnaise on top of the dome and spread it with an offset spatula, just like frosting a cake. Chill in refrigerator, ideally for one to two hours.

Tip: if you like more mayo in your salad, you can always add jarred mayo to the salad at this point.

4. Decorate: Just before serving, top the dome with the olives, egg, red pepper slices, peas, or any herbs you like and smoked sweet paprika. Use your creativity to create a design. Serve chilled. Be sure to refrigerate any leftovers as fresh mayonnaise is very perishable.