Although in my case is it more like eatin’ with the boys.
Once a week the hubs has what I like to call nerdy board game night, not to go into too many details but it is some nerdy finery at its best. Hosting duties rotate, and generally when they are at our place mass quantities of food is ordered to feed the hungry boys, which works out well for me as they all have to share what they have ordered with me in return for exiling me to the bedroom sans TV on Gray’s Anatomy night.
However this week I decided to mix it up a bit and bust out the grill. Nothing says nice weather to me like chicken drumsticks fresh off the grill dripping in barbecue sauce, so that is of course what I decided to put together. I literally combined chicken drum sticks with the better part of a jar of sauce and let it marinate till it was grill time, easy peasy.
When it came to a side dish for this lovely meal I wanted to do a potato salad, now I have a long history of HATING mayo, which many people see as the key ingredient to potato salad. However, my friend Jen made an amazing potato salad by everyone’s favorite Hamptonite Ina Garten, that used mayo as a base to mix herbs and spices to lightly coat the potatoes as opposed to using it as a mortar to hold the whole thing together. I had planned on making that recipe however when I consulted Dr. Google for the recipe I instead stumbled upon Ina’s French Potato Salad, and since I am a huge sucker for anything French, I went with that one.
Now, when you look at Ina’s recipe you may think it will be complicated due to the number of ingredients, but cross my heart and kiss my elbow it’s not. I recommend tossing the potatoes into boil and then making the vinagrette and chopping the herbs to go on top so its all ready to roll. Also, I used 3 tablespoons of wine and stock each as the potatoes kept absorbing it, so I recommend adding the recommended 2 tablespoons each of wine and stock, stirring it all in, and then slowing adding another tablespoon each (always add equal amounts of wine and stock for balance) until when you stir it there are traces of the mixture on the bottom of the bowl. Of course, anytime you are cooking with wine, make sure you use something that is also Tasty Belly in your glass, you can’t go wrong in warm weather with Vinho Verde (unless you happen to get into a fight with your friend over a bottle of it, but even that worked out in the end!)
Although this combo would be great for a busy night when you want something light but delicious, as most of it can cook away on its own with just a few minutes here and there of attention.
