This star worthy salad is an eggy, mustardy, fluffy salad spiked with red onions. When I decided to make potato salad for the July 4th holiday, I had not intended to use the dressing from my Magic Pan Spinach Salad (see recipe on this site), but after I boiled the potatoes and tossed them in a big bowl, it occurred to me that the sweet, vinegary sauce I had dressed my spinach salad with the night before would be perfect on those fluffy Russet spuds. And I was right. I ate this salad two nights in a row and it got better as the flavors melded together.

Since I am calling this recipe Silver Screen Potato Salad, I should point out that the Turquoise Cockatrice pattern by Minton (above) is also a pattern that Ava Gardner collected. Except Ava’s china was green. The pattern comes in pink, green and turquoise. I think this is one of the most beautiful china patterns I have ever seen! When I see a great buy on Ebay, I try to snag a piece here and there.

A word about potato salad: There are as many different recipes for potato salad as there are cooks in the world. If you want to see how Joan Crawford made potato salad, go to SilverScreenSuppers.com, a really fun site that showcases movie stars and their recipes. Joan’s recipe seems pretty eggy and mustardy like mine. The variations on potato salad are endless. You can add pickles, anchovies, minced green bell peppers, celery, dill, the list goes on. Personally, I prefer to make the potato the star of the salad, so boiling the Russet chunks to the right degree of fork-tenderness is crucial. The idea for soaking the potatoes in chicken stock came from Ina Garden. Don’t use too much mayonnaise and make sure it is the best mayo you can find. Let the salad chill in the frig for at least a few hours while the flavors blend. But, in my opinion, it’s best eaten within 2 days. I think it goes off after that despite Joan Crawford’s recommendation to serve it on the third day.

SPEAKING OF JOAN CRAWFORD: Once I saw Joan Crawford’s recipe for potato salad on SilverScreenSuppers.com, I couldn’t stop thinking about Joan Crawford and some of her truly great and truly campy roles. Here is a partial list of Joan’s movies:

Mildred Pierce (1945); Humoresque (1945); Sudden Fear (1952); Johnny Guitar (1954); Queen Bee (1955); What Ever Happened to Baby Jane (1962); Straitjacket (1964); I Saw What You Did (1965).

And… here is Joan’s recipe for potato salad.

Even if I hadn’t watched Mommie Dearest (1981), I think my intuition would have told me that Joan Crawford wasn’t the sort of woman who was doing a ton of cooking. Nevertheless, she seemed at times pretty determined to project a maternal, nurturing and gracious image. I particularly like her advice about entertaining.

Yeah, well, next time I have a dinner party don’t let me forget to invite some corporation presidents and my close friends from Brussels. And was Joan really pouring vodka in her guests’ drinks without telling them? That’s not very nice, is it?

Here are some more of Joan’s homey recipes:

And Joan with her dogs. She seems to have evolved over the years from Dachshunds to Poodles to… is that a Lhasa Apso? I don’t think Joan went to the pound and rescued any mutts, do you?

I like the picture below because Joan looks happy. You know, she may have had ice water in her veins, and she may have been a terrible mother, but she was an amazing actress, winning the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1946 for Mildred Pierce. And as Jenny at SilverScreenSuppers.com pointed out, she also knew how to pimp potato salad.

Ingredients

Potato Egg Salad

Russet potatoes, 1 or 2 depending on the size

Chicken Stock, Enough to pour over the potatoes

Red Onion, 1/2 onion, minced

Eggs, 2, boiled

Dijon mustard, 1 teaspoon or so

Magic Pan salad dressing, About 1/8 of a cup

Mayonnaise, About 1/3 of a cup, but start out with less then add more to get the right consistency

Sal and Pepper, To Taste

Directions

Step 1

Peel the potatoes and cut them into chunks. Bring a big pot of water to the boil and add the potatoes. Boil in salted water until fork tender. Do not overcook.

Step 2

Drain the potato chunks in a colander in a clean sink. Pour the chicken stock over the warm potatoes and let the stock soak in for a little while.

Step 3

Meanwhile, mince the red onion and chop whatever other vegetables (celery, for example) you are going to add to your salad.

Step 4

Make the Spinach Salad dressing. See The Magic Pan Salad on this site for the recipe.

Step 5

Boil two eggs. Place the eggs in a small saucepan of cold water. Bring to a low bit sturdy boil then cover for 10 minutes. Drain under cold water and peel. Chop for the salad.

Step 6

Make the salad. Put the potatoes in a bowl. Add the onions, boiled chopped eggs, mustard, Magic Pan salad dressing, mayo to coat and finally salt and pepper.

Step 7

Add the mayo sparingly because you can add more, but you can't take it out! Mash the salad together so that the potatoes are fluffy but hold their shape a bit. Refrigerate.