Well, seeing Duene's egg cooker yesterday - I was going to just show mine which is a little different. I ordered mine out of a catalog and it works great. Duene got a better bargain though. So,,,,, mine holds 6 eggs, you can make them soft or hard boiled, or poach them in the little cups. I always make the 6 eggs when I make this salad and then make some egg salad later.
Anyway I was making the hot potato salad for dinner because it's something Joe likes, and I just kept taking pictures and thought I'd share the recipe with you. Not for a low cholesterol diet!
GRANDMA PFEIFFER'S HOT GERMAN POTATO SALAD
It's a difficult one to get the proportions. I always just wing it so these measurements are guesses. You can adjust or multiply the amounts to your taste, especially the dressing. Sometimes I use leftover potatoes or boil the eggs ahead of time - maybe use up some that are in the fridge. If you have people with big appetites and you're serving this as the main dish, you're going to need a lot more than this. This is about what we eat. And there's always a little left for the dogs - they love it too.
For each person:
About 1 1/2 hard boiled egg.
One or so medium potato best boiled with the jacket on, then peel. Or use peeled boiled potatoes, Sometimes I don't peel them and its good that way too. or baked potatoes peeled,
Depending on the size of the slices - I use thick bacon - about 2 1/2 slices of bacon for each person, sliced into cubes and fried crisp. Stir them often and get the pieces separated. KEEP THE BACON GREASE.
About 1 1/2 cups of diced iceberg lettuce.
Dressing: Use the bacon grease and about an equal amount of apple cider vinegar. Measure them both if you have to to get them even. Combine and bring that just to a simmer for about a minute and keep it hot. Hint: If little bacon bits have burned in the grease, (you cooked it too hot), you should strain the grease and get those burned bits out as much as possible. Browned bits are o.k. You need to be able to get a good hint of the vinegar.
If the eggs or potatoes aren't warm, cover the bowl with a paper towel zap them quickly in the microwave just until good and warm. I usually do that even if they are freshly cooked because it all cools off before you get it together and the lettuce also cools it off. Layer crisp lettuce, then potatoes, eggs, and bacon in the serving bowl. Pour the dressing over and toss. Serve with your favorite garlic bread or toast.
While you're getting the pototoes and eggs ready dice the bacon and fry it nice and crispy, careful not to let it burn, you might want to fish out the pieces as they get browned and some will take longer.
Cube the potatoes, here they are in a separate bowl because next I will whack the eggs across the middle with a teaspoon and scoop them out along with the potatoes then dice them, (no need to peel the eggs the tedious way). When you're ready to toss it together cover with a paper towel and gently warm the potatoes and eggs up in the microwave, bacon too if it has cooled.
Pour the hot dressing over and toss it all together. I put the eggs, bacon and potatoes on top of the lettuce and try to get the potatoes coated with the dressing. Pull the dressing up from the bottom as it will settle there. The point is to keep the lettuce crispy and not too wilted, but the other ingredients should be warm enough that the dressing doesn't congeal on the salad. You have to eat it immediately! It's very simple, but the prep is time consuming. Probably 30 minutes at least.
Enjoy!
