Grilled Fingerling-Potato Salad With Chipotle Bacon Vinaigrette

Grilled Fingerling-Potato Salad With Chipotle Bacon Vinaigrette
Grant Cornett for The New York Times. Food stylist: Maggie Ruggiero. Prop stylist: JoJo Li.
Total Time
50 minutes
Rating
4(169)
Notes
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A vinegary potato salad with bacon is one of the great Germanish summertime traditions. Here I’ve added a Mexican accent in the form of the canned, smoked jalapeño known as chipotle chile en adobo. (A small can, well covered, will keep for months in the refrigerator.)

Featured in: How to Make a Perfect Summer Feast

Learn: How to Cook Potatoes

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Ingredients

Yield:6 to 8 servings
  • 12 to 14small fingerling potatoes
  • 4slices bacon
  • 1large red onion, peeled and sliced in rounds
  • 5tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1tablespoon rendered bacon fat
  • 4tablespoons red-wine vinegar
  • 1chipotle chile en adobo, or to taste, mashed and minced
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)

220 calories; 16 grams fat; 4 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 9 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 16 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams dietary fiber; 2 grams sugars; 4 grams protein; 325 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Put the potatoes in a large pot and cover with 2 inches of water and a tablespoon of salt, then set over high heat until it comes to a boil. Cook about 5 to 7 minutes. Drain potatoes, place on a baking sheet and allow to cool slightly, then halve the potatoes lengthwise. (You can do this the day before.)

  2. Step 2

    Meanwhile, cook the bacon in a sauté pan until crisp. Reserve bacon and, in a small bowl, 1 tablespoon of the rendered fat.

  3. Step 3

    Light a fire in a fire pit with a grill, or in a charcoal grill, or set a gas grill to high. If you have a strong vent in your kitchen, you may use your stove with a burner set to high. Place a large cast-iron grill pan over the heat and allow it to get hot. You can let the fire die slightly. If using a gas grill or stove, turn heat to medium.

  4. Step 4

    Put the potatoes and the sliced onions in a large bowl and toss gently with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste. Working in batches, grill the potatoes cut-side down on the grill until they have developed a light char, approximately 2 to 3 minutes. Grill the onions until they are charred, approximately 4 to 6 minutes a side. Return potatoes and onions to bowl.

  5. Step 5

    For the dressing, combine the remaining olive oil, bacon fat, red-wine vinegar and chipotle in a small bowl and whisk to emulsify. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add the dressing to the potato-and-onion mixture and toss gently to combine. Let sit for 20 minutes to allow the flavors to penetrate the potatoes. Crumble bacon over the top.

Ratings

4 out of 5
169 user ratings
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Cooking Notes

Note on chipoltes in sauce from the can: You can take em out of the can and section them up and freeze them also. Hint: an ice cube tray is good for this; make your little frozen cubes of fire and then put in a plastic bag.

When I open a can of chipotles in adobo, I put them in a storage bowl and use the plunge blender to make a lovely paste that stores and uses easily. It's become a key ingredient to many, many dishes, dips and sauces. I can put just a tad in recipes when I know a friend will be at the gathering who likes full flavor, but can no longer stomach (or never has liked) much heat. Just try it one time...

Or if you put them in a small tupperware, they keep pretty much indefinitely in the fridge.

I stopped using regular vinegar years ago, so would use umeboshi vinegar or just leave it out, have noticed just salt and oil with herbs tastes lovely

This was really good. But as written does not make “6-8 servings”

We cooked the fingerling potatoes whole in foil packets on the grill for a while and then finished them in the grill basket, let cool a little bit and cut up before tossing in the dressing. Seemed much easier to us and turned out so well!

This is incredible. I used "baby" Yukon Golds and boiled them slightly longer until just tender, then cut them in half and grilled them. Also added a tsp of Dijon mustard to the vinagrette. When the potatoes were done, I smashed them slightly to create more flesh to absorb the dressing and let the whole thing sit for about 1/2 and hour before serving. Smoky, tart and rich, perfect with grilled flank steak!

Here's my not-very-elegant trick for freezing the chipotle's and other ingredients that I like to keep on hand. Empty the can of chipotle's into a heavy zip-loc freezer bag and flatten the bag so that the contents spread out evenly. Freeze it on something flat. When frozen, you can easily chip off what you need. This also works well for tomato paste and for lemon juice. You can stand the bags up in the freezer and they take very little valuable space.

Excellent recipe, prepared on gas grill alongside some filet mignon (which it paired well with). Would be a nice dinner party dish that is also easy to prepare ahead of time. Half a recipe made enough for our 3 medium eaters.

How big are the 12 to 14 potatoes? Or, better yet, how much do the potatoes weigh? I have really tiny fingerlings from the farmers market. They are 1 to 2” long and .5 to .75” wide.

This was a great potato salad. Our market had fingerlings that were a mix of colors, which added to the presentation. For the dressing, I just used the reserved bacon fat and did not add the extra 3 Tbsp of olive oil. Everyone loved it.

Not 6-8 servings. My family of 4, average eaters, went through it quickly. It was one of several sides.

I'm sure it's great with the canned chipotles but I'm always trying to use similar ingredients that I have on hand.

One thing we have come to have as a 'staple' is chipotle mayo. Oh I also switched the vinegar to white rice vinegar. So it turned out less Germanish and more Japanese Mexican Americanish. Not bad!

I made this as directed except it was too hot and humid for grilling outside and I don't have a grill pan to use on my stove. So, I resorted to my Griddler, opened it to lie flat and used the Grill function to brown the potatoes and onions. Not a perfect sub for the outdoor grill but I stayed a lot cooler! And while the salad was good, I think I'd just make regular German potato salad the next time. I might add the chipotles, though....

When I open a can of chipotles in adobo, I put them in a storage bowl and use the plunge blender to make a lovely paste that stores and uses easily. It's become a key ingredient to many, many dishes, dips and sauces. I can put just a tad in recipes when I know a friend will be at the gathering who likes full flavor, but can no longer stomach (or never has liked) much heat. Just try it one time...

I stopped using regular vinegar years ago, so would use umeboshi vinegar or just leave it out, have noticed just salt and oil with herbs tastes lovely

Where can I buy this vinegar? TJs & Whole Foods are 30 miles each way. Thanks.

Note on chipoltes in sauce from the can: You can take em out of the can and section them up and freeze them also. Hint: an ice cube tray is good for this; make your little frozen cubes of fire and then put in a plastic bag.

Or if you put them in a small tupperware, they keep pretty much indefinitely in the fridge.

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