Football Frenzy - Potato Salad

First off, a big congratulations to JULIE HYZY for her acclaimed new release, BUFFALO WEST WING. Chef Ollie is at it again! My copy is waiting by my bedside.

We've had lots of new books coming out these past few months:

KRISTA DAVIS with a new DOMESTIC DIVA MYSTERY.

CLEO COYLE with a new COFFEEHOUSE MYSTERY.

Check out the side bars on the blog. Congratulations to all for bringing good reading to our fans!

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Okay, New Year's Day has come and gone, but college football lives on. The championship game is being played at the Fiesta Bowl.

I don't know about you, but I really enjoy a good game, where the players are trying their darnedest to win. And watching a good football game can make me hungry.

But not just for chips and slaw and deli sandwiches. I want a potato salad that sticks to my ribs.

Bit of trivia: Charlotte, the protagonist in A Cheese Shop Mystery

series, went to Ohio State University. (I, myself, went to a west coast college: Stanford. Go Cardinal!) OSU played in the Sugar Bowl this past week and won by a slim margin. Stanford played in the Orange Bowl and won by a big margin.

BUT back to the recipe.

For this potato salad, because I'm always open to trying new things - tastes, textures, etc., I used my basic recipe and added Mozzarella because it's just a fun cheese. It doesn't add a lot of color, but the texture is so much fun.

Trivia for 10: Buffalo mozzarella is made from the milk of water buffalos and not from cows.

Trivia for 20: There is a question as to how water buffalos got to Italy. A story I read on the Internet suggested that Anthony and Cleopatra had something to do with it. Wikipedia (which we all know is 100% reliable, right? LOL) suggested the Goths. But then, under the same history, the author suggests that the Arabs introduced them into Sicily and the Normans brought them north from Sicily during the medieval ages. A final theory suggests that Arabs brought the buffalo from Mesopotamia and European pilgrims and crusaders brought them north.

Note: References to recipes made with buffalo mozzarella surfaced around the 12^th century.

Who knows what the truth is? It tastes great.

POTATO MOZZARELLA SALAD

INGREDIENTS:

4 red potatoes

1 hard-boiled egg

½ cup cider vinegar

1 teaspoon dried parsley

½ teaspoon garlic salt

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon relish

2 tablespoons oil

2 oz. fresh mozzarella

1 teaspoon paprika

DIRECTIONS:

Bring 6 cups of water to boil in a pot. Slice red potatoes in half, add to water, and boil for approximately 20 minutes, until a fork pierced in potatoes slides out easily. Remove pot from heat and drain.

Pour potatoes into a bowl and pour vinegar over the potatoes. Let the potatoes drink in the vinegar as much as possible. {Some people prefer less vinegar, I love the taste.} After 10 minutes, pour off the vinegar.

For hardboiled egg, set egg into 2 cups of cold water. Bring water to a boil. Boil for 2 minutes and reduce heat to medium high for 10 minutes. Turn off water. Let egg sit for 5 more minutes. Pour off hot water and immerse egg in cold water until needed. [*I usually make a batch of 5 eggs or more. They seem to cook better.]

Peel and dice egg and add to potatoes. Add the salt, garlic, parsley, relish and oil. Stir until coated.

Cube the mozzarella. Add to the cooled potatoes. Serve cooled or cold. Sprinkle with paprika.

And when celebrating (like the "college of your choice" football game win), good drinks go along with the fun. My mother used to make a mean margarita, so I've given the recipe to one of my characters in A Cheese Shop Mystery -- Charlotte's grandmother. Grandmere knows how to mix up the drinks. It's a fun little quirk. Inspired by my mother's margarita, I made a new recipe that would taste great at brunch--or early football games. This turned out fun. It's tasty and colorful. Enjoy.

GRANDMERE'S SCOTCH MARGARITA

Ingredients:

[per drink]

1 ounce Scotch

1 ounce Triple sec

2 ounces orange juice 100% juice

3-4 cubes ice

1 sprig fresh thyme for decoration

Directions:

Mix scotch, Triple sec and orange juice. Add ice. Stir. Add thyme.

Drink.

Easy and delish!

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If you'd like to know more about A Cheese Shop Mystery series and want to download a few other recipes from me (on recipe cards), click on this link to my website: Avery Aames. I've posted recipes in the "morsels" section. There's lots of other fun stuff, as well. And sign up for the mailing list to get in on the next contest...coming soon.

Say cheese!