how do you avoid potato cardboard?
I recently made what I thought was a delicious potato salad in advance of my friend's visit. I boiled some potatoes and mixed them while they were still hot with lemon juice and parsley-basil pesto. I refrigerated them for a few days and then the day of, I tossed the potatoes with some blanched green beans, broccoli and more pesto, lemon and olive oil. Unfortunately the texture of the potatoes ended up getting pretty nasty and cardboard-y and somewhat ruined what was otherwise a delicious lunch. Any suggestions about how to avoid this in the future? Is it just better to cook the potatoes the same day you eat them and never refrigerate?
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Russets, and other so-called starchy potatoes, can make excellent potato salads. I prefer their richer, deeper flavor but they do require a little more care. Cube the potatoes (peeled or unpeeled, your preference) and simmer in salted water until barely tender. Emphasis on "simmer" and "barely" (5 minutes or so). Spread them out on a sheet tray to cool. They'll soften up a bit in the process.
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I can only take a guess because I've never experienced the problem I think you are describing. First off, adding the acid to the potatoes while they are still warm is a good technique as they're very receptive to absorbing liquid at that point in the process. The issue is not from refrigeration per se, or from being a few days old because we've all eaten potato salads that way. Refrigeration is a very important step if you're not going to consume potatoes right away. So I'm wondering if the potatoes dried out before you added enough oil to protect them. Next time I'd complete dressing the salad after the potatoes first cool down and see how that goes.