Left-over Dyed Eggs??

Good morning!  Have you dyed your Easter eggs yet?  We haven’t, although Addy has asked daily if we can.  I keep telling her that the eggs need to be dyed closer to Easter so that they don’t get rotten.  But the truth is, I hate dying Easter eggs…..almost as much as I hate carving pumpkins.  I don’t mean to be the Scrooge of Easter….it’s just that it makes such a mess, then nobody eats the eggs, and my fridge will end up smelling like eggs every single time somebody opens it.  Who wins in that situation?  Certainly not me. 

This year, I wanted to come up with a solid recipe that uses hard boiled eggs.  We usually dye about 12, so I assume a couple will be eaten as is, and a few will be used for egg salad sandwiches….which Chris loves.  This still always left me with a few extra.  I decided to make a potato egg salad that will use up the rest.  It ended up fantastic! I will show you how I made it….

I used hard boiled eggs, of course…red potatoes and Yukon gold potatoes, cooked bacon, celery, red onion, pimientos, mayo and Gourmet Rooster Carolina Style BBQ Sauce. 

The potatoes I bought are little baby potatoes.  They don’t need to be peeled, and they cook pretty quickly.  I chopped them a bit, just to make them more bite sized.  I also chopped the bacon, celery and red onion into like sized pieces.

I started by boiling the potatoes in heavily salted water.  Start the potatoes in cold water….this ensures that they cook evenly.  Once the water hits a rolling boil, set your timer for 15 minutes, and they should come out perfectly.  Drain the potatoes and run cold water over them to cool them off.  You don’t want them completely cold though….lukewarm potatoes will soak up more sauce;)

The sauce for this salad is super easy.  It is just mayo and Carolina Style BBQ sauce.  The Carolina Style sauce has all the spices and seasonings you would want already in it.  This sauce has vinegar, mustard, black pepper and a whole bunch of other secret ingredients that I can’t speak of;)  I used about ¾ cup mayo and ½ cup Carolina style sauce.

FYI-if you live in the San Francisco Bay Area, we will be sampling Carolina Style BBQ sauce at the Clayton Art and Wine Festival, April 30^th and May 1….inside The Royal Rooster.

While the potatoes are cooking, I mix all the other ingredients together. I like to mix it now so that when I add the potatoes, I don’t have to do a ton more mixing.  I don’t want the potatoes to break apart, and pre-mixing will prevent that.

Once the potatoes are cooled a bit, I stir them into the mix.  I pop this salad in the fridge for at least an hour to let it chill, and to let all of the flavors come together. 

See all of the eggs in there?  This salad is so yummy, it will for sure be your “go to” for this summer.  The bacon and the Carolina Style sauce make it smoky and delicious, which I think is different then a basic potato salad.  Sometimes those are too mayo-heavy and that is really all you end up tasting.  But that is not the case with this salad;) 

I hope you try this recipe….I promise, it is super quick and easy!

Smoky Potato Egg Salad

3 pounds baby potatoes, chopped into bite sized pieces

6 hard boiled eggs, peeled and chopped into bite sized pieces

1 cup celery, chopped

1 cup bacon, cooked and chopped

1 cup red onion, chopped

1  7 ounce jar diced pimientos, drained

3/4 cup mayonnaise

½ cup Gourmet Rooster Carolina Style BBQ Sauce

Salt to taste

Boil chopped potatoes in large pot of salted water.  Once water comes to a boil, cook potatoes for 15 minutes.  Drain and rinse with cold water.

Mix mayo and BBQ Sauce.  In large bowl, combine eggs, celery, bacon, onion, and pimiento with mayo/BBQ sauce dressing.  When potatoes are cooled, add to salad and gently mix.  Season with salt.

Chill for at least one hour.