Mom had this sinister motive of feeding people things that most people would find "Odd" at best, "discussing" at worst. As a result of Mom's "cute little anecdotes," She officially drove my wife away from ever eating at my parents house.... EVER! Stories about feeding unsuspecting neighbors Raccoon or Woodchuck (Or some other scavenger animal.) were thought to be "entertaining" but they usually did the opposite.
The Genthers were farmers. Meaning: They ate things that they could grow, catch, shoot, trap and cook. Many of those things could not be found in your typical Betty Crocker cook book. When deer hunting, they would save the organs from the field dressing and serve it up as a "Delicacy." (Usually the deer heart and liver.) Understanding that farmers "Waste Nothing" is beneficial in understanding where my mother came from. And she un-apologetically passed those beliefs off on a anyone who would listen.
I could go further down this tangent, but let me get back on the main point. Making Dandelion Green Potato Salad. It was one of my favorite things that Mom made. Understand! My mother was NOT a "Good" cook. Most of her dishes were buckets of indigence mixed together and set to boil! However, every now and then she would pull out a dish she could pull off. And this was one of those dishes.
The thing is... Mom took this recipe with her to the grave. I doubt any other relatives have it written down. They were probably as shocked as my wife when they learned that my Mother fed us"weeds" for dinner. But there was this one time, while my family was fishing in Canada, that I remembered how my Mom made this dish from the things we had in the camper. Knowing that my Mom was a "simple cook" and could never pull off things that were overly complex; I decided to reverse engineer this Strange dish.
I know a few things. It has potatoes, vinegar, eggs, bacon, and Dandelion greens harvested in Spring. (Preferably Before they blossom.) All that is missing is the ratio. Being one of those cooks that gets creative anyway, I usually add whatever I think is the appropriate amount of something. Add some spice... taste. Add some seasoning... taste. Etc.
I mashed up some potatoes, added in some greens before the potatoes had fully cooled off. A happy accident as the heat from the potatoes cooks the dandelions and softens them. Then add vinegar to taste. I like a hint without it being overpowering.
Lastly, add the eggs and bacon. Mix until they look like mashed potato with greens in them. Done!
I was impressed with my first attempt. Genuinely thrilled with my second attempt. As if I had cracked the code on some ancient secret beer recipe... Needless to say I have to control myself and make it last the week. The tang of the vinegar mixed with the bitterness of the dandelions, smoke and salt of the bacon, and tempered down with the eggs and potatoes really creates a perfect blend of many flavors all at once. Mom might be proud... or rather. She would gloat! I can already hear her saying, " I told you you would like it!" Just hearing that tone of voice in my head is similar to fingernails on slate! But the dish is good. And I figured it out on my own. All from taste memory and personal history.
I would not recommend this dish to anyone. Strange recipes are an odd thing if you do not know how they taste in advance. Perhaps it is because I grew up with these "buckets of slop" meals in my childhood library. Maybe I attach some other distant, fond memory to it and that adds some form of flavor that a stranger would not find. Whatever it is, I'm very happy I rediscovered it. And aside from this blog posting, I will never share it with anyone I personally know. I don't want to come off as some "Wierdo" who eats weeds. Those are from the Genther side of the Family...
