German Potato Salad

This recipe calls for canola oil. I used extra virgin olive oil instead because I can't think of a reason you should ever use canola oil instead of olive oil in a dressing like this...

Also, a funny thing happened the last time I made this. I accidentally put a lemon shallot vinaigrette on the potatoes instead of the delicious rendered bacon fat apple cider vinaigrette. I had a lot of dressings going on and it was at the last minute and I may have been frantic enough. It tasted fine, but this way is much better.


Ingredients

* 3 pounds new potatoes
* 1 yellow onion, quartered
* 1/2 pound bacon, diced
* 1 large red onion, diced
* 3/4 cup cider vinegar
* 1 tablespoon mustard seeds
* 1/4 cup canola oil
* Salt and freshly ground pepper
* 8 green onions, thinly sliced
* 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves

Directions

Preheat the grill to high. Place potatoes in a large pot with the onion and cover with cold water. Cook, on the grates of the grill, or on a burner, until tender. Drain, discard the onion, and cut the potatoes into cubes when cool enough to handle. Place the potatoes in a large bowl and cover to keep warm.

Place a large saute pan on the grates of the grill. Add the bacon and cook until crisp. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and drain on a paper towel-lined plate. Add the onions to the rendered bacon fat and cook until soft, about 3 to 4 minutes. Carefully add the vinegar and mustard seeds and cook for 2 more minutes. Whisk in the canola oil and season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Add the hot dressing to the potatoes and toss gently to coat. Fold in the green onions and parsley. Season again with salt and pepper, to taste.

Baked Brie with Honey Walnut Sauce

This is really really delicious. It's pretty easy too. I usually serve it with sliced pears and assorted crackers and a spoon for scooping up the honey, butter, garlic sauce.

No picture. Just imagine how good it looks...

Pastry-Wrapped Brie

* 1 sheet frozen puff pastry (half of 12 oz. pkg), thawed
* 2 4-ounce wedges Brie, each about 6½ inches long by 1½ inches wide
* 1 egg beaten to blend (for glaze)

Honey Walnut Sauce

* ¼ cup butter
* 3 tablespoons honey
* 1¼ teaspoons minced garlic
* 2 Tablespoons chopped walnuts
* 1 Tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Roll out puff pastry sheet on lightly floured surface to 12-inch square. Cut diagonally through pastry sheet to form 2 triangles. Place 1 brie wedge in center of each triangle, with tip of cheese wedge facing toward 90-degree angle of triangle. Pull up edges of pastry gently to wrap the cheese. Pinch edges together to seal. Press with fork to seal seams completely. Transfer pastry wrapped Brie to a baking sheet, seam side up. Brush pastry with egg glaze. (Brie can be prepared up to 6 hours ahead of time and placed in refrigerator) Bake Brie until pastry is golden, about 18 minutes.

While Brie is baking, combine butter, honey and garlic in small saucepan over low heat. Stir until butter melts. Divide sauce between two plates. Sprinkle sauce with walnuts and parsley, dividing equally.

Place pastry-wrapped Brie on top of sauce on plates and serve.