Marshall House Potato Salad

This creamy salad was once among the most famous dishes in Sonoma County, back when the Marshall House Restaurant was where Ca'Bianca is now, from 1985 to 1995.

Picture of the Marshall House Sonoma County

“I always added the bacon drippings to the potatoes,” owner Axel Roelz, chef and owner of the Marshall House, confessed when I was working on California Home Cooking.

“But I didn’t tell me customers because they would get upset.”

This was during the height of America’s fat phobia. When customers asked for the recipe, he’d give it to them without the bacon fat part, and they’d return to say theirs wasn’t as good as his. But they didn’t want to know why, not really. When he was giving me the recipe, I knew something was missing and pressed hard until he ponied up his secret ingredient.

  • 4-8

Ingredients

  • 3 pounds potatoes (medium Yukon Gold, Yellow Finn, or Russet)
  • Kosher salt
  • 1 tablespoon caraway seeds
  • 8 ounces bacon
  • 2 tablespoons stoneground mustard
  • 3 tablespoons mayonnaise
  • ⅓ cup olive oil
  • ½ cup white wine vinegar
  • 1 yellow onion, cut into small dice
  • 3 tablespoons minced fresh Italian parsley
  • White pepper in a mill
  • ½ teaspoon sugar
  • 2 or 3 hard-cooked eggs, peeled & sliced
  • Tomato wedges, for garnish, optional
  • Sprigs of Italian parsley, for garnish

Directions

  1. Put the potatoes into a large pot, cover with water, add a generous tablespoon of salt and the caraway seeds, bring to a boil and cook until fork tender, about 18 to 25 minutes, depending on the size of the potatoes. Drain and let the potatoes sit in the pot until cool enough to handle. Peel and let cool again, slightly. While the potatoes are still warm, peel and slice them very thinly and set them in a wide, shallow bowl.

  2. Fry the bacon until it is almost crisp, transfer it to absorbent paper, and pour the bacon fat over the warm potatoes. When the bacon is cool enough to handle, use your fingers to crush it.

  3. In a small bowl, combine the mustard and mayonnaise.

  4. Add the cooked bacon, olive oil, stock, vinegar, onions, minced parsley, salt, pepper, sugar, vinegar, and the mustard mixture to the warm potatoes and mix gently but thoroughly.

  5. Taste the salad, and correct for salt and pepper.

  6. Transfer to a serving platter, garnish with the eggs, tomatoes, if using, and parsley and enjoy right away.

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