🥔🥗 Kartoffelsalat Potato salad Krumplisaláta

Ingredients

• 5 lb butter potatoes (or other more-waxy/less-starchy potatoes)
• 8 oz of shitake mushrooms
• 4 large shallots
• 1 bulb of fresh garlic
• 4 scallions (a/k/a green onions)
• 3 sprigs of rosemary
• 1 handful of curly parseley (Flat leaf parsley is rarely used in Germany.)
• ca. 2 tsp Better Than Bouillon No Chicken Base (or similar bouillon paste)
• 1 or 2 tbsp of sweet paprika powder (smoked is fine)
• extra virgin olive oil (or other good oil suitable for low-heat pan-frying/sauteeing)
• salt, pepper and a good vinegar to taste
• about 2 cups of water

Preparation

1. Roast the garlic, using your prefered method. (We cut off the very top of the bulb to expose the tops of most cloves, pour some olive oil into the bulb, wrap it in aluminum foil and roast in a medium-heat oven for as long as it takes to boil and peel the potatoes.)
2. Meanwhile, boil the cleaned potatoes, skin on, in liberally salted water.
3. Meanwhile, pan-fry the chopped shallots, chopped shitake with chopped rosemary leaves in olive oil with the buillon, pepper and, optionally, salt. (It’s possible to use only buillon, but we find it easier to adjust the saltiness by being conservative first and then adding a little salt, as needed.) When mushrooms and shallots have gotten soft, reduce to the lowest possible heat to keep warm until the potatoes are done.
4. Meanwhile, wash, trim, and cut the scallions into thin slices (both green and white parts) and set aside.
5. When the potatoes are soft (a thin knife will easily go all the way through the largest potato, without additional resistance near its center), drain and let cool slightly, until safe to touch, then peel and slice the potatoes and layer them — together with the scallion slices — into the bowl in which you’re serving the salad.
6. Increase the heat of your frying pan back to medium, add more oil, vinegar and the paprika powder. Stir until the paprika is “toasted”, i.e., heated, but not burned. (If you’re concerned about burning the parika, only add it at the very end and remove the pan from the heat after a few seconds of stirring everything together.)
7. Scoop the fried mushrooms and shallots into a mixing bowl or similar container. (Something with a spout works really well. We used a 4-cup Pyrex measuring cup.)
8. Bring about 2 cups of water to a boil in the frying pan. Use a spatula to deglaze the pan while the water is coming up to temperature. (Don’t skip this step, as there are tons of flavor in those little specs stuck to the pan.)
9. Remove the roasted garlic from the oven and dissolve the garlic paste (the roasted flesh should easily seperate from the skins) in the hot water.
10. Combine the garlic-infused water with the mushrooms and shallots. Taste (the broth should be very flavorful, enough to flavor the potatoes) and reseason as necessary.
11. Pour the flavored broth over the potatoes. Add chopped parsely and mix gently, to coat all potatoes evenly.
12. Top with more chopped parseley. Serve warm or at room temperature.
13. Guten Appetit!Bon appétit!