I'm not German, but I can cook like one - PART 1

While my husband is figuring out his saurbraten recipe, which I will post later, I thought I'd post my recipe (stolen from my poppa) for German Potato Salad.  I love this salad because 1). while it does use fat in the form of a bacon dressing, there's no mayo or sour cream, so it can stand out longer without get funky, and 2). It's not sweet, like traditional mayo potato salad.  This is really one of those "taste it 'til it's right" recipes, so I recommend frequent samplings to make sure you've got the flavor you want!

Ingredients
Potatoes - we make large batches of this, so we use about ten red potatoes.  You can certainly use any kind you'd like; I'd shoot for around 2 pounds or so, more or less depending on your need.  I like the red, though, because they're less mealy and stay firm longer.
Dill pickle - Dill relish works perfectly here, and I usually use this.  If you don't want to, I'd suggest non-kosher dill pickle chips.  I always get chips, because they're easier to chop.  If you can't find non-kosher chips, any will do, really.
bacon - again, this depends on how much bacon flavor you want.  Typically, for two pounds of potatoes I'll use between 1/2 and 2/3 of a pound of bacon (1/2 or 2/3 of the pack).  This is one of those situations where really expensive, lean bacon is NOT what you want.  Because the fat is a key ingredient in the salad dressing, you need to make sure you have a bacon that has enough fat to generate some liquid.  Also, I tend to leave my bacon in the freezer until shortly before I am going to use it; this way, it's MUCH easier to chop into pieces!
vinegar - I always use apple cider.  I probably wouldn't deviate here, but if you had to in a pinch, I'd definitely go with the white distilled and avoid red wine or balsamic!
brown sugar - light or dark brown will do, and this will really be to taste; probably less than a cup

salt, pepper

Cube your potatoes into bite size pieces and place in a pot with water.  Place this pot on the stove under med/high heat and cook until the potatoes are fork tender but not falling apart.  Honestly, even if they do go a little to far your product will be delicious; it'll just be a little bit more mushy, which is still yummy!  When these are finished, simply set them aside.

In a pan, place the bacon and place over heat.  Cook the bacon until it is rendered but not crispy!  Again, if you like your bacon crispy, awesome; feel free.  I tend to prefer my bacon not quite that well done for this salad.

Once the bacon is finished, remove the meat and leave the bacon fat in the pan.  You are going to be making a dressing by adding vinegar here, so depending on how big your salad is going to be, use your judgement; if you need to remove some of the fat, just dump some.Then, add your vinegar and brown sugar.  This is usually about a 2:1 recipe, vinegar to fat, and you need to add as much sugar as you'd like until it tastes slightly vinegary with a hint of bacon. Add the bacon pieces back to this dressing. 

Salt this dressing to taste and set aside.

If you're not using relish, chop your pickles.  I usually use about half the jar, but again, this can be to taste.  I tend to chop the pickle chips pretty small.  Place the pickles into the potato mixture and stir.  Then, add the dressing and stir it all together.

Here is where you will have to do some tasting!  You may need to add more salt or more brown sugar depending on what it needs.  

The great thing about this recipe is you can eat this hot,cold, and everything in between.  It's great right away, or after sitting for a few hours.  It's a great addition to a summer BBQ because there's no mayo to get all yuckers!