declare independence from boring potato salads this July 4th!

Brewhouse Potato Salad with Bacon

Only the first day of July and already I'm bored with the usual cook-out side dishes... until now. I wanted to create a really good potato salad with a tasty beer-based dressing and so I did a bit of research. After some tweaking I came up with my very own Brewhouse Potato Salad: slightly sweet with a touch of bacon-y goodness; the perfect accompaniment to sausages and grilled pork or chicken... and a cold one, of course!

To begin, scrub 2 pounds of red-skinned new potatoes and cut into quarters. Cook in boiling water until just tender, about 10 to 15 minutes depending on the size of the potato pieces.

While potatoes are cooking, cook 6 slices of bacon in a skillet until done. Drain off all but 1 tablespoon of bacon grease. Set aside the bacon on paper towels to drain. When cool, crumble the bacon into bits.

In the 1 tablespoon of reserved bacon fat, saute 1 medium onion, minced

then add:

1 cup beer

3 tablespoons malt vinegar

1 teaspoon sugar

Boil mixture for 5 minutes until slightly reduced, then remove from heat and whisk in:

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

(honey mustard also works well; I used Sierra Nevada's Spicy Brown Porter Mustard)

4 tablespoons mild olive oil

When potatoes are cooked and drained, add:

1/4 cup minced parsley

2 green onions, white parts and part of light green, sliced thinly

Toss potato mixture with the dressing, 1/2 to 3/4 more teaspoons sugar (to taste), salt and black pepper to taste, and the crumbled cooked bacon.

Let salad sit for a while for the flavors to blend; Brewhouse Potato Salad with Bacon is best served lightly chilled or at room temperature.

Love bacon? Now you can even wear it!