VORTEX BAR & GRILL
878 Peachtree St., 404-875-1667, thevortexbarandgrill.com
Q: I know you are deluged with recipe requests, but if I could add just one more to the stack. I really love the potato salad at the Vortex. I don't know why it's so good. I've never really noticed potato salad before; it was always just a generic side dish. But the Vortex's is like no other I've ever had. If you could get it, we would be eternally grateful. — Tom Wilder, Roswell
A: No one has ever counted, but there are likely many hundreds — no, thousands — of recipes for potato salad, with sometimes just a slight difference in the ingredients making one particular one a standout. Perhaps it's the sour cream or maybe the red wine vinegar or perhaps the Red Bliss potatoes in the Vortex's recipe that combine to make it memorable. In any event… Here is the recipe, which they were happy to provide.
Official Vortex Potato Salad
Makes 8 servings
Preparation time: about 20 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hour
4 pounds medium Red Bliss potatoes
1 small red onion
4 ribs celery
1 heaping tablespoon ground black pepper
1 1/4 tablespoons Lawry’s seasoning salt
2 teaspoons salt
1 1/4 cups sour cream
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
Cook potatoes with skins on at a slow boil for 1 hour. Cool potatoes with cold water before cutting into eighths. In a separate container, finely dice onions and celery. Add black pepper, seasoning salt, salt, sour cream, mayonnaise and red wine vinegar. Mix well. Add the dressing to the potatoes and mix well.
Chill before serving.
Per serving: 425 calories, 7 grams protein, 19 grams fat (percent calories from fat, 40), 59 grams carbohydrates, 24 milligrams cholesterol, 1,185 milligrams sodium, 6 grams fiber.
Q: I love the pimento cheese at the Vortex in Little Five Points. Can you get the recipe? — Melissa Myhand, Atlanta
A: Although the Vortex offers this as a sandwich filling, most folks prefer it as a topper for their burgers and other grill items.
Pimento Cheese
Makes 12 servings
Preparation time: 10 minutes, plus 3 or more hours to chill
1/2 pound Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
1/2 pound cheddar cheese, shredded
6 ounces diced pimentos
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1/2 tablespoon salt
1/2 tablespoon white pepper
In a bowl, mix cheeses, pimentos, mayonnaise, salt and pepper. Press firmly into a container. Cover and chill for 3 or more hours.
Per serving: 249 calories (percent calories from fat, 83), 10 grams protein, 1 gram carbohydrate, no fiber, 24 grams fat, 41 milligrams cholesterol, 565 milligrams sodium.
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