Up North French Potato Salad

A few years back Liz Senseman, a native of New Zealand living in St. Cloud, shared this special family recipe with her neighbor Rosie Imgrund. The Sensemans have since moved out of state but Rosie still enjoys making the potato salad and fondly recalls their times together. “She and John and their girls were wonderful neighbors,” Rosie said. “Liz was a master gardener and her yard was filled with flower gardens. The yard was beautiful as was her personality. She had an infectious laugh and was such a warm and generous person.”

Up North French Potato Salad

(Rosie Imgrund)

16 oz. bacon

3 lb. small new red potatoes (unpeeled)

1 lb. fresh green beans

Dressing:

1/2 cup olive or salad oil

1/4 cup white or tarragon vinegar

1/4 cup canned beef consommé

1/2 cup chopped green onions

1/4 cup chopped parsley

1 garlic clove, crushed

1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. dry mustard

1/2 tsp. basil

1/2 tsp. tarragon pepper*

Cut bacon into 1 to 2-inch pieces, fry and drain.

Cut potatoes into 1/4-inch slices. Heat water to boiling in a large saucepan and add potatoes. Cover and heat to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer for 8 to 10 minutes or until tender when pierced with the tip of a knife. Drain.

Trim beans and cook in boiling salted water for 8 to 10 minutes. Drain.

Mix the dressing ingredients. 

Combine the beans and potatoes and pour the dressing over the warm vegetables. Add the bacon and gently toss the salad. Serve warm, within 1 to 2 hours after preparing.

A note from Rosie: *“I haven’t found the tarragon pepper in this area and so I use fresh tarragon or dried tarragon flakes and just a tiny bit of pepper. This recipe makes a large amount. It’s easy to divide in half — and you will still have quite a bit.”

  

Rosie and Pat Imgrund, members of Holy Spirit Church in St. Cloud, are very involved with their parish. Both are eucharistic ministers there and Rosie volunteers as a communion minister at the St. Cloud Hospital. She also cantors and sings in the adult and funeral choirs at Holy Spirit. For the past year she has been studying to be an oblate at St. Benedict’s Monastery in St. Joseph. She will make her final commitment in September. Pat, who is retired from the St. Cloud Fire Department, is active with the Knights of Columbus, Council 961.

 The Imgrunds share an interest in cooking, reading, hiking and golfing. “We’re great friends so we do a lot together,” Rosie said. “We hiked the Grand Canyon two years ago with a couple of our neighbor friends. It took us a full day to get down, we stayed two nights at the bottom and hiked out after that. Pat hikes in Superior National Forest every fall with a friend of his.”

The couple enjoys cooking together also. Rosie has a sizeable collection of church cookbooks. “They are the best,” she said. CJK