Smoked Potato and Watercress Salad

Walt Brown (modified from Bobby Flay)

Ingredients

Red skin or Yukon Gold Potatoes.

Olive oil, shallots, dijon mustard (a nice hot one, I use Amora Fine et Forte), sherry or white wine vinegar, crumbled blue cheese.

Watercress (it's best if it's been in the fridge), scallions or green onions, preserved roasted red peppers (the small jars are never enough, get a good sized jar of these if you like them).

Salt and pepper.

Quantities? Just have enough on hand. I'd say about the same amount of watercress as potatos by volume if it's small leaf watercress, a little less if it's very stalky.

Instructions

Parboil the potatoes (I always leave the skin on) until not quite done to keep them firm, otherwise (well, you know what otherwise means on a grill).

Make the vinagrette - vinegar, chopped shallots, mustard, then whisk in enough oil. Mix in the blue cheese, S&P to taste. This gets nicer if you make it a day ahead and let it chill (and it stays together better). Avoid too much blue cheese, it's a strong flavor (I always put in too much).

Dump out the roasted red peppers, drain, chop coarsley, and put them back in the jar.

Get the Egg ready, around 350-400, and a bowl of wet wood chips (I use mesquite). Clean the watercress, chop coarsley if it's larger leaves, and put it on a good sized platter - a platter with edges helps avoid escapees later.

Slice the potatos about 1/2 inch thick the longest way possible - you want big slabs. Oil and S&P 'em up - I just have a shallow bowl of olive oil I just slather them in on their way to the grill.

Drop in the wood chips, fill the grill with potato slabs, let the olive oil drips flame up for a minute or so, then close the hatch to smother the flames. About 3-4 minutes per side will get a nice color on the potatos. As the potatos get done, chop them into big cubes and put on top of the watercress. (I've also done this a day before and refrigerated the potatos, but you lose a bit in surface texture that way).

Sprinkle the green onions and roasted red peppers on top.

I usually have a separate tomato salad, but if this is the only salad, some halved cherry tomatos around the sides would make a nice addition.

Notes

Number of Servings: Whatever

Time to Prepare: