025 / 75 · Cold Supper Centerpieces
Egg Potato Chive Salad Loaf
One egg-potato salad loaf, about 3¾ cups (920 ml); 6 substantial side portions · Active 40 min · Total 11 hr
Print recipe · PDFSmall potato cubes and chopped hard-cooked eggs make a substantial savory salad loaf with chives. A little mayonnaise and sour cream keep the base creamy. Cook and cool the potato and eggs before assembly; neither is asked to finish cooking inside cold gelatin.
Cold potato keeps its shape
Choose a waxy potato, cut into even small cubes and simmer gently until fully tender without letting every edge crumble. The 300-gram measure is after peeling and cutting. Drain carefully, then spread on a shallow refrigerator tray rather than leaving a deep warm saucepan on the stove. A cold cube can be folded through the base without breaking down into mash.
Firm yolks are part of the texture
Cook eggs until the yolks are fully firm, cool promptly, peel and chop. The white and yellow pieces should remain distinguishable in a slice. Commercial mayonnaise is an already emulsified ready-to-eat ingredient, not an invitation to stir raw yolk into a cold mold. Chives are finely cut and incorporated throughout; a large herb tuft on top would be a different serving choice.
A salad side with an honest portion count
Six portions include about 50 grams of potato and half an egg each, so this is a side rather than a complete protein-rich supper. Serve it with a separately prepared main dish. Start with cold ingredients, fold gently once the dairy base lightly thickens and use a loaf mold that leaves room above the mixture. The set slices are soft and creamy, with the gelatin holding the pieces together rather than turning the potato into a rubbery block.
Ingredients
- 10½ oz waxy potatoes (300 g peeled and cut into ½-inch/1 cm cubes)
- 3 large eggs
- Drinking water to cook potatoes and eggs, not mixed into gelatin
- 2 standard ¼-ounce envelopes unflavored powdered gelatin (14 g total), of specified setting strength
- 6 tablespoons cold drinking water (90 ml)
- ¾ cup pasteurized whole milk (180 ml)
- ⅔ cup plain pasteurized sour cream (150 g), kept cold
- 3 tablespoons commercial mayonnaise (45 g)
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard (5 g)
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped washed chives (4 g)
- ⅛ teaspoon fine salt (0.75 g)
- ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon neutral oil (1.25 ml), for wiping mold
Set out
Knife and board, Saucepan for potatoes and colander, Small covered egg saucepan, Cold-water bowl, Shallow cooling tray, Small saucepan for gelatin, Mixing bowl and whisk, Scale and measuring jug, Metal loaf mold of at least 1¼-liter capacity, Paper towel, Food thermometer, Cold platter, Refrigerator
Allergens
Egg, Milk, Mustard. Check labels and substitutions.
Make it
- Cover potato cubes with cold drinking water, bring to a gentle boil and simmer 10–15 minutes until fully tender. Drain and spread on a shallow tray; refrigerate promptly until cold, allowing about 30–45 minutes. Meanwhile cover eggs with cold water by 1 inch (2.5 cm), bring to full boil, cover, remove from heat and stand 12 minutes until yolks are firm, extending if needed. Cool promptly in cold water, peel, chop and refrigerate.
- Check mold capacity, empty, dry and oil lightly. Bloom gelatin in 90 ml cold water in the saucepan 5–10 minutes. Add milk and heat gently while stirring until fully dissolved, about 120–140°F (50–60°C); take off heat before boiling.
- Whisk sour cream, mayonnaise and mustard in the mixing bowl. Whisk 3 tablespoons cold mixture gradually into warm gelatin. Once smooth and lukewarm, whisk that tempered base back into the remaining cold mixture with chives, salt and pepper. Refrigerate 15–25 minutes until lightly thickened.
- Fold in cold potato cubes and chopped firm-yolk eggs without crushing them. Spoon into loaf mold with at least ½ inch (1.25 cm) headroom; keep excess in a separate small covered refrigerator cup. Cover and refrigerate at 40°F (4°C) or below at least 8 hours until firm.
- Allow 11 hours total including cooking/cooling, preliminary setting and overnight chill. For unmolding, set a cold plate beside the refrigerator. Dip only the outside of the metal mold in warm, not hot, water, about 100°F (38°C), for 5–8 seconds without letting water touch food. Dry the outside, loosen just the upper edge with a clean fingertip and invert onto the plate. If stuck, repeat a brief dip rather than shaking violently. Refrigerate again immediately if not serving now. Cut 6 side portions and serve promptly.
Gelatin starting strength
Use food-grade unflavored powdered gelatin with a manufacturer benchmark of 7 g for about 2 cups (500 ml) plain liquid. Weigh the stated grams: envelope sizes and powder density vary. A flavored dessert packet, collagen peptides, sheet gelatin or agar is not an equal substitute.
Cold service
This is an original retro-inspired recipe, not a recovered 1960s formula. Gelatin is animal-derived; the vegetable ingredients do not make the dish vegetarian. A reliable refrigerator and the stated earlier ingredient deadlines are essential.
Ingredient labels
Check mayonnaise, mustard and gelatin labels. Mustard can cause allergy although it is not one of the nine major US categories.
A useful detail
Water and milk total 270 ml, plus 150 g sour cream, 45 g mayonnaise, 300 g cooked potato and about 150 g cooked egg. Fourteen grams gelatin supports roughly 920 ml of moist mixture. Cooking water is drained and no warm potato mash is substituted.
Another way
- Use 4 g finely chopped washed dill in place of chives for a different herb note.
- Use 5 g prepared whole-grain mustard instead of Dijon, accepting visible seeds and checking its label.
Keep it well
Keep covered at 40°F (4°C) or below and use within 2 days of assembly or the earliest original potato, egg or dairy deadline, whichever is sooner; include the overnight set. The base starts with freshly cooked potato and eggs, not old leftovers with an unknown clock. Keep cumulative unrefrigerated handling/service below 2 hours, or 1 hour above 90°F (32°C); discard beyond it. Do not freeze.