Lou's German Potato Salad With Bacon

Total Time: 1 hr 20 mins Preparation Time: 1 hr Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients

• 5 lbs potatoes (gold or red varieties preferred)
• 1 lb sliced bacon
• 1 large baseball sized sweet onion (makes 1-2 cups sliced)
• 2/3 cup mayonnaise
• 2/3 cup apple cider vinegar
• 2 teaspoons prepared mustard
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon celery seed
• 1 tablespoon cooking oil (or spray equivalent)
• 4 hard-boiled eggs (optional)

Recipe

• 1 peel and cut potatoes into 3/4 inch cubes and place in a pot with enough to cold water to cover potatoes. heat the pot of potatoes and boil until the potatoes become soft (test with a fork), but don't overcook. continue with the remaining steps while the potatoes are cooking. when done, drain the potatoes into a colander then place them in a very large bowl.
• 2 spray a large frying pan with spray-oil or spread cooking oil across its surface so bacon won't burn before releasing it own fats. cut the bacon into 1-1.5" pieces, place them in the frying pan and sauté them at medium high heat with stirring.
• 3 dice the onion into bite sized pieces (1-2 cups) and, when the bacon begins to curl significantly (or begins to get crisp if you like crisp bacon), add the onion to the pan and sauté with occasional stirring until the onion becomes translucent and the bacon reaches the desired level of crispness. (note: if you prefer raw onion, simply set it aside and add it in the last step).
• 4 in the large bowl, sprinkle the potatoes with the sugar and celery seed. dollop the mayonnaise and mustard over the bowl's contents.
• 5 add the bacon, bacon fats, and onion mixture to the bowl. if there's too much bacon fat for your liking, add just 2 tablespoons of it to the bowl - it has a great effect on the final flavor/texture. cut eggs, if used, into bite sized pieces, crumble the yolks, and add them to the bowl.
• 6 stir the mixture together with a large spoon (a fork with promote mashing the potatoes) until all the ingredients a mixed sufficiently.