These Oven Roasted Potatoes may be simply dressed in good olive oil and sea salt, but don’t let that fool you — with crispy golden edges and creamy innards, these decadent potatoes are truly the stuff dreams are made of. If you dream about potatoes. I know I do.
“What I say is that, if a man really loves potatoes, he must be a fairly decent sort of fellow.” — A.A. Milne
Have you ever played that game where you pretend you’re stranded on a desert island and you can only choose one food to eat for the duration? While I can’t pretend that I wouldn’t shed a few tears bidding farewell to bread and cheese and eggs, I really think that the humble potato is the clear winner.
What other food can you eat every day, in some form or other, and just never get tired of? Maybe it’s because there are so many varieties and delicious ways to prepare them. At any rate, it seems like we just can’t get enough of this creamy, filling veggie. Whether it’s hashbrowns, French fries, mashed, baked, steamed, or scalloped — it’s the epitome of comfort food.
And, believe me, as the perfect side to just about any main dish, or even with breakfast or brunch, these Oven Roasted Potatoes are the cream of the (potato) crop!
These Oven Roasted Potatoes may be simply dressed in good olive oil and sea salt, but with crispy golden edges and creamy innards, they're truly the stuff dreams are made of. If you dream about potatoes. I know I do.
Prep Time15 minutesmins
Cook Time1 hourhr
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: American
Servings: 6
Author: The Country Dish
Ingredients
2lbs.fingerling potatoesor any thin-skinned baby potatoes
1/4cextra virgin olive oil
Flakey sea saltto taste
Instructions
Chop potatoes into roughly 1"-1 1/2" chunks. Toss in olive oil and salt generously.
Spread potatoes out evenly on a parchment-lined baking sheet, drizzling the oil over the top.
Bake at 450F for 1 hour, stirring every 15-20 minutes, until golden brown.
Macaroni ‘n’ Cheese is, in my opinion, the ultimate comfort food. Pasta covered in copious amounts of creamy, flavorful, ooey-gooey cheese… what could be better?
It’s impastable not to love macaroni ‘n’ cheese…
Interestingly, most people I’ve talked to seem to have very strong feelings and opinions on just what does or doesn’t constitute “good” mac ‘n’ cheese. While I certainly agreed with this notion strongly enough to go on a years long quest to develop the “ultimate” best-of-the-best recipe, I’m also not ashamed to say that if you put cheese on a noodle, I’ll eat it. I would probably be thinner if I felt a modicum of shame, but, sadly, I even enjoy that artificial-tasting stuff out of the blue box.
“Sweet dreams are made of cheese, who am I to dis a brie?”
There are certainly many ways to make macaroni ‘n’ cheese, from the “just noodles and shredded cheese tossed into a casserole dish and left to melt”, to that yummy, cheesy roux-based concoction that, unfortunately, starts to congeal before you can finish eating it (and never reheats properly).
And don’t forget that eggy or mayonnaisey version beloved of great-aunts, which doesn’t taste bad, per se, just fails to taste anything at all like mac ‘n’ cheese. What these poor dears fail to realize, bless their hearts, is that simply renaming it would redeem it’s popularity in the potluck lineup — Bacon Parmesan Penne Pasta, anyone? Because everyone knows that while Junior may happily scarf down “Cheesy Pasta Casserole” with peas and carrots, just try serving him “Macaroni ‘n’ Cheese” with suspicious green and orange bits and see how far you get. To live up to society’s expectations, true mac ‘n’ cheese shouldn’t contain visible evidence of anything more suspicious than a bit of bacon.
And then there are the Velveeta folks (insert redneck joke here) — I can get away with saying that because, 1.) I love Velveeta in certain recipes (preferably ones that aren’t mac ‘n’ cheese), and 2.) half my relatives are redneck enough to think a 7 course dinner is a possum and a six-pack. Now, I’m not ashamed of enjoying a bowl of mac ‘n’ cheese made with Velveeta, but, let’s face it, any mac ‘n’ cheese made with Velveeta is going to end up tasting like Velveeta, and that’s just not what comes to mind when I imagine the “ultimate” anything.
I have also recently heard tell of an old-fashioned methodology that involves layering the cooked noodles with dry flour and shredded cheese, pouring milk over the whole shebang and baking until bubbly. Since I’ve yet to try this version (though I definitely intend to soon!), I can’t speak as to how it stacks up in the line-up, but I don’t really see how it can be any easier or more delicious than this ever-creamy, bacon and sweet onion infused bowl of supreme goodness, that is — the Ultimate Macaroni ‘n’ Cheese.
“I’ll stop the world and melt with you. You’ve seen the difference and it’s getting cheddar all the time.”
Personally, after trying just about every imaginable combination out there, I find that I actually prefer to keep the cheese selection in my mac’n’cheese simple — a bit of parmesan for it’s salty nuttiness and “je ne sais quoi”, a little mozzarella for it’s creamy meltability and delectable stringiness, and a whole lotta sharp cheddar, ‘cuz that’s what I like my mac to taste like! Whatever you do, don’t let the onion in this recipe scare you off — it’s cooked down to where it disappears into oblivion, leaving only it’s sweet (and hard to strictly identify) essence lingering to tantalize your tongue with it’s mysterious presence. Even my onion-hating kids ask specifically for THIS mac’n’cheese. Because it really is The Ultimate.
The ultimate comfort food — pasta covered in copious amounts of creamy, flavorful, ooey-gooey cheese… what could be better?
Prep Time30 minutesmins
If Baking40 minutesmins
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
Servings: 8– 12 servings
Author: The Country Dish
Ingredients
16 – 24ozelbow macaroni
1/4large sweet onionfinely diced
8strips of baconcooked and crumbled
4Tbutteror bacon grease
1/2tspdry mustard powder
1tbspJohnny's Garlic Spread & Seasoning
1tbspdried parsley
1tspsalt
1tspblack pepper
1/4tspnutmeg
3chalf 'n' half
2csharp or extra sharp cheddargrated
1cmozzarellagrated
1/4cparmesangrated
1cfinely crushed seasoned croutonsoptional
Instructions
If starting with raw bacon: Cook bacon in large skillet until crisp. Remove bacon from pan, along with all but 2 – 4 tbsp of bacon grease.
If starting with cooked bacon: Melt butter over medium heat.
Add onion and cook until dark golden brown, stirring frequently and being careful not to scorch.
Meanwhile, cook pasta according to the package directions, reserving some of the cooking liquid.
Add half 'n' half and seasonings to onions in skillet. Add bacon back in. Heat to scalding. Turn off heat and add cheese, stirring until melted.
Add cooked pasta to skillet, using reserved cooking water to thin sauce as needed.
Option 1: Pasta is now ready to eat, or, if you used an oven-proof skillet, you can top it with crumbs and place under the broiler to brown for a few minutes. Watch it very carefully — it will probably only take 3 – 4 minutes, and it goes from no color to burnt faster than small-town gossip.
Option 2: Pour pasta into buttered casserole dish (9"x13" or equivalent), top with crumbs and broil as above, OR cover with foil and refrigerate until later. When ready to bake, heat oven to 375F and bake, covered, for 40 minutes or until it gets bubbly. Remove cover and broil top briefly as above.
These Peanut Butter Brownie Bars are so easy, you’d never expect them to taste so decadent, with a melt-in-your-mouth texture and a rich peanut butter flavor. With hints of coconut and butterscotch caramel, these crowd-pleasers will be gone as fast as… well, as fast as a batch of cookies in a room full of teenagers.
“Necessity is the mother of taking chances.” — Mark Twain
The day I first invented these cookies, I needed a bar cookie that I could whip up quickly and get in the oven in the few minutes left before my cafe opened. One of my cookie racks was pretty much empty, and I had several customers who I didn’t want to disappoint by not having something peanut-buttery. I was also out of gluten free goodies, so I thought I would kill two birds with one cookie, so to speak.
After skimming through several peanut butter bar recipes and several gluten free bar recipes, my Peanut Butter Brownie Bars were born. If you need them to be gluten free, just make sure to use gluten free flour and check that whatever chips you’re using are gluten free.
It turns out that Reese’s brand peanut butter chips are gluten free, as are Ghiradelli caramel chips. Unfortunately, the Ghiradelli caramel chips can be ridiculously hard to find in my neck of the woods, except for sometimes around the holidays, but Hershey’s brand sea salt caramel chips or butterscotch are both gluten free as well (as of this writing).
And these Peanut Butter Brownie Bars are so insanely delicious, you’d never guess they’re gluten free!
What I love about these cookie bars, is that they’re only gluten free incidentally — there is absolutely no sacrifice in taste or texture! The first batch seemed so unbelievably delicious, that only about half of them made it out to the display rack, thanks to myself, my barista (Jolie), and a couple of strategically-timed coffee breaks.
In fact, these fabulous Peanut Butter Brownie Bars will forever remind me of Jolie and all of our wonderful, loyal customers who loved them — and that just makes them that much sweeter.
These Peanut Butter Brownie Bars are so easy, you'd never expect them to taste so decadent, with a melt-in-your-mouth texture and rich peanut butter flavor, along with hints of coconut and butterscotch caramel.
Prep Time10 minutesmins
Cook Time20 minutesmins
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Servings: 20bars
Author: The Country Dish
Ingredients
1 1/4call-purpose flourgluten free, if desired
1/2calmond flour
3/4cbuttermelted
1/4cpeanut butter
1cbrown sugar
1egg
1/4tspsalt
1tspvanilla extract
1tspbaking powder
1cpeanut butter chipsgluten free, if desired
1ccaramel or butterscotch chipsgluten free, if desired
1csweetened flaked coconut
Instructions
Stir ingredients together in order given, until well combined. Press evenly into lightly greased or parchment lined 9"x13" baking dish. Bake at 350F for 20 minutes.
This Tortellini Party Salad — full of fresh mozzarella, crisp cucumbers, juicy tomatoes, and, of course, creamy cheese-filled tortellini — is one of my all-time favorite recipes for family get-togethers. In spite of being insanely fast and easy to throw together, it has a certain sophistication over your average potluck pasta salad recipe. This is owing in part, I think, to the distinct lack of mayonnaise, and, perhaps, to the perceived value of a cheesy, stuffed pasta over your everyday sort.
At any rate, it’s a great favorite with young and old alike – and anyone who’s ever dragged young Junior along to the family reunion potluck on a hot afternoon knows how stressful it can be to find something the “littles” can fill up on without complaint before turning them loose on the dessert table. Indeed, the ease of identifying its component ingredients may be equally comforting to any adults who’ve ever hovered in polite indecision over whether or not to worry about those murky, indeterminate dark shapes now suspended in perpetual slumber in Grandma’s jello mold, or Aunt Mabel’s frighteningly vaguely-monikered “Hot Dish”.
Don’t Be Afraid To Go Big!
If the ingredients in this recipe look familiar, you’ve probably seen them lurking in their mammoth containers in the aisles of your friendly, neighborhood Costco. Feel free to adjust the ingredient amounts down to accommodate the package sizes from your traditional grocery store.
However, while this recipe for Tortellini Party Salad does make a rather larger salad (i.e. washtub), it also has the advantage over it’s creamy brethren of keeping extremely well in the fridge. I often make up a batch just for our family – we’ll eat it with several dinners, and devour the rest as elevensies, impromptu lunches, afternoon snacks, and midnight snacks over the course of the week; anyone with teenagers in the house will understand.
It also works well for taking along on a camping trip to go along with the grilled hot dog or burger du jour, looking especially smug next to the inevitable and overly-sweet commercial tub of macaroni or potato salad that your camping buddies brought.
Another great application for this Tortellini Party Salad would be as a recipe that can be divided up and gifted as good deeds amongst a number of elderly singles or couples of one’s acquaintance, or in one’s congregation, with the added bonus of having enough left over for yourself to enjoy. I suppose one could always cut the recipe in half, if one has already reached their good deed quota for the week. Chopped Italian salami, or largish cooked and peeled shrimp could also be added to make it a bit more main-dishish, but I, myself, think it is just perfect as is.
This quick Tortellini Party Salad full of fresh mozzarella, crisp cucumber, juicy tomato, and cheese tortellini is THE recipe for potlucks!
Prep Time10 minutesmins
Course: Salad
Cuisine: Mediterranean
Servings: 2dozen
Author: The Country Dish
Ingredients
48ozfresh cheese tortellinirefrigerated
40ozfresh mozzarella balls (1" or smaller)in olive oil
2cans (6 oz)whole black olives
2English cucumberschopped
2lbscherry or grape tomatoes
1red oniondiced or slivered
1red bell pepperdiced
12ozLiteHouse brand Pear Gorgonzola vinaigretteor your favorite Italian-style dressing
Fresh grated parmesan cheeseoptional
saltto taste
Instructions
Cook tortellini in salted water for no more than 2 minutes. Drain and drizzle with some of the olive oil from the mozzarella package. Set aside to cool.
In a very large salad bowl, combine mozzarella, olives, cucumbers, tomatoes, onion, and bell pepper. Add cooled pasta and stir to combine. Add dressing + 1/2 c olive oil from mozzarella package and toss to coat. Salt to taste. Top with fresh parmesan, if desired.
Reserve additional olive oil from mozzarella to freshen salad with later as it continues to absorb the dressing, if desired.
They say that necessity is the mother of invention, and I must say that was certainly the case with this Bacon Potato Corn Chowder, chock full of smoky bacon, sweet corn, and hearty potatoes. Although I appreciate the art of making delicious, perfectly seasoned soups entirely from scratch, I can also appreciate the art of making so-called “shortcut” soups that simply taste as if you’d been slaving over a hot stove… err, crockpot, all day.
“Only the pure in heart can make a good soup.” — Ludwig van Beethoven
Back when I owned a small coffee shop, I made soup every morning, and I often relied on frozen soup bases to shorten my prep time.
One particularly hectic Monday, I realized belatedly that I had neglected to thaw my frozen soup base and I only had about an hour left before patrons began descending in hungry, soup-demanding hordes. In a panic, I quickly rifled through the cupboards, like Old Mother Hubbard, only to discover, to my chagrin, that the only thing I had any real quantity of was, inexplicably, canned corn.
Armed with this, along with an old bag of hashbrowns I found in the bottom of the freezer, and a few odds and ends, I managed to throw together a corn chowder that would go on to become my best-selling soup of all time, and a favorite I offered on a near weekly basis. Try my Bacon Potato Corn Chowder today!
Easy homemade Bacon Potato Corn Chowder is full of smoky bacon, sweet corn, and hearty potatoes, & only takes minutes to get started!
Prep Time10 minutesmins
Cook Time3 hourshrs
Total Time3 hourshrs10 minutesmins
Course: Soup
Cuisine: American
Servings: 16
Author: The Country Dish
Ingredients
16.6 oz. pouchIdahoan brand soup mix"Creamy" or "Loaded" flavor
315 oz. canssweet corn
315 oz. canscream-style corn*
1cbaconcooked and crumbled
1bagfrozen Potatoes O'Brien18-24 oz. size
4tspBetter Than Bouillonchicken or vegetable flavor
1tspsalt
1tsppepper
1tspJohnny's Garlic Spread & Seasoning
8cwater
Instructions
Place all ingredients in large (at least 6 quart) crockpot, cover and heat on high 3-4 hours, or low 6-8 hours, stirring occasionally.
Soup will thicken as it cools. To reheat, thin with water or broth as necessary.
*This recipe is gluten-free when prepared as stated, just make sure that the brand of creamed corn you purchase doesn't contain gluten (it usually doesn't).
Whether you’re new to home bread baking, or just have limited time or ingredients, this Simple French Bread is the easiest loaf of bread you’ll ever make! You only need four simple ingredients — and one of them is water!
A quick word about kitchen equipment…
It’s no secret that I love kitchen gadgets…it’s a sort of addiction. But, I’ll admit, that, generally speaking, one gets the fabulous new item home, only to discover that it’s not quite so fabulous after all – your pineapple slicer brutalizes the pineapple into unrecognizable pulp; the v-shaped cutter works fine, but you realize that you’re never likely to need any foods cut into a v-shape within your lifetime; the apple slicer works great once you can remember where you stuck it, and with only slightly more clean-up and trouble than cutting the apple up with a knife would have been; and that handy countertop nut chopper only serves to deprive the cat of the joy of chasing the occasional errant almond as it skitters madly away from your chef’s knife and flies across the kitchen floor like a tiny, crazed mouse.
Then there was that time I almost put my eye out when a pastry cutter flew apart in mid-pie-crust. True story. You know that expression, “it’s all fun and games until somebody loses an eye”? Yeah. Perhaps it was a just punishment for being too lazy to clean the food processor. I stubbornly still tend to grab the pastry cutter though; I’m no quitter. I guess because I didn’t actually lose the eye. And I still hate cleaning the food processor. My mom insists the fork method is better, and she still has both her eyes at age 73, and after a lifetime of making thousands of, quite literally, the world’s best pie-crusts, so she’s probably right. Mothers usually are, I fear.
Really, the main problem is that most of these items have only one dedicated purpose, and, unless you eat more pineapple than Shawn and Gus, or have an extreme penchant for fancy, v-shaped things, they’re mostly soon to be relegated to the role of dust catcher, or, even more likely, the role of “what is that thing that’s keeping the kitchen drawer from opening all the way?!”
However, I digress. My point is that after many years of trial and error – of clawing my way out of the depths of despair, also known as a chocolate-melter full of seized up chocolate (I should have just stuck to microwaving it like the pioneers did), all the way to scaling the heights of culinary ecstasy with my handheld electric blender… err, that may have come out a bit more suggestively than intended, but if you’ve ever had cream cheese that refused to melt smoothly into something, you know what I mean – I have found that there are very few kitchen gadgets / small appliances that I really use on any sort of regular basis. The three biggies that really come to mind are: my beloved Blendtec blender, my KitchenAid stand mixer, and, believe it or not, my bread machine.
The bread machine is often much-maligned as the frivolous antithesis of a healthy lifestyle and diet, but, let’s face it – we all come crawling back to bread at some point. Making your own just allows you the ability to make healthier, better tasting bread — such as today’s Simple French Bread.
During this pandemic, many home cooks are trying their hand at bread making for the first time, with an emphasis on artisan sourdough – which is a great deal like trying to run before you can walk. If you want to satisfaction of making a delicious tasting and smelling loaf of bread that your family ooohs and ahhhs about on your first try, you should start with a simple, yeasted bread like the one I’m going to share with you today. If you really want to take the guesswork out of it, invest in a cheap bread machine. As long as it has a “dough” cycle (meaning, the ability to mix and proof in the machine without baking), it doesn’t have to be anything fancy. I think the last two I purchased were Sunbeam brand on Amazon for around $50.
That being said, this Simple French Bread can also be easily made in a stand mixer, or even by hand.
Now, let’s get to baking…
So, assuming you now have your shiny, new bread machine (instructions for making by hand are included on recipe card below), the only other things you need are: water, salt, flour (any kind of white all-purpose or bread flour), and instant yeast (I very much prefer SAF brand, but I suppose any brand will do as long as it’s instant). You should also have some sort of sheet pan, butter, and parchment paper (optional, but nice) on hand.
Now, make sure that the paddle attachment is in place in the bottom of your machine’s mixing bowl, and layer the ingredients in the order given.
Simple French Bread
1 1/4 c. water (out of the cold tap, the machine will heat it up a bit)
1 1/2 tsp. salt
3 c. flour
2 tsp. instant yeast
It will look like this:
At this point, just snap the mixing bowl into the machine, close the lid, start the “dough” setting, and walk away ’til it beeps. Mine takes 1½ hours, but they vary a bit. In the meantime, get a sheet pan ready by either lining it with a piece of parchment or buttering a 6” x 14” strip. Personally, I love parchment paper because you can just toss it when you’re done and the pan stays clean.
When the timer goes off, pre-heat your oven to 400F, and make sure you have a nice, clean space on your counter to shape your dough. If your dough seems a little sticky, you can sprinkle a bit of flour on the board. Then, next time, remember to add ¼ cup more flour to the mix, or decrease the water by ¼ cup. Or, if it’s a bit dry, try adding ¼ cup more water next time. Every flour absorbs water differently, depending on the brand, whether it’s bread flour or all-purpose flour, bleached of unbleached. Once you get it dialed in just right for your particular flour, the dough should be soft, but not sticky.
Now upend your mixing bowl and plonk your glob of dough down on your work board. Using your fingers, gently press it into a rectangle roughly 6” x 12”-14”.
Roll it up starting on a long side, and pinch the seam so that it won’t unfurl during baking. Place your lovely little log of dough, seam-side down, on your prepared pan, and let it rise in a warm spot in your kitchen until just about doubled (or until the dough immediately fills in the dent when it’s poked) – usually 15 to 20 minutes in my kitchen. Better to bake it a little soon, rather than wait too long.
When your dough looks beautifully puffy, quickly slash the top a few times with a very sharp knife.
Bake at 400F for 20 minutes. Don’t worry that it’s not terribly browned – this recipe stays fairly pale. And if you butter the crust right after removing it from the oven, it will stay soft. For best results, allow to cool most of the way before cutting.
While I have many delicious variations you can make with a similar methodology, homemade bread-makin’ just doesn’t get any easier than this. So go ahead, impress your family with a fresh loaf of this delicious Simple French Bread tonight!
This Simple French Bread is the easiest loaf of bread you'll ever make!
Prep Time2 hourshrs
Cook Time20 minutesmins
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: French
Servings: 12servings
Author: The Country Dish
Ingredients
1 1/4cwaterroom temperature
1 1/2tspsalt
3cflourall-purpose or bread flour
2tspinstant yeast
Instructions
If using bread machine: Layer ingredients in order given. Mix on "dough" cycle. Skip to Step 3.
If NOT using bread machine: Combine flour and salt in mixing bowl. Combine water and yeast in small bowl. Gradually, by hand or with mixer on low speed, add yeast solution to dry ingredients. Knead for 5 – 8 minutes, until smooth and satiny. Place in oiled bowl; cover with plastic wrap. Allow to rise until double (about 1 hour). Punch down.
On a pastry board or clean countertop, roll or press dough into a rectangle (approximately 6" x 12-14"). Roll it up starting on a long side, and pinch the seam so that it won't unfurl during baking. Place dough, seam-side down, on your prepared pan, and let it rise in a warm spot in your kitchen until just about doubled (or until the dough immediately fills in the dent when it's poked) – usually 15 to 20 minutes.
Slash the top a few times with a very sharp knife. Bake at 400F for 20 minutes. If you butter the crust right after removing it from the oven, it will stay soft. For best results, allow to cool before cutting.
Welcome to the first page of my new website “The Country Dish”, where I’ll be sharing all the favorite recipes you remember from Aunt B’s Cafe (like Aunt B’s Egg Salad!), as well as some brand-spankin’-new ones. At least the work description of “blogger” definitely meets the ideal new job requirements as laid out by Thoreau (see above). In fact, I don’t know about you, but if this pandemic goes on much longer, I might forget entirely what “pants” are… In the meantime, we all still require a bite of lunch with monotonous regularity.
“A egg today, is better than a hen tomorrow.” — Benjamin Franklin
Today’s recipe is a delightfully simple, old-fashioned favorite that never failed to sell out quickly in the deli every week. My egg salad is creamy and decadent even in its simplicity — I greatly prefer to leave that long list of crunchy add-ins for my chicken and tuna salads.
As written, Aunt B’s Egg Salad is gluten free if served on a lettuce leaf or gluten free bread, or even just a scoop of it in a bowl with a nice sprinkling of grated cheddar — and it tastes every bit as good for breakfast as it does for lunch. I typically serve it with a slice of cheddar cheese on a split croissant, but it’s also excellent on soft deli rye, or even toasted sourdough. Lettuce, tomato, and pickle slices are optional.
This recipe makes enough egg salad for approximately six large sandwiches. It can easily be cut in half, but it will keep, covered in the refrigerator, for five days — it’s never lasted that long around here, believe me! It does tend to separate a bit in the fridge, but if you just give it a good stir, it will look and taste as good as new. So without further ado, this is what a memory tastes like:
Creamy and decadent, Aunt B's Egg Salad is a delightfully simple, old-fashioned recipe that's still an all-time favorite today!
Prep Time10 minutesmins
Cook Time0 minutesmins
Total Time10 minutesmins
Course: Salad, Snack
Cuisine: American
Servings: 6
Author: The Country Dish
Ingredients
12-14hard-boiled eggspeeled
1cmayonnaise
2tspyellow mustard
1tspJohnny's Garlic Spread & Seasoning
1tbspchivesminced
Salt & black pepperto taste
Optional Ingredients for Egg Salad Sandwiches
Croissants, deli rye, or gluten free bread
Leaf lettuce
Tomato slices
Pickle slices
Cheddar cheesesliced
Instructions
Roughly chop hard-boiled eggs and place in large mixing bowl. Using the back of your mixing spoon, mash yolks up as well as possible to soften them up a bit.
Add mayonnaise, mustard, and seasonings. Stir well, taking care to incorporate yolks into mayonnaise mixture as much as possible. Salt and pepper to taste.
Serve in a bowl, on a lettuce leaf, or as a sandwich, with optional cheese, lettuce, tomato, and pickle slices. And that's it! It really is that simple!
