Happy 4th of July weekend, everyone! In honor of the holiday, we decided to go with your classic cook-out types of summer food. However, we couldn't just make a plain old cheeseburger - we had to kick the recipes up a notch to make them fun and exotic. We then included a group of friends, turned on the stereo, lit up the grill, and had a great evening! Everything was served family style last night, so posts will be in no particular order.
Cocktail - Raspberry-Blueberry Cooler
Muddled raspberries in lime, raspberry vodka, raspberry seltzer, blueberries
Delicious. Light, fresh and tasty! For those that prefer a slightly sweeter drink, I would recommend using a little simple syrup or a carbonated water instead of seltzer. (Polar Seltzer makes a "Raspberry Lime Dry" which would probably be fantastic as well.)
Entree - Bison Burgers with Cabernet Onions and Wisconsin Cheddar
Soooo good! Bison is a very lean meat, and also very good for you, so you definitely don't want to cook past medium-rare. The caramelized onions were a dream - will definitely do again! We used fresh ciabatta rolls and homemade ketchup. (Recipe: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/in-a-pinch-ketchup/detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Title&e11=ketchup&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Home%20Page) The homemade ketchup is very good and the best part is you can be versatile with your ingredients to suit your tastes. I personally prefer a few dashes of Worcester and a drop of liquid smoke in my batch for some added depth.
Side Dish - Molasses Baked Beans with Ginger
Who would have known that baked beans would have been the highlight of the entire meal?!?! These were outstanding! The recipe is ridiculously simple to follow, and the addition of ginger puts it over the edge. I will never make baked beans any other way again. Also, the recipe calls for 4 slices of bacon... who are we kidding? I used an entire package. We weren't watching any diets last night, and when can a dish not use extra bacon??
Side Dish - Chopped Salad
The perfect family-style salad for any BBQ or picnic! The flavors were fantastic, the greens were crisp, and the olives and red peppers provided great flavor. Warning - this recipe could serve 10-12, easily.
Side Dish - Red, White, and Blue Potato Salad
Mixed reviews on this one. The multi-color potatoes were pretty, the addition of peas was a fantastic idea, and adding blue cheese definitely kicked up a boring potato salad. However, some people felt it was too much dressing, or the dressing had too many mayo/sour cream. Others also felt the addition of some fresh dill would have put it over the edge. It was a decent salad, everyone ate it, but no one was calling it the best thing they ever ate.
Side Dish - Hot and Spicy Hush Puppies
Our Southern friends would be so proud! These were really good! The addition of the chopped onion, jalapeno, and cheddar really put it over the edge. (Keep in mind, we halved the jalapeno.) The dipping sauce was sensational! (Dipping sauce would probably be really good with coconut shrimp as well... just saying.)
Entree Wine - Entwine 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon and 2010 Pinot Grigio
So Entwine wines comes from Wente Vineyards who partnered with the Food Network to create delicious wines to fit any budget and any meal. They were at Harry's this week for a wine tasting, and John and Jenn ended up choosing their wines to go with the Sunday meal. The Cabernet was rich, fruity, and herbaceous. The Pinot was crisp, refreshing, and citrusy. Fantastic wines for everyday drinking!
Dessert - Salted Caramel Apple Pie
Heavenly. This recipe came about because I was watching "Best Things I Ever Ate" on the Food Network one day, and someone was talking about this pie. And for me - apple pie meets caramel meets sea salt? How could you go wrong? So I've been looking for an occasion to make it, and when we decided to do an All-American BBQ, I realized how much more American is apple pie? Let's discuss.
The pie was delicious. Be careful with the sea salt - if you don't sprinkle evenly, someone may get a bite with a little too much. The Angostura bitters were a necessity - it left a flavor that you couldn't put your finger on, and it turned into "not your mama's apple pie." Use a mandolin for the apple slices. Caramel sauce - UGH. It took me 3 batches to get it right. Don't follow their directions on this recipe. Instead do this - melt simply 1 cup sugar with 1 Tbsp water in a saucepan. (Trust me, after about 10 minutes it will melt to caramel - you will not set your kitchen on fire.) Once just melted, add the butter and whisk quickly until fully incorporated. Take off heat - add heavy cream, whisk like crazy, and then add the sea salt. Leave off heat and make your pie. Voila.
Dessert Wine - Angelini Moscato d'Asti
This dessert Moscato was delightful. It had a slight effervescence to it that was pleasing on the palate with rich apple flavors with a hint of anise and burst of pineapple. It was sweet, mind you, and we're still getting used to sweet wines - but it was tasty.
Next Week - More Lobster!
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