Posted on 07/06/2016 3:47:58 PM PDT by Jamestown1630
My office is holding its annual Summer Barbecue in a couple of weeks. Calling it a 'barbecue' is a bit extravagant, as all we do is cook hot dogs and hamburgers on a propane grill ;-) and the stars of the show are usually the wonderful side dishes that folks from many different ethnic cuisines bring to the party.
This year it will be a much smaller affair, with our 'grill master' out on knee-replacement surgery, other staff leaving for new jobs, and lots of folks away for Summer.
But I have to come up with a side dish!
I was thinking of trying this 'Texas Pete Roasted Corn and Poblano Salad' that showed up in the coupon section of the newspaper recently (apologies for the size of the pic above; haven't figured that out, yet ;-(
https://www.texaspete.com/recipe/texas-pete-roasted-corn-and-poblano-salad
I'm also thinking of doing a Broccoli Salad – the one where you finely chop broccoli florets, pecans or walnuts, and onion, and mix it with a Mayo-Milk-Vinegar-Sugar dressing. I'm not sure how it would go over – my crew are not exactly 'health nuts', especially at parties; but I love it. Some recipes add bacon, and in this one Paula Deen really 'mixes it up':
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/broccoli-salad-recipe.htm
-JT
Ina Garten is a fake, phony and a fraud.
This is only a sample of the many stories you can find about her selfishness.
http://foodiegossip.blogspot.com/2011/03/barefoot-contessa-rejects-dying-childs.html
When she denied the request for a kid who was dying of cancer, to cook with her ....she became unspeakably toxic.
I remember it from childhood vacations in Traverse city, Michigan & I was in western NC w/ my mom. I would say yes to your question. It is sooooooo delicious!
I sometimes take home canned zuke spears, and pickled green beans for a quick relish type plate and no time to do anything.
I absolutely have to have potato salad, baked beans, and chips to go with hot dogs or burgers though.
A quick baked bean recipe:
Saute onions in bacon grease, add pork and beans, brown sugar, hickory smoked BBQ sauce, and worchestireshire sauce in an iron skillet and stir till sugar is dissolved and beans are hot. Place Bacon on the top, and pop it in the oven, till bacon is done, and juice is thickened.
I never measure, just sort of dump stuff in and give it a taste.
Just read your link. Sorry, dying kid trumps any “business.” Makes me look at her in a new way.
I have always found her food to be delicious, but Jeffrey to be pretentious & annoying.
I never measure except for baking. Dumping rules!
It sure does, and I’m getting to where I don’t measure for all of my baking either! A handful of this, a few shakes of the spices or salt whatever, splash of whatever liquid.
It never gets boring, as everything turns out just a bit different from time to time. LOL
I have always loved pasta salad with arugula. It was one of my favorites growing up because everything came out of our garden and tasted great.
Boil thin mini penne, rinse under cool water and drain. Place in large bowl and coat with olive oil and salt to taste. Add a bunch of diced cherry tomatoes and arugula. Add sliced white or purple onions and melrose peppers. Mix and serve.
That sounds nice and fresh!
My problem with a lot of party/barbecue food, is that there are never enough fresh veggies, to balance all of that meat and cooked stuff.
-JT
Yum!
My go-to dish is New Potato Salad with Red Onion Dressing. The last time I delivered it to a family when the mom was in the hospital their 15 year old son told my boys the salad was “orgasmic good”. Guess it doesn’t get much better than that.
Half or quarter new 2 lbs new potatoes. Salt and pepper them then Cool slightly. Mix together 3/4 cup sour cream, 3/4 cup quality mayo, 1/2 cup chopped fresh dill and 1/2 cup chopped red onion. Pour over potatoes and gently mix.
Very easy and quite good.
Okra, a true ‘southern dish’, an acquired taste. Good in Gumbo, Fried is good. But stewed ...no way Jose. Some ‘folks’ find themselves unable to handle fresh whole okra. The little pricklies are not compatible with the skin.
JT the broccoli salad is a favorite.
Is the Broccoli Salad a favorite with Bacon, or do the Folks leave it out?
(I kinda like the bacon :-)
-JT
Six days a week it was burgers with a big slab of those wonderful, acidic, Jersey tomatoes and a scoop of cole slaw, corn on the cob, potato salad, macaroni salad, and fresh green peppers, carrots, celery, and sliced kosher pickles - the kind you fished out of a barrel. Sunday they went out for dinner.
Here are Aunt Elaine's potato salad and cole slaw recipes. Essentially the same as my Mom's, Grandmom's, and Great Grandmom's. I never got to talk to anyone born before the Civil War, but they probably passed them down. Last Monday an 8 year old GD asked for the potato salad recipe.
Potato Salad
Gently boil non-waxy potatoes in their jackets. When cooked through drain and, while holding on a Granny fork or similar, peel. If you are lucky, the skins will slip off. Coarsely dice into about 3/4" cubes. Add finely chopped yellow onions, celery and sweet pickle relish.
Make a dressing of yellow mustard and vinegar, and pour over the potatoes. The dressing should permeate the potatoes and not leave liquid draining off. If the potatoes have cooled you can heat the mustard-vinegar mix. Once the mixture is absorbed toss with mayonnaise.
Add diced dill pickles and chopped hard boiled eggs. Chill and enjoy.
Cole slaw
Cole slaw requires a good spicy cabbage and sweet carrots.
Shred the cabbage coarsely, about 1/4" wide, and the carrots quite fine. About 5 or 6 parts cabbage to carrot. It's O.K. to enjoy the cabbage hearts separately.
Toss with a dressing of mayonnaise and lemon juice. Add sugar to taste, depending on your cabbage and carrot.
Salt and pepper... you know your audience.
Cast Iron Skillet Baked Potatoes
These potatoes are baked, cut side down in a cast iron skillet. This
results in a potato with a slightly golden brown crust on the cut side and
it has a delicious, roasted flavor.
4 Tbsp cooking oil
1/4 tsp dried rosemary
1/8 tsp seasoning salt or kosher salt
3 or 4 medium size potatoes, sliced in half length wise
In a 10-inch size, room temperature, cast iron skillet, add the oil and spread evenly over bottom. Sprinkle rosemary and salt evenly over the oil.
Scrub and dry the potatoes. Leave potato skins on. Cut potatoes in half, lengthwise, through widest part of potato. Place potatoes, cut side down, one layer deep in bottom of cast iron skillet. Press down on potatoes so that the cut side is coated in oil.
Place cold skillet of potatoes in cold oven. Set oven to 400-F and bake for 45-minutes. At end of cooking time, pierce with fork to test for doneness.
Potatoes can be served with sour cream, grated cheese, etc.
Down here in Texas the crisp fried bacon is always included. And halved cherry tomatoes as well. I love broccoli :-)
Here’s the easiest method that I’ve found to make risotto. The microwaves do all the stirring.
Microwave Risotto
Easy to make Risotto using the microwave. A lot of stirring is not necessary when making risotto in the microwave, it does most of the work.
Ingredients
3 cups hot chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon salt (to taste, careful chicken broth can be salty)
1 pinch ground white or black pepper
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup minced yellow onion
1 cup uncooked medium grain white rice like Calrose or arborio (don’t use regular long grain rice, it doesn’t have enough starch to make risotto)**
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
cooked peas (optional)
Directions
Combine the chicken broth, salt and pepper in a 4-cup pyrex measuring cup. Bring almost to a boil in the microwave.
Remove from microwave and set aside until needed below.
In a 2-qt microwaveable casserole dish, heat the butter and olive oil in the microwave for 2 minutes.
Add the onion to the dish, and stir to coat. Cook in the microwave for 4 more minutes.
Add the uncooked rice, and stir to coat with oil. Cook for another 4 minutes.
Pour the heated pyrex measuring cup of chicken broth into the rice, and stir.
Cook in the microwave for 9 minutes.
Stir, then microwave for another 9 minutes.
If you want a creamier risotto, add 1/4 cup of warm water, and cook for another 2 minutes.
Stir in the Parmesan cheese as soon as it comes out of the microwave, (add cooked peas, if desired) and serve.
For a 750-watt microwave, use 100% power settings for each time interval. For 1000 or 1500-watt microwaves, use 70% power settings for each time interval.
**In addition to Arborio rice, you can make a very good risotto using Calrose variety medium grain rice. It has enough starch to create a creamy risotto. Calrose is also used as a sushi rice. I’ve also made a very good rice pudding with Calrose. You can get Calrose at Walmart. Calrose rice is not a brand, it’s a variety of rice grown in California’s Sacramento delta. Some of the brands of rice carrying Calrose are Botan, Diamond, Hinode, Nishik, Golden Star. I’ve seen Botan brand of Calrose rice at Walmart. Calrose rice is less expensive than Arborio rice. You can’t make risotto with long grain rice, it doesn’t have enough starch to make the creamy sauce that risotto is famous for.
You could always do a cold pasta salad. I like farfalle (bowtie) pasta that you cook al dente according to package directions, drain then rinse with cold water and drain well. Mix the cooled pasta with chopped green onions, minced garlic, sliced ripe olives, sliced celery, boiled and peeled shrimp (optional), sliced grape tomatoes, sliced carrots, chiffonade of fresh spinach or anything else you might like such as sun-dried tomatoes. Mix in bottled or fresh made Italian dressing and let marinate in fridge for several hours or overnight. The longer it sits, the better it gets.
Julia Child’s French Potato Salad
A fine French first course: boiled sliced potatoes seasoned with oil and herbs....
3 cups red-skinned “boiling” potatoes, peeled & sliced
1/4 cup chicken broth
1 1/2 Tbsp wine vinegar
2 Tbsp minced shallots or scallions
a sprinkling of salt and pepper
2 or 3 Tbsp fresh minced parsley
2 or 3 Tbsp olive oil or salad oil (optional)
Cooking the potatoes. Choose red-skinned “boiling” potatoes.
Peel them and cut into slices less than 1/4-inch thick; simmer them a few minutes in lightly salted water.
When just tender, drain and let them sit 2 minutes in the hot, covered pan to firm them up.
Seasoning. For about 3 cups of cooked potato slices: While still warm, toss them gently in a bowl with 1/4 cup of chicken broth, 1 1/2 tablespoons of wine vinegar, 2 tablespoons of minced shallots or scallions, a sprinkling of salt and pepper, and 2 to 3 tablespoons of fresh minced parsley.
Let steep for 10 minutes or so, tossing several times.
Taste and correct seasoning; toss with 2 or 3 tablespoons of olive oil or salad oil (you may omit the oil). Serve warm or cold.
Source: Parade Sunday newspaper magazine, Aug 22, 1982.
From 1982 to 1986 Julia Child was the Food Editor of the Parade magazine.
Dear Abby’s Black-Eyed Pea Salad
16-oz. pkg. black-eyed peas, cooked
2 cups chopped tomatoes
1 cup chopped green pepper
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup rice vinegar
2 tsp sugar
Cook peas according to package directions, drains and refrigerate until chilled.
In medium bowl, combine peas, tomatoes, green pepper and onion; mix well.
In small bowl, combine vinegar and sugar; pour over pea mixture; toss. Chill at least 30 minutes before serving. Makes: 4 to 6 servings.
TIP: 1/2 cup sliced green onions may be substituted for onion
Source: Dear Abby’s favorite recipes, by Abigail Van Buren - 1987, 1988.
I feel the same about okra. My Mom is from New Orleans so we grew up eating gumbo with okra in it. I despise the slime of boiled okra but the slime is cooked out when it gets put into gumbo. I also like it fried and pickled.
One of the best party foods I had was a pickled okra spear tightly wrapped within a cream cheese smeared ham slice then sliced into rounds. Really easy and really yummy.
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