Take it away, TaMara…
Since July 4th is approaching, I’m going to post some great picnic and barbecue recipes over the course of the coming week. I thought I’d use tonight’s menu to get the party started. Everyone probably has their favorite potato salad recipe, this one is my Mom’s (actually her whole side of the family’s) recipe. I didn’t know there was any other kind of potato salad until way into my 20’s. I’d love to hear about your favorite potato salad or July 4th recipes, might even post a few if you let me.
You can prepare all of this a day ahead of time for an easy and tasty picnic. And if it’s a party, they’re easy to double.
On the board tonight:
1. Marinated Chicken Salad
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2. Sub Rolls
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3. Potato Salad
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4. Raw Vegetable Tray and Dip
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5. Red White & Blue Cupcakes
Recipes and shopping list at the link.
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P.S. from Anne Laurie: The favorite chicken marinade around our house involves lemon juice mixed with roughly equal amounts of chopped ginger root and garlic. I’d never considered the possibility of turning the marinated breasts into a spread… but I think we may have to experiment this weekend. Especially if the mini food processor arrives from Amazon!
TaMara (BHF)
Hey guys, I’m working late, trying to straighten out some things that have gone flooey at work. But I’ll stop in and see what’s what later. I’d LOVE to see some of your favorite picnic recipes – if you post them here, let me know I can repost over on W4D.
Fern
Here is one of my favourite potato salads. Best if not made too far in advance – if it sits for a while, you will have to add more lemon. I usually go a little heavy on the lemon and add some white balsamic vinegar as well. Radishes are welcome in place of the peppers.
Creamy Dilled Potato Salad
Simmer drain, and keep warm:
2 lb. small unpeeled red potatoes
Chop in food processor:
¼ cup packed fresh dill weed
¼ cup packed fresh parsley
¼ cup sliced green onions
1 clove garlic, halved
Add and process until smooth:
½ cup buttermilk
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/8 tsp pepper
Halve potatoes into a large bowl. Combine with dressing and:
½ cup celery, sliced diagonally
½ cup chopped red bell pepper
Toss gently to coat.
Fern
Oh, and this one is really nice too. Should you have some borage flowers in your garden, they look beeooutiful sprinkled on top of the salad before serving.
Danish Potato Salad
Boil in their jackets, and dice.
4-5 large potatoes
Combine and pour over potatoes. Chill.
4 tbsp oil
4 tbsp tarragon vinegar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 clove garlic, crushed
Fold into salad before serving.
3 green onions, chopped
6-8 radishes, sliced thin
¼ cup mayonnaise
1 tbsp fresh dill
Garnish salad before serving with parsley and 3 hard cooked eggs, cut in wedges.
BarbF
Best chicken marinade ever in my house
Two chopped cloves garlic
About a tablespoon and a half of fresh chopped ginger
About a quarter cup of honey
A few dashes of soy sauce.
Yummm
debit
My favorite picnic food? Muffaletta Sandwiches, which consist of your choice of cold cuts, sliced cheeses and olive salad on a nice, heavy bread.
Olive salad:
Equal portions (about a cup each) sliced/chopped black olives and green olives. I cheat and buy pre chopped salad olives.
Half a bunch of parsley, finely chopped.
Garlic, pressed, to taste. This portion depends on your preference. I love garlic, so use half a bud or so.
Juice of one lemon.
A few tablespoons of olive oil.
Mix everything in a glass bowl, stir, cover tightly, then let sit in fridge at least a couple hours, preferably overnight.
To assemble sandwich, cut your loaf of bread in half (I use a heavy sourdough). Layer cold cuts and cheese on the bottom. Scoop out the top section of bread and fill the hollow with the olive salad. Slap the top on, slice and serve.
TaMara, you have standing permission to repost any recipe of mine if the urge hits you.
Mnemosyne
In the pasta thread below, BombIranforChrist posted a link to a site that swore you could cook pasta perfectly al dente with very little water and without heat. And damned if it didn’t work exactly as advertised!
jeffreyw
@debit: Oh my, I feel a sammich comin on.
TaMara (BHF)
@Anne Laurie:
And you’ll let us know how that goes?
@jeffreyw: Okay, you can post pictures, but that recipe is mine….bwahahaha. ;-) (just kidding, you go right ahead and do as you will)
Katie
Our standard menu for picnics is
Pulled Pork for sandwiches
BBQ beef ribs
Potato Salad
Cole Slaw
Vegetable mac salad
5 bean casserole
I just pulled 6 pork butts from the smoker this morning. They won’t last long, and they’re worth the time.
IndyLib
I made picnic food last weekend – kalua pork, beer can chicken, potato salad, corn on the cob, watermelon and maple baked beans.
The kalua pork is a cheat – score a pork shoulder and rub it down with liquid smoke and kosher salt and pepper.
The beer can chicken is simple and yummy, sit a whole chicken upright on a half-full beer can, rub it down with olive oil and whatever spice rub you like (I use Famous Dave’s Roast Chicken rub) and pop it on the grill for about 2 hours (I always sit it in a foil pan because I use the drippings for sauce).
My potato salad is red potatoes with the skin left on, hard boiled eggs, red and sweet onion, celery, mayo, yellow and brat mustard in equal measures (I love brat mustard- it has a little bit of horseradish), a combo of dill and bread and butter pickles (if you use some sweet pickles you don’t need to add sugar), fresh dill, dill pickle juice, a little bit of lemon juice and salt and pepper.
I love to do my corn on the grill – I pull back the husk and remove the silk, slather it with compound butter (this time it was dill, Italian parsley and a bit of the chicken rub), wrap it in foil and pop it on the grill for about 20-25 minutes.
Maple baked beans were Bush’s out of a can and warmed up in the microwave. They taste better than any I’ve ever managed from scratch.
asiangrrlMN
Whatever the deli at my local co-op has made!
IndyLib
BTW – I would like to thank whoever mentioned Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day in a food thread several weeks ago. The conversation about it insprired me to get the book and I love it. I have never been able to bake decent bread (we’re talking loaves that could double as doorstops here). Now I can and I am having a ball, I can’t wait to finish the basic recipe I have in the fridge so I can try something more complicated.
OriGuy
We’ve made this pork tenderloin churrasco several times. It’s really good. It calls for Pimentón de la Vera, but any smoked paprika should be ok.
Yutsano
Y’all are being too complicated here. Blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, and strawberries (sliced) macerated in sugar and allowed to sit in the fridge for an hour. Serve over sponge cake and top with whipped cream. It doesn’t get any more summer than that. And if you want a nice floral note, sub about a third of the sugar with honey. Nom nom nom.