It sounds like many will have rain for the holiday weekend. Luckily all the recipes I pulled together work well for an indoor picnic or backyard cookout.
The first compilation I arranged was for a variety of not-your-typical Pasta Salads, click here for four very tasty recipes.
The second group of recipes (found here) I put together from the archives was for garden fresh salads. Recipes include the Jicama Slaw (pictured at top of post) that I am making for a cookout this weekend. The smallest jicama I could find was 2.5 lbs. Anyone have ideas what I can do with the 1.5 lbs I’ll have left over?
I’m also making Watermelon Granita, recipe here, but you can use the recipe to make any flavor you desire.
My new garden has quite a few ready to harvest rhubarb plants. I’ve had this recipe tucked away for just such an occasion. Click here for Rosemary-Lemon-Rhubarb Spritzers.
Buttermilk Pie, above, is such a show stopper and foolproof to make. Click here for the recipe.
What’s on your Fourth of July menu? What food is an absolute must for your table on this holiday?
Tonight’s featured recipe takes potato salad in a different direction and I hope it inspires you to share your favorite potato salad recipe in the comments.
Italian Potato Salad
- 2 lbs of small red potatoes, scrubbed and sliced 1/4 inch thick
- 1 tbsp of salt
- 3 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 2 tsp crushed garlic
- 1 tsp fresh snipped rosemary
- 2 tbsp fresh snipped basil
- 1/2 tsp crushed dried oregano (or 2 tsp fresh)
- 2 tsp stone ground mustard*
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 24 to 28 oz fire roasted red peppers, drained and sliced
- salt & pepper to taste
- 2 oz shaved Parmesan
Large saucepan, baking sheet, large serving bowl
In saucepan, cover potatoes with water, add salt and bring to a bowl. Reduce heat to low boil and simmer until potatoes are just fork-tender. You don’t want them to be soft, as for mashing, you want them to still hold their shape.
Mix together vinegar, garlic and spices. Drain potatoes and spread over a baking sheet in one layer, pour 1/2 of vinegar mixture over them and let cool completely.
Add mustard and oil to remaining vinegar mixture. Add sliced peppers to potatoes, stir and then transfer to serving bowl. Toss with remaining vinegar mixture, salt and pepper to taste and Parmesan.
*I have an aversion to Dijon mustard, but if it a favorite of yours, you can easily use it in this recipe.
That’s it for me. There will not be a recipe exchange next week. Have a safe and happy Fourth of July – TaMara
Jeffro
Love the pasta salad recipes! We have been doing Greek pasta salad for a little while now and love it. Just made a Thai peanut pasta salad recently and the family went kinda nuts over it…great as a side dish if you’re doing some Asian tacos (of any kind – pork, chicken, fish) or if you put greens above it and some protein on top.
Ok now I’m hungry all over again, thanks a lot TaMara!
WaterGirl
TaMara, I am so excited! I never get to eat potato salad because it always has mayo or yogurt or sour cream or one of the other foul white ingredients that ruin it. Looks like your Italian Potato Salad has none of those. Can’t wait to try it.
TaMara (HFG)
@Jeffro: I would love that recipe. It sounds amazing.
@WaterGirl: Oh, I’m glad. There may be a German style without white stuff on the recipe blog…if I have a chance I’ll take a look. Right now I’m busy packing up the kitchen.
debbie
Mmmmm. Chipotle. I’m lazy. I just use this:
http://buy.woebermustard.com/products/Mayo-Gourmet-Roasted-Chipotle-%252d-11oz..html
WaterGirl
@TaMara (HFG): When can you start moving in?
WaterGirl
@debbie: Your link didn’t quite work.
JPL
@WaterGirl: The potato salad does sound great. My son doesn’t like mayo, so I will try it. A friend told me about a cole slaw recipe without mayo. It contains ramen noodles and sounds odd, but is quite nice. recipe
debbie
Damn iPad.
http://buy.woebermustard.com/products/Mayo-Gourmet-Roasted-Chipotle-%252d-11oz.html
Gin & Tonic
I’ve often made cantaloupe granita, similar to your watermelon recipe. Quick and foolproof, and guests always love it.
WaterGirl
@JPL: Looks interesting, though I’m not quit sure how I feel about cold ramen noodles. You make it, invite me over to try it, and then I’ll decide!
Origuy
Jicama sticks with chile and lime
I can buy these pre-made in the Mexican supermarket down the street.
ETA the recipe above is just the first one I found.
debbie
If this doesn’t work, Woebers makes a really good (and ready made) roasted chipotle mayonnaise.
https://www.amazon.com/Woebers-Gourmet-Roasted-Chipotle-Mayonnaise/dp/B0087MRCL8
WaterGirl
@JPL: Full disclosure, I don’t like cream cheese or sour cream, and I definitely don’t drink milk (ugh). I will drink chocolate milk, though. And I love ice cream and I like cheesecake, so apparently if you add sugar or chocolate and sugar, well that changes everything.
But mayo or miracle whip? There’s not enough sugar or chocolate in the world to make those not awful.
JPL
@WaterGirl: Anytime. You actually don’t cook the noodles, just crush them for crunch. I guess the recipe has been around for awhile, but I just tried it last weekend. I haven’t purchased ramen noodles in forty years, and never expected to again. I used canola oil, but next time would probably add a little sesame oil.
TaMara (HFG)
@JPL: OMG, that is a recipe my extended family loves and brings to those big family gatherings.
JPL
@TaMara (HFG): I have company coming in a few weeks and a friend told me about the recipe, since it doesn’t have mayo. I was skeptical so made it last weekend. It’s strangely good as a side dish. I probably wouldn’t make it often though. How long as it been around?
WaterGirl
@JPL: Ramen noodles are my guilty pleasure. I don’t know why, but that’s what I want to eat when I have a cold or sore throat. In fact, I want them right now. I swear they put something in the flavor packet that is addictive. I only get to eat them when I’m sick, though. I have some self control, at least.
Jeffro
@TaMara (HFG):
I don’t work from actual recipes much (my family is pretty forgiving, I guess!) but here’s my best estimation of what went into it…
The dressing was bottled peanut sauce, thinned a bit with rice vinegar, soy sauce, and a dab of honey, with a little bit of powdered ginger added
The salad ingredients were:
– box of whole-grain pasta, cooked, drained and cooled
– thin carrot rounds
– thin red pepper strips
– thin-sliced green onions
– diced cucumbers
– dry roasted & lightly salted peanuts
– some chow mein noodles
– minced cilantro
and I think next time I will dice up some dried apricots and throw those in there, for a little fruit zing to the whole thing!
TaMara (HFG)
@WaterGirl: Here are two more that don’t have mayo or sour cream.
African sweet potato salad
Spring potato salad
I could not find the German one…but if I remember it’s more of an oil and vinegar dressing.
WaterGirl
@TaMara (HFG): Wow, both of those sound really great! I can take a little bit of german potato salad, but it is a bit too strong and too sweet/sour for me. But these two and the Italian one all sound really interesting.
Have I missed the window for the small new red potatoes? Growing up – when they were in season – my mom would make what she called “parsley buttered potatoes”. I’m pretty sure you can guess at the recipe. :-)
NotMax
Tater salad? Non-mayo bestest ever German style, yummy warm or cold. I’m not a fan of bacon, but can’t get enough of this stuff.
Summertime refreshing drink? Agua Fresca. Easy-peasy, too. Can substitute other type of melon for the watermelon, if desired.
Keith P.
Praise be to Whomever, but Haagen Dazs has brought back mango ice cream. Maybe the best fruit ice cream I’ve ever had. Scoop of that plus a scoop of rum raisin is my absolute favorite ice cream combo. I can put away a pint of each in one sitting. Takes the sting off my second ER visit in 2 weeks (hip sprain visit led to a staph visit)
Schlemazel Khan
Since a couple of people asked for a report I promised I would provide one in the recipe thread so here it is – sorry I have forgotten who asked or which thread last week.
Orange Flourless Cake
It is a very simple thing to make (recipe below) but I had 6 recipes and none of them agreed on some pretty basic parts so I pieced together what seemed right to me. Baking temps varied from 350F to 400F, given the ingredients I went with 350 but the bottoms and sides scorched so my next attempt might be 300 or 325. I am also considering a water bath to prevent this and also because the cake ‘crowned’ a bit for what I have in mind. If you have cake straps (I have never felt the need) this would be a place to use them I guess.
I boiled the oranges for 2 hours because most recipes recommend that and they were easy to mash. The second cake I tried I used limes and despite a 2 hour boil the rinds never really turned to pulp so I ended up just juicing a couple of limes to get the needed liquid.
I split the orange mixture in half so I could try one ‘plain’ and one with spices. I did not see the improvement with spice. The consistency is very dense & very moist, more like a good muffin. I assume that is because of the almond flour as much as the amount of liquid. The orange cake has an ‘adult’ orange flavor, not bitter but more like rind than like OJ. I like it. I only used 1 cup of sugar and several recipes called for more, I think another ¼ cup or so wouldn’t hurt it but I might not do that myself.
The lime cake reminded me of a lime Lifesaver, more sweet than the orange (probably because of the lack of rind) but with a nice tingly bite to it. Everyone raved about this one.
Because their colors are orange and green I am planing on a layer cake with each of these and probably a mascarpone-citrus icing.
Since the recipes I had were all metric that is what I did, my scale does this for me if yours does not these measurements are weight not volume
2 large oranges (you will only need 450g of cooked orange)
450g ground almonds
250g sugar
7 eggs
2 tsp baking powder
Optional spices –
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
Put the oranges in a large sauce pan, add cold water to fill the pan. Cover the pan and bring to a boil, reduce heat but keep it at a low boil. You are going to want to keep an eye on this so it does not go dry. Boil for 2 hours.
Remove the oranges & allow to cool
Heat oven to 325F (see note above – this may be too hot or you may want to consider a bain-marie)
Grease and parchment an 8 inch cake pan, I think a spring form pan would be nice not not necessary
Slice the oranges open and remove any seeds. The puree in a blender or food processor (I used a stick blender it worked great on the oranges, not so well on the limes)
In a large mixing bowl beat the eggs and sugar together until smooth, stir in the baking powder and 450g of the orange pulp (and the spices if you are using them). When completely mixed add the almond flour and stir just until mixed, don’t over mix.
Pour the mixture into the the prepared cake tin and bake on the center rack. This is going to take something like 40 minutes to an hour but you probably should cover the cake with a piece of aluminum foil about 20 minutes in to prevent it from darkening too much. Cake is done when a knife or toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool before removing from the pan, because the almond flour does not form structure like wheat this cake can break up if you are not careful about this.
This is a ‘buttercream’ frosting mom used to make that is unlike anything I have had anywhere else.
Mascarpone-Citrus Frosting
6 Tbl butter, softened
8 oz mascarpone cheese, room temperature
pinch salt
½ to 1&1/2 C powdered sugar
Juice from ½ of a lemon
Juice from ½ of a lime
zest of one lemon
zest of one lime
Put the butter & mascarpone in a large mixing bowl & whip at low speed until combined. Add the salt and the juices and whip at low speed for a minute. Add ½ cup of sugar and beat at medium speed until blended. Taste for sweetness, if it is not sweet enough add ¼ cup and beat until smooth. Repeat that until you get the taste you want. I whip this at high speed until fluffy (maybe 2 minutes) then add the zests.
Regine Touchon
Summer pasta salad . Chop up around 5 ripe tomatoes. Put in large bowl. Pour 1/4 cup of olive oil, tbsp kosher salt, cup of cubed mozzarella cheese, a bunch of chiffonaded basil and 3 cloves of minced garlic over tomatoes. Marinate for at least an hour . Cook up 3/4 lb. of bow tie pasta till al dente. Add to tomatoes and serve. Too good.
Ferd ofthe Nort
Rest of the Jicama…
Watermelon Jicama Salad
Cut peeled jicama into matchstick size rods about 2 inches long max
Cut Watermelon into same size rods (yes it is fiddly and they break, its food)
Tear up cilantro or flat-leaf parsley as a herb
Toss the watermelon and jicama with lime juice, salt, pepper and olive oil
This is a great hot weather salad. Very juicy and re-hydrating. I do not eat it often because we live in the fridge ARCTIC where we do not have Jicama, fresh herbs or really hot and dry weather.
Ferd ofthe Nort
@Ferd ofthe Nort: FRIGGEN not fridge. Rude words! Rude four letter words!
Autocorrect…
Prescott Cactus
TaMara (HFG),
That pie looks Sooooooo good.
Diet killer, but good !
TaMara (HFG)
@Jeffro: Thank you. I have saved it and am going to try it.
Greg in PDX
I make jicama pineapple salsa. Just add shredded jicama and fresh pineapple to your favorite salsa. Even bottled works!