A Tasty Fourth of July

It has taken me awhile to pull all the recipes together.  We had a quiet COVID 4th of July at the house. Working in the garden, swimming, grilling out and dinner outdoors. It was awesome. Tim and I sharing the kitchen over the past couple days trying out some new recipes.  Tim had given me a new cookbook called Hoosier Mama's Book of Pies.  I love Vinegar Pie and found this cookbook which has an entire section on Depression Era pies.  Miss having the entire family to the house this year but nothing can be done about it.  Maybe next year.  Hope everyone had a great holiday weekend!

The meal consisted of Bacon Jalopeno Deviled Eggs served in my Mom's 70s Heritage Gold Tupperware.  Vinegar Sauce Grilled Chicken, 4 Cheese Mac N Cheese, Baked Beans and Blueberry Pie and homemade Coconut Ice Cream. Here are some of the recipes. 

Bacon Jalapeno Deviled Eggs 

Ingredients 

12 large eggs hard-boiled and peeled 1 cup mayonnaise
1 1/2 teaspoon rice vinegar
3/4 teaspoon dry ground mustard 

1/2 teaspoon sugar
2 jalapenos seeded and diced
6 pieces bacon cooked, crisp, and crumbled Paprika for garnish 

Instructions 

1. Slice the hard boiled eggs in half, lengthwise
   
2.   2. Remove the yolks and put them in a mixing bowl
   
3. Mash the egg yolks with a fork 

4. Add the mayonnaise, rice vinegar, ground mustard, and sugar to the mashed egg yolks and stir until well combined
   
5. Mix in the jalapenos and bacon
   
6. Put the mixture in a Ziploc bag and cut a small hole in the corner of the bag
   
7. Fill each egg hole with the mixture
   
8. Sprinkle with paprika
   
9. Chill until ready to serve 

Smoky Grilled Chicken with Sweet Vinegar Sauce 

A salty-sweet vinegar sauce is brushed over this spice-rubbed chicken as it comes off the grill 

Servings: 4 

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon light-brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 chicken (4 pounds), cut into 10 pieces (breasts halved crosswise) 1/4 cup red-wine vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
1 thinly sliced red chile pepper 

Extra-virgin olive oil 

Directions: 

Combine paprika, mustard, sugar, cayenne, 1 tablespoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper. Sprinkle mixture evenly on chicken, then set chicken on a rimmed baking sheet. Let stand uncovered 1 hour. 

Separately, combine vinegar, honey, and chile. 

Heat a charcoal grill, creating a two-zone fire with vents partially open. Position coals on one side of the grill for direct high heat, and leave the other side empty for indirect lower heat. (On a gas grill, turn one side on high, and leave the other burners off.) Lightly coat chicken with olive oil and place over indirect heat. Cover and cook, turning occasionally, until pieces are cooked through and a thermometer inserted into thickest parts (not touching bones) registers 165 degrees, about 30 minutes. 

Uncover grill; transfer chicken to direct heat. Brush on vinegar sauce as pieces come off the grill, and serve it on the side. 

FOUR CHEESE MAC N CHEESE

INGREDIENTS 

SERVES: 8 

1 lb elbow pasta 

3⁄4 lb sharp cheddar cheese, shredded 

1⁄2 lb gruyere cheese, shredded 1⁄2 cup asiago cheese, shredded 1⁄2 cup Fontina cheese, shredded 

3 tablespoons unsalted butter 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour 2 cups milk 

1 teaspoon onion powder 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
1⁄4 teaspoon dried mustard 

1⁄4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1⁄4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper 

1 cup panko breadcrumbs 

DIRECTIONS 

PLEASE NOTE: This is a BAKED macaroni and cheese, therefore, it will NOT turn out with a lot of extra cheesy sauce asis absorbed into the pasta while baking. If you require an extra saucy mac & cheese, just reduce the amount of pasta you place into the dish or make more sauce so it is creamier. 

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 3 quart rectangular baking dish with non-stick spray. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to boiling. 

Toss all the shredded cheeses together in a large bowl, set aside.

Melt butter in a medium-sized saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the flour until smooth and slightly bubbly. 

In a thin stream, whisk in the milk. Stir in the onion powder, salt, nutmeg, dried mustard and cayenne. 

Bring to a boil over medium high heat. Reduce heat and simmer 3 minutes. Remove from heat; whisk in 2 1/2 cups of the cheese mixture and stir until smooth. Cover to retain the heat. 

Once water boils, add pasta. Cook until your desired doneness, then drain. In the pasta container, stir together the cooked pasta and cheese sauce. 

Pour half of the mixture into the prepared dish. Sprinkle with a generous cup of the reserved cheese. Spoon remaining cheese-covered pasta into the dish and top with the remaining cheese. 

Add 1 cup of Japanese Panko Bread crumbs to the top of mixture. 

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until the Panko crumbs are lightly browned and the cheese is bubbly. Cool slightly before serving. 

( NOTE: I will post the pie recipe in a separate post).

Fried Olives from Balaboosta

Last Friday, we met for lunch on Mulberry for Tim's mother's birthday at a restaurant called Balaboosta.  The food was delicious and one of our favorite things we ate were the fried olives.  Tim bought the cookbook and made them for dinner, Sunday night.  They were delicious.  Despite the difference in panko quality - we have to try putting it through the blender to make it finer. It was delicious.  I am not fond of heat but the Harissa oil was really good.  Tim may switch now from Sciracha to Harissa because it's hotter.  Such a great appetizer!  I found the recipe online and reposted.

BALABOOSTA RECIPES

February 23, 2015

World’s Best Harissa — Recipe from Chef Einat

Makes about 2 ½ Cups

10 garlic cloves

1 large roasted red bell pepper, peeled, cored and seeded

1¼ cups canola oil

¼ cup tomato paste

½ cup ground cumin

⅓ cup cayenne

⅓ cup sweet Hungarian paprika

¼ cup ground caraway

2 tablespoons kosher salt

Directions-

Combine garlic, bell pepper, tomato paste and 3/4 of the oil in a food processor. Pulse until the mixture is almost pureed.

Add cumin, cayenne, paprika, caraway and salt. Slowly drizzle in the remaining ¼ cup oil while the machine is running. Keep processing until the harissa is completely pureed and all ingredients are combined thoroughly.

Store the harissa in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 months.

Fried Olives with Labneh

Serves 2 to 4

Canola oil for deep frying

1 cup all-purpose flour

4 large eggs, beaten

3 cups fine panko

2 cups pitted Kalamata olives

Labneh — find recipe here

Harissa — see recipe above

Directions-

Line up three large bowls and fill one with flour, another with eggs and the third with panko.

Using a slotted spoon, throw handfuls of olives (no more than 8 to 10 at a time) into the flour. Take them out, shaking off excess flour and quickly dip them in the egg. Then place them in the panko and shake off any excess powder before dipping them in the egg mixture again. Move them back to the panko and shake them around to coat evenly. If you notice the panko getting gooey or chunky, strain it of any clumps. Remove excess crumbs with your slotted spoon and place in an airtight container until ready to use.  This can be done up to a day in advance as long as you keep the olives in the refrigerator.

Heat enough oil in a skillet or medium pot to deep-fry the olives. When the oil reaches about 375˚F, carefully place a handful of olives in the oil using your slotted spoon. Fry until golden brown, about 1 minute. Transfer the fried olives to paper towels to absorb excess oil.

To serve, dollop labne evenly across the bottom of a shallow serving bowl. Add olives in the middle. Carefully pour harissa oil around the circumference of the bowl.

Tomatoes On Puff Pastry

In addition to the great assortment of desserts that Tim made this weekend, he found time to cook dinner for the two of us.  After years of having the worst tomatoes to choose from in our garden, we have finally figured out the key to growing great tomatoes. We picked several varieties and Tim found a great way to serve them - this makes a great side dish or appetizer:

TOMATO TARTLETS

Makes 10

All purpose flour for rolling

1 sheet frozen puff pastry , thawed

2 1/2 ounces grated Jarlsbe( 2/3 cup packed)

3 medium tomatoes , cut into ten 1/4 inch thick slices

4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil

Ground pepper

2 white onions, minced and sauteed in olive oil

1/3 cup small basil leaves, for serving

Preheat oven to 375 degrees with racks in upper and middle thirds.  Lightly flour a rolling pin and work surface and roll out puff pastry to a 14 x 16 inch rectangle.  With a 4 in cookie cutter, cut out 10 rounds and transfer to two parchment lined rimmed baking sheets , with a fork, prick each round all over.  Sprinkle 1 tablespoon cheese on each leaving an 1/4 inch border and top with onions and 1 tomato slice.  Brush with oil and season with pepper.

2. Bake until pastry is deep golden at edges 25 to 30 minutes  rotating sheets halfway through.  Let tartlets cool completely on a wire rack. ) Store between layers of parchment in an air tight container, up to 1 day).  Optional to serve, top with basil.