{Tap tap}...Is this thing on?

It’s been so long since I’ve showed my face here that I’ve almost forgotten how this works. I guess that’s ok since I doubt anyone even checks for new posts anymore (except my friend Susannah, who reminds me she is still a loyal reader whenever I see her).  I’d try to explain away my year long (gulp) absence but there is not much to say—young child + full time job+ trying to maintain some semblance of personal /free time (ha!)= little time for cooking period, let alone anything worth writing about. That said, I did enjoy this old blog of mine back in its heyday so thought I’d dip a toe back in the water and see what happens. Posts may be scattered and may not always involve cooking really amazing things (hey, remember when I did this??) but, you know, baby steps.

So without further ado…..Susannah, this one’s for you!

Three day weekends are the best. And I actually spent this one doing some cooking. First up—Smitten Kitchen’s Strawberry and Rhubarb Crisp Bars. I’m not posting the recipe since I followed it pretty much to the letter.  Definitely worth the (minimal) effort—delicious and does not make me feel too guilty for indulging, which is great since I had to buy A TON of rhubarb from the one grocery store I could find that sold it—so we may be eating a lot of these bars over the next week or so.

Next, a Memorial Day bbq “feast.” We were lucky enough to enjoy delicious cookout fare (e.g., burgers, sausages, grilled veggies,etc.) at a friend’s house on Saturday but I still felt the need to cook up something barbeque-y to celebrate the start of summer. I did a little BBQ chicken in the oven using a combo of a Smitten Kitchen’s dryrub oven barbeque chicken and another blogger’s baked chicken recipe (which we are also big fans of here). It turned out well. Although it definitely did not have any kind of crispiness to the skin (if that is something that is important to you). I don’t really go for chicken skin in general (one reason I am not a big fan of fried chicken) so this was fine with me. Moist, flavorful and pretty smoky for not coming within spitting distance of a grill. I served it with corn on the cob and this potato salad.

  

Hope you too spent some quality time with good friends, family and food this weekend. See you back here again...(dare I say) soon??!?

 Gratuitous photo of child-- nothing to do with the rest of the post!

BBQ Chicken (Minus the Grill)

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen and Hellobee

Ingredients:

3 TBL brown sugar

2 TBL smoked paprika

1 teaspoon garlic powder

½ teaspoon cumin

¾ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon white pepper

4 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (any bone-in/skin-on chicken will do)

BBQ sauce of your choosing

1. Make the dry rub by mixing together the first 6 ingredients. This is enough for two recipes if you are using 4 chicken thighs so I poured half into a small bowl and put the rest in an airtight container for another use.

2. Preheat the oven to 350. Place chicken in a baking dish. Rub the chicken—under the skin and on-top of the skin—with the spice mixture. Be generous!

3. Pour a little water in the bottom of the baking dish—up to ½ inch or so. This time, I just put enough in to make sure the bottom was wet. Cover with aluminum foil.

4. Bake for about 50 minutes until chicken is cooked through. Remove foil and pour a TBL or so of BBQ sauce onto each chicken thigh. Up the oven temperature to 400 degrees—put the chicken back in for 10 minutes or so until the BBQ sauce gets a little caramelized. Serve with additional BBQ on the side (if desired).

Sunday Dinner: Potato Salad Edition

  
Did I really not post anything after last week's Sunday Dinner post?!? Oops. In my defense it was a very busy week.... :)

I love potato salad. It is, hands down, my favorite side dish for bbq, burgers and other summer fare (although I’ll eat anytime of year).  My undying love for this dish stems from the homemade recipe I grew up eating at my grandmother’s house in Tennessee. It is such a family favorite that she makes it for every family occasion—Thanksgiving, Christmas, any gathering really. It is the gold standard of potato salad in my eyes and what I hold all others up against.  Unfortunately this makes me incredibly picky when it comes to potato salad—if it’s not as good as what I’m used to, I’d rather not eat it. It’s actually gotten to the point where I almost don’t even order it when offered at restaurants anymore (usually I let Jason order it and then I taste it to determine whether I would eat it or not—eight times out of ten the answer is no.)

You are probably asking yourself—why doesn’t she just get the recipe from her grandmother and make it herself if she loves it so much?! Believe me, I would if I could. But the fact of the matter is, my grandmother doesn’t have a recipe. She just makes it. Both my mother and I have (on separate occasions probably 20 years apart) watched her make it and tried to write down the proportions of the ingredients she uses so we could make it on our own. The problem is, it never turns out quite the same. So we’ve both given up trying to replicate it (same goes for her macaroni and cheese recipe). That doesn’t stop me from looking at every recipe for potato salad I come across to see whether or not it sounds like what I grew up eating.

About a month ago I found a recipe that sounded pretty close and have eagerly been waiting for a chance to try it out. I decided that today was the day to give it a shot.  The recipe is not an exact match, but the result was good though definitely missing something. But it’s as close as I’ve been able to get to date. And that is pretty high praise!

Since I didn’t think we could dine on potato salad alone, I decided to make a marinated flank steak (so tasty—recipe is also below) and corn on the cob to go with it. A perfect near-the-end of summer meal, if you ask me.

Not My Grandmother’s Potato Salad (But Pretty Darn Close)
Adapted slightly from Cook’s Country

Ingredients:
2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes—peeled and cut into smallish cubes
1 ½ teaspoons table salt
3 TBL dill pickle juice, plus ¼ cup finely chopped dill pickles
1 TBL mustard (I used a grainy mustard because that’s what we had but the original recipe called for regular yellow mustard)
¼ teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon celery seed
½ cup mayonnaise
¼ cup sour cream
½ small red onion, chopped fine
1 rib celery, chopped fine
2 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and diced

1.Place potatoes in a large sauce pan and cover with 1 inch of cold water. Bring to boil over high heat and add 1 teaspoon salt. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until potatoes are tender (about 10-15 minutes)
2.Drain potatoes and spread out a rimmed baking sheet. Mix 2 teaspoons pickle juice and mustard together in a small bowl. Spread over potatoes and toss to coat. Cool completely.
3.Mix remaining pickle juice, pickles, ½ teaspoon salt, pepper, celery seed, mayo, sour cream, red onion, and celery in a large bowl. Toss in cooled potatoes, cover and refrigerate until well chilled (about 30 minutes). Stir in eggs just before serving.

Marinated Flank Steak
From Simply Recipes

Ingredients:
1/3 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 TBL red wine vinegar
1/3 cup soy sauce
¼ cup honey
½ teaspoon black pepper
Flank steak
Salt and pepper

1.Score the surface of the steak with ¼ inch cuts across the grain of the meat. Combine the first six ingredients (through the black pepper). Place steak in a large freezer bag and pour marinade over it. Seal the bag and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
2.Preheat grill or broiler. If using the broiler, place the broiler pan in the oven for a few minutes to get hot. Take steak out of the marinade and sprinkle with salt and pepper on both sides.  Place steak on hot grill or broiler pan. Cook for about 4-6 minutes per side. Remove and cover with aluminum foil to rest.
3.After about 10 minutes, slice very thinly against the grain at a slight diagonal.