What's Cookin' for Memorial Day?

[education]

Hi Everyone--

I was just wondering what everyone was going to have for the Memorial Day celebration--be it breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Here in south Texas the meal is beef brisket, generally there will be sausage, possibly chicken--all cooked and smoked on the grille for hours. These meats are accompanied by mustard potato salad, boracho (rather spicy) beans, cole slaw-- and for the truly brave--picked jalapeno pepers. Lots of long necks like Corona with salt on the lip of the bottle and a lime wedge jammed down the beer's neck. Little room for any "sweet conclusions" after that.

What's on your table

Have a great day.

The Professor

 

[Nords]

Phew, as a lifetime avoider of labor-intensive cooking, I have to admit that our memorial meal is probably going to be at a local Italian or Thai restaurant.

Or the family will decide that we I need to run the BBQ. The upside of that is cooking a couple weeks' worth of fish, burgers, & steak.

 

[astromeria]

We're having Florentine steak--that DH had cut 1 1/2-inches thick and will marinate in garlic & olive oil--with grilled vegetables, pasta pesto salad, and strawberries w/chocolate sauce--and cappucino. and wine.

We normally have grilled salmon, chicken, or burgers with American type salads like cole slaw and potato salad, but this year we have friends we met in Italy staying with us.

 

[donheff]

Or the family will decide that we I need to run the BBQ. The upside of that is cooking a couple weeks' worth of fish, burgers, & steak.

I have never been very successful with leftovers. Do you have a technique to make your two weeks of fish, burgers, and steak worth eating?

 

[HFWR]

The munchies?

 

[Papi]

Yo Professor,

I have my brisket in the smoker as I type. I got up at 5am to start it, and I'll let it run until about 6pm. Barbeque beans, coleslaw, and Colorado toast on the side For beverages it is either a Munich Helles I made back in January or Mohitos, and for the adults...

Cheers!

 

[OldAgePensioner]

My Swedish heritage is coming into play on the Memorial. My meal is lined up and ready to go, the Ruffles are ageing in the unopened bag, the Old Milwaukee Light is chillin and my baloney sandwich is all planned. Two slices of Rabbi Fenegstiens best cuts, basil mayo, Gretchen Schwartz's German mustard and two slices of Orowheat white. Yummy.

 

[Nords]

I have never been very successful with leftovers.  Do you have a technique to make your two weeks of fish, burgers, and steak worth eating?

Depends on your foodie standards, and mine are pretty low-class-- slightly above those of a Navy SEAL. So this may not be for everyone.

But once the charcoal is going and I'm commuting between the grill & the cooler, it's not much more effort to cook a lot of food rather than a little. When one grilling session produces six or eight dinners then it's a lot less effort to cook in volume. Leftovers are bagged in individual servings and thrown in the freezer-- nothing fancy, just plastic & rubber bands. If freezer burn kicks in before the food is gone (one or two weeks) we've never noticed. But that may be a low-brow palate's blissiful ignorance.

The dinner decision is usually made around lunchtime so leftovers are defrosted on the kitchen counter, warmed in the microwave, and snarfed at the table. The first one who criticizes the cook gets to do tomorrow's dinner so we typically bask in the warm glow of mutual appreciation.

I usually grill without goop, but I marinade swordfish in Italian dressing and chicken legs in hulihuli or teriyaki sauce.

For a higher-quality grilling experience, I'll now defer to TH... hello?

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

I did a 6 or 7lb brisket a couple of weeks ago. Usually I like to do a pork shoulder at the same time and put the shoulder on the top shelf with the brisket under it, so the shoulder drips onto the brisket and keeps it moist and tender. Simple dry rub.

Brought home a whole 14lb NY strip yesterday and a bunch of pretty good looking short ribs.

Not sure what i'm going to do with them yet. Probably some nice 2-2.5" steaks and take about 6" off the end for a NY "steakroast". Sometime later this week i'll brown the roast in a pan, finish it in the oven and make a nice deglazed pan sauce with some wine, shallots and butter...or maybe shitake mushrooms, cream, fresh tarragon and either a bit of sherry or maybe some sherry vinegar.

I think i'll trim the shortribs and do half of them spicy korean style and for the other half, rub them with horseradish and slow cook them all for a couple of hours.

So the menu is starting to look like my wife and i splitting one of those big steaks, a couple of short ribs, fresh asparagus, a couple of the humongous baking potatoes I got yesterday, and fresh strawberries and ollalaberries from the farm up the street for dessert. Probably margaritas since i have some good tekillya and a sack of fresh limes and oranges.

I usually grill without goop too, maybe a little rub or some salt and pepper on beef to encourage a little better crust on it.

For grillers looking for a change of pace, if you like it spicy, and if you have a "cost plus world market" near you, try the Walkerswood jerk seasoning they sell, a paste in a jar. The 'real deal' with habanero's and everything. A few teaspoons tossed with those chicken parts in a ziploc for 10-15 minutes of marinating, a quick grill, and a squeeze of lime. Jerk chicken wings are a staple around here. Or toss some shrimp in butter for a few minutes and add a spoonful, toss a few more minutes and then do a lime squeeze.

http://www.walkerswood.com/products/detail_pages/Tradjerkseasoning.asp

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

The short ribs were a biiig hit.