Hello all!! First of all, Happy Fourth of July!! May we all remember how blessed by God we are to live in a free country and may we always be grateful to the men and women who have served, are serving and will serve in the future to protect the freedoms we hold dear. To celebrate today I made some of my favorite summer cookout foods, but I made them in the comfort of my apartment. Two of the recipes are Rachael's but I also used a Bobby Flay recipe and a Giada DeLaurentiis recipe! To celebrate Independence Day, here is Rachael Ray's "Coney Island Chili Dogs and Salt & Vinegar Oven Fries" with Bobby Flay's "Creamy Cole Slaw" and for dessert, Giada DeLaurentiis' "Citrus Gelato".
First up was starting the oven fries. Turn the oven on to preheat at 425 degrees. Something in this recipe that i had never seen in any other recipe was to preheat the baking sheet in the oven while the oven preheats. I find that in order to keep the oven fries from being too piled on top of each other, it works better to split them between two baking sheets, two potatoes per sheet. If you have an extremely large baking sheet, which I don't, you can probably get them all in an even layer on one baking sheet. While the oven preheats, peel the potatoes. I leave a little skin on each end of the potatoes when I peel them just to have a little textural difference but to peel or not to peel is completely up to you. If you like the peel a lot, you can leave it all on or peel and leave the ends like I did, or if you don't like it peel all of it off. Once they are peeled, slice the potatoes in half lengthwise and then cut 5 wedges per half, coming out to 10 wedges per potato. Once the oven reaches 425 degrees, take the baking sheet, or sheets, out of the oven and drizzle the pan with EVOO. Scatter the potatoes in an even layer, coat in the EVOO and sprinkle with grill seasoning. Put the potatoes in the oven and let them cook for about 40 minutes until they are soft on the inside and crispy and golden brown on the outside. Be sure to check them every so often and turn them, otherwise they will burn on one side. When the potatoes come out of the oven you sprinkle them with sea salt and drizzle them with malt vinegar. These were so tasty and reminded me of salt and vinegar potato chips! While the oven was preheating I actually started working on the coney island chili sauce and here's how I made that!!
Start off by heating a tablespoon of vegetable oil in a medium sauce pot. As all my friends can attest to, my kitchen looks like a Rachael Ray product display and I have both the RR oval dutch oven and the RR round dutch oven. I used my round dutch oven for this. I find using a cast enamel dutch oven gets a wonderful caramelization on the beef and holds the heat well while the chili cooks. If you don't have a dutch oven, a medium sauce pot will work just fine. For this recipe, I really wanted to get a nice crust on the meat before I began breaking it up. Rachael has to great tips for making that happen. Rachael Tip: To get a great caramelization and crust on the meat, first take the meat out of the fridge to take the chill off of it. If you put really cold meat into the pan it seizes up. Second, pat the meat dry before putting it into the pan. If the meat is wet, it won't caramelize and build that nice crust. Once the meat had a nice caramelization I broke the meat up into fine crumbles. Because this is a chili that is going on top of hot dogs, you don't want huge clumps of the meat. It really needs to be a fine crumble. As I've stated before, I have a pampered chef tool that was given to me that is fantastic for doing that. But, don't go out and pay for an expensive tool just for that. If you have a potato masher it is terrific for breaking up meat. You can also use a wooden spoon, it'll just take a little more work. Once the meat was browned I added in the onion, garlic, chili powder, salt and pepper and let the onions sweat out. The onions are chopped really fine for this recipe so they cook out pretty quickly. Something that was not in the original recipe was to drain the meat. While I love the buttery taste and texture of ground chuck, I don't like knowing I'm consuming that much fat. I drained the meat after he onions were sweated out just to remove some of the fat from the chili. After draining I added the meat mixture back to the pot and added in the tomato paste. Rachael Tip: When using tomato paste in a small can, as in this recipe, or whether it is in a tube, you want to let it cook out a minute to "wake up" the tomato paste. Cook out the tomato paste until it is fragrant and then you can proceed with the recipe. At this point I added in the cup of water and let the mixture come to a boil. Once the mixture came to a boil I added in the spicy brown mustard, worcestershire sauce and brown sugar. Before whisking it into the chili I mixed these three ingredients together in a bowl to dissolve the brown sugar and then added it. At this point I turned the chili down to a low simmer and let it simmer for about 40-45 minutes to thicken up. Once done I tasted it and adjusted my seasoning as needed. The recipe calls for all beef hot dogs which I highly recommend. It also instructs to cook them by heating water to a boil, reducing to a low boil and then adding the hot dogs in for 4-5 minutes to heat through. I actually prefer to have a hot dog grilled than boiled. I like them boiled, but I prefer them grilled. I don't have a grill pan but i do have a little griddle pan. I heated the griddle pan over medium heat and sprayed with canola oil cooking spray. When the pan was hot I placed the hot dogs on the pan and let them get nicely browned all over. All beef hot dogs have a casing and when grilled or placed on a griddle the casing gets crispy and just pops in your mouth! When the dogs were done, I placed the hot dog buns on the griddle for a few seconds to toast, placed the dog in the bun and topped with the coney island chili sauce. The recipe calls to put chopped raw white onion on top, which is perfectly acceptable. I'm not a huge fan of raw white onion, so I didn't but if you like it by all means go for it!!
The other side dish I made for this meal was Bobby Flay's "Creamy Cole Slaw". I actually made this the night before so that all the flavors could meld together. First up shred the head of cabbage and the carrots. First quarter the head of cabbage. Slice into the cabbage on an angle to remove the core. I used my food processor because I like a very finely shredded cole slaw. If you like larger pieces of cabbage, thinly shred it with a knife. If you don't have a food processor you can also shred the carrots on a box grater. The dressing for this slaw is really delicious and had ingredients I wouldn't have though to use. I mixed together the mayo, sour cream, grated onion, sugar, white wine vinegar, dry mustard, celery salt and pepper. The recipe also calls for regular salt. I would mix the dressing without the regular salt first, taste it, and then decide if you need to add any salt. I tasted it and the celery salt was plenty for my taste. Once mixed, I added it into the cabbage and carrot mixture and let it sit over night. Before serving, I tasted again and mine needed a little extra sugar. Be sure you taste your food ;)
Last, but not least, was dessert. Fourth of July just wouldn't be the Fourth of July without homemade ice cream, or at least not in my family. So for dessert was Giada's "Citrus Gelato". I actually made this the night before as well so that it had plenty of time to set up in the freezer. First up is to make the base for the gelato. I whisked together the egg yolks and sugar in a stainless steel pot until mixed and then slowly whisked in the heavy cream, whole milk and buttermilk. I then grated in the lime, lemon and orange zest and mixed together. Place the pot over medium heat and stir with a wooden spoon until the custard coats the back of the spoon. It should take about 8-10 minutes. The best way to tell if it is ready is to coat the back of the spoon and then run your finger down the middle of the mixture. If the mixture stays separate and doesn't come back together, it's done. The mixture then goes into a 4 cup measuring cup and stays in the refrigerator for 3 hours. I did stir it every so often to prevent a skin from forming on top of the mixture. After three hours you can either cover and leave it in the fridge until you are ready for it, or you can go ahead and mix it in an ice cream maker. I have a cuisinart countertop ice cream maker and it takes about 25-30 minutes to be ready to go in the freezer. While the mixture is mixing, peel and segment the orange but cutting between the membranes and pulling the segments out. Cut them into 1/2" chunks and in the last 10 minutes or so of freezing, add them into the mixture. Once the mixture was done, I transferred it into a container with a lid and put it in the freezer. I have to say it set up perfectly and was just refreshing and delicious!
This whole meal was a great one for Independence Day and all the flavors worked so well together! Hope you guys will try some of these for your next cookout. I promise, you won't be disappointed! Buon Appetito!
Recipes:
The recipe for the Coney Island Chili Dogs is found in Rachael Ray's The Book of Burger. The recipe for the Salt & Vinegar Oven Fries is found in Rachael Ray's My Year In Meals.
The recipe for the Creamy Cole Slaw and the Citrus Gelato can be found at the links below.
Creamy Cole Slaw:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/bobby-flay/creamy-cole-slaw-recipe.html
Citrus Gelato:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/citrus-gelato-recipe.html
First up was starting the oven fries. Turn the oven on to preheat at 425 degrees. Something in this recipe that i had never seen in any other recipe was to preheat the baking sheet in the oven while the oven preheats. I find that in order to keep the oven fries from being too piled on top of each other, it works better to split them between two baking sheets, two potatoes per sheet. If you have an extremely large baking sheet, which I don't, you can probably get them all in an even layer on one baking sheet. While the oven preheats, peel the potatoes. I leave a little skin on each end of the potatoes when I peel them just to have a little textural difference but to peel or not to peel is completely up to you. If you like the peel a lot, you can leave it all on or peel and leave the ends like I did, or if you don't like it peel all of it off. Once they are peeled, slice the potatoes in half lengthwise and then cut 5 wedges per half, coming out to 10 wedges per potato. Once the oven reaches 425 degrees, take the baking sheet, or sheets, out of the oven and drizzle the pan with EVOO. Scatter the potatoes in an even layer, coat in the EVOO and sprinkle with grill seasoning. Put the potatoes in the oven and let them cook for about 40 minutes until they are soft on the inside and crispy and golden brown on the outside. Be sure to check them every so often and turn them, otherwise they will burn on one side. When the potatoes come out of the oven you sprinkle them with sea salt and drizzle them with malt vinegar. These were so tasty and reminded me of salt and vinegar potato chips! While the oven was preheating I actually started working on the coney island chili sauce and here's how I made that!!
Start off by heating a tablespoon of vegetable oil in a medium sauce pot. As all my friends can attest to, my kitchen looks like a Rachael Ray product display and I have both the RR oval dutch oven and the RR round dutch oven. I used my round dutch oven for this. I find using a cast enamel dutch oven gets a wonderful caramelization on the beef and holds the heat well while the chili cooks. If you don't have a dutch oven, a medium sauce pot will work just fine. For this recipe, I really wanted to get a nice crust on the meat before I began breaking it up. Rachael has to great tips for making that happen. Rachael Tip: To get a great caramelization and crust on the meat, first take the meat out of the fridge to take the chill off of it. If you put really cold meat into the pan it seizes up. Second, pat the meat dry before putting it into the pan. If the meat is wet, it won't caramelize and build that nice crust. Once the meat had a nice caramelization I broke the meat up into fine crumbles. Because this is a chili that is going on top of hot dogs, you don't want huge clumps of the meat. It really needs to be a fine crumble. As I've stated before, I have a pampered chef tool that was given to me that is fantastic for doing that. But, don't go out and pay for an expensive tool just for that. If you have a potato masher it is terrific for breaking up meat. You can also use a wooden spoon, it'll just take a little more work. Once the meat was browned I added in the onion, garlic, chili powder, salt and pepper and let the onions sweat out. The onions are chopped really fine for this recipe so they cook out pretty quickly. Something that was not in the original recipe was to drain the meat. While I love the buttery taste and texture of ground chuck, I don't like knowing I'm consuming that much fat. I drained the meat after he onions were sweated out just to remove some of the fat from the chili. After draining I added the meat mixture back to the pot and added in the tomato paste. Rachael Tip: When using tomato paste in a small can, as in this recipe, or whether it is in a tube, you want to let it cook out a minute to "wake up" the tomato paste. Cook out the tomato paste until it is fragrant and then you can proceed with the recipe. At this point I added in the cup of water and let the mixture come to a boil. Once the mixture came to a boil I added in the spicy brown mustard, worcestershire sauce and brown sugar. Before whisking it into the chili I mixed these three ingredients together in a bowl to dissolve the brown sugar and then added it. At this point I turned the chili down to a low simmer and let it simmer for about 40-45 minutes to thicken up. Once done I tasted it and adjusted my seasoning as needed. The recipe calls for all beef hot dogs which I highly recommend. It also instructs to cook them by heating water to a boil, reducing to a low boil and then adding the hot dogs in for 4-5 minutes to heat through. I actually prefer to have a hot dog grilled than boiled. I like them boiled, but I prefer them grilled. I don't have a grill pan but i do have a little griddle pan. I heated the griddle pan over medium heat and sprayed with canola oil cooking spray. When the pan was hot I placed the hot dogs on the pan and let them get nicely browned all over. All beef hot dogs have a casing and when grilled or placed on a griddle the casing gets crispy and just pops in your mouth! When the dogs were done, I placed the hot dog buns on the griddle for a few seconds to toast, placed the dog in the bun and topped with the coney island chili sauce. The recipe calls to put chopped raw white onion on top, which is perfectly acceptable. I'm not a huge fan of raw white onion, so I didn't but if you like it by all means go for it!!
The other side dish I made for this meal was Bobby Flay's "Creamy Cole Slaw". I actually made this the night before so that all the flavors could meld together. First up shred the head of cabbage and the carrots. First quarter the head of cabbage. Slice into the cabbage on an angle to remove the core. I used my food processor because I like a very finely shredded cole slaw. If you like larger pieces of cabbage, thinly shred it with a knife. If you don't have a food processor you can also shred the carrots on a box grater. The dressing for this slaw is really delicious and had ingredients I wouldn't have though to use. I mixed together the mayo, sour cream, grated onion, sugar, white wine vinegar, dry mustard, celery salt and pepper. The recipe also calls for regular salt. I would mix the dressing without the regular salt first, taste it, and then decide if you need to add any salt. I tasted it and the celery salt was plenty for my taste. Once mixed, I added it into the cabbage and carrot mixture and let it sit over night. Before serving, I tasted again and mine needed a little extra sugar. Be sure you taste your food ;)Last, but not least, was dessert. Fourth of July just wouldn't be the Fourth of July without homemade ice cream, or at least not in my family. So for dessert was Giada's "Citrus Gelato". I actually made this the night before as well so that it had plenty of time to set up in the freezer. First up is to make the base for the gelato. I whisked together the egg yolks and sugar in a stainless steel pot until mixed and then slowly whisked in the heavy cream, whole milk and buttermilk. I then grated in the lime, lemon and orange zest and mixed together. Place the pot over medium heat and stir with a wooden spoon until the custard coats the back of the spoon. It should take about 8-10 minutes. The best way to tell if it is ready is to coat the back of the spoon and then run your finger down the middle of the mixture. If the mixture stays separate and doesn't come back together, it's done. The mixture then goes into a 4 cup measuring cup and stays in the refrigerator for 3 hours. I did stir it every so often to prevent a skin from forming on top of the mixture. After three hours you can either cover and leave it in the fridge until you are ready for it, or you can go ahead and mix it in an ice cream maker. I have a cuisinart countertop ice cream maker and it takes about 25-30 minutes to be ready to go in the freezer. While the mixture is mixing, peel and segment the orange but cutting between the membranes and pulling the segments out. Cut them into 1/2" chunks and in the last 10 minutes or so of freezing, add them into the mixture. Once the mixture was done, I transferred it into a container with a lid and put it in the freezer. I have to say it set up perfectly and was just refreshing and delicious! This whole meal was a great one for Independence Day and all the flavors worked so well together! Hope you guys will try some of these for your next cookout. I promise, you won't be disappointed! Buon Appetito!
Recipes:
The recipe for the Coney Island Chili Dogs is found in Rachael Ray's The Book of Burger. The recipe for the Salt & Vinegar Oven Fries is found in Rachael Ray's My Year In Meals.
The recipe for the Creamy Cole Slaw and the Citrus Gelato can be found at the links below.
Creamy Cole Slaw:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/bobby-flay/creamy-cole-slaw-recipe.html
Citrus Gelato:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/citrus-gelato-recipe.html
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