FAVORITE SUMMER FOODS: BACON CHIVE POTATO SALAD

There are some dishes that just scream summer and potato salad is one of those. There is rarely a picnic or BBQ without it on the table. As a southerner, potato salad and deviled eggs are something you grow up eating and some of the very first dishes you learn to make. I always helped my mom make the potato salad... I can remember standing on the kitchen stool, peeling the potatoes or cracking he hard boiled eggs. She always told me that mayonnaise is the most important ingredient in potato salad and to this day, I find that to be correct. If you skimp on the mayo, the integrity of the dish changes drastically.

I typically make my mom's potato salad recipe with lots of yellow mustard and onion but here's a new spin on potato salad that I really like. This version tastes like a baked potato with sour cream, bacon and chives... try it as an alternative to your own version of potato salad. You'll love it!

BACON CHIVE POTATO SALAD

1 pound red potatoes

3 tablespoons kosher salt plus 1 teaspoon

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1 teaspoon vinegar

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon yellow mustard

1/4 cup sour cream

2 tablespoons fresh chives, minced, plus 1 teaspoon for garnish

10 bacon strips, cooked crisp and crumbled reserve some for garnish

Put the potatoes and 3 tablespoons salt in a pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and cook until the potatoes are fork tender, about 10-12 minutes. Drain. Let cool slightly. Cut into halves or quarter if the potatoes are large.

In your serving bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, vinegar, Dijon, sour cream, 1 teaspoon salt and the pepper. 

Add the potatoes while they are still warm and toss well to coat. Try not to break up the potatoes too much. Add the bacon and chives, toss again and check seasoning. You may want a bit more sour cream because the warm potatoes will soak up most of the liquid. Add a bit more salt and pepper depending on your taste. Serve immediately or chill until serving time. Garnish with a dollop of sour cream plus the chives and bacon.

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Party Serving Solutions: Mason Jars for Serving a "Salad in a Jar"

Canning jars are awesome. No matter if you use them for serving beverages, as a vase for flowers, or as a portable serving solution, canning jars are inexpensive and also rather cool. I have quite an assortment of canning jars: Mason, Ball, and Kerr are some of the brands you'll see in stores. And if you have some of the blue or antique jars... lucky you!

This past weekend, I shared one of my ideas for spring and summer entertaining with guests at The Trussville Literary Club's tablescape event. Everyone loved my "salad in a jar" so I thought I'd share it with you. There are lots of variations on this theme. Be creative and come up with your own!

Salad in a Jar: An easy and creative way to serve salad for a party!Salad in a Jar: Layered Spinach & Fruit Salad with Poppyseed Dressing

Functional, easy, and pretty! If you are going to prep the day before your event, you probably should add the dressing just before serving so everything doesn't get soggy. But you can prep up to four hours before with the dressing in the bottom of this recipe and you'll be fine... but keep the jars chilled on ice, in the fridge, or in a cooler. And it is a perfect solution for picnics, too!

Makes 6

1- 9 ounce package of fresh baby spinach leaves, wash and remove the stems

1- 16 ounce container fresh strawberries, washed, dried, hulled, and sliced

1- 15 ounce can mandarin orange slices, drained

2 cups walnuts, toasted and roughly chopped

1- 6 ounce container Belle Chevre Belle and the Bee Breakfast goat cheese (or if you cannot find it, make your own by swirling honey into goat cheese to make it creamy and slightly sweet)

Poppyseed Dressing recipe  (or your favorite dressing)

Assembly

Start by spooning about 2-3 tablespoons of dressing into the bottom of the jar. Enough so you can see the layer of dressing. Next, add about 1 1/2 cups of the spinach leaves. Layer the strawberry slices around the outside of the jar and work your way in so they look pretty. Do the same with the orange slices. Next, add the walnuts and top with a thin layer of the goat cheese. Secure the lid and chill until serving time.

Poppyseed Dressing Recipe

1 1/2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

1/2 teaspoon honey

1/4 teaspoon lemon juice

1/8 teaspoon Kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon sugar

1/8 cup sweet white onion, like a Vidallia, chopped

1/2 cup plain yogurt (some people prefer mayo instead)

2 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil

3/4 teaspoon poppyseeds

a bit of water to thin, if required

Add everything but the oil and the poppyseeds into a blender or food processor and blend until very smooth and there is no trace of the onion. Reduce to the lowest speed and stream in the vegetable oil. Turn off the blender and add the poppyseeds. If you find it too thick (which I love for fruit) you can thin with a bit of water.  I use an immersion blender for this recipe. It's fast and easy to clean up!

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Weekend Recipe: The Wedge Salad

I have been craving a simple wedge salad. Perfect little snack or just the right size to accompany a big Saturday night steak. Get your wedge on tonight! It's super easy for dinner or for a big crowd when you are grilling. Simply cut our old friend iceberg lettuce into wedges, put on a platter, cover, and chill until serving time. To serve, sprinkle with bacon, cheese, chopped tomatoes, scallions, toasted almond slivers or your other toppings. Serve with your favorite dressing or this so-good faux Thousand Island dressing my mom used to make.

For the real bacon bits, take cold bacon and chop it into chunks. Fry over medium heat until crispy and brown. Drain on paper towels.

Faux Thousand Island Dressing

1 cup mayo

1/4 cup ketchup

the yolk of one hard boiled egg

1 tablespoon dill relish

salt and pepper to taste

dash paprika

dash Worcestershire sauce

Mix together well and chill until serving time.

Summer Entertaining: Host a Pirate Party with Island Decorations, Food and Drinks!

Ahoy maties.... Are you looking for a fun party theme? An island-inspired pirate party is the perfect way to kick off summer- or end it, for that matter! Use these ideas for a end of school party, a high school graduation, a backyard movie night party complete with a screening of Pirates of the Caribbean, a birthday party, a Luau---it's even perfect for your next supper club or a bridal shower! Tweak the decorations and the food to fit your crowd. I got the idea from a dear friend, Terri Merren, who lives in the Cayman Islands. Terri sent me her cookbook and explained that the Cayman Islands hosts a "pirate week" celebration each year. Her picture below inspired my pirate party theme. Thank you Terri!  

 

HERE'S THE PIRATE PARTY WE SHOWCASED DURING THE METROPOLITAN COOKING & ENTERTAINING SHOW IN ATLANTA!

PIRATE PARTY MENU

Signature Cocktail: GOOMBAY SMASH

I knew I wanted to use my Goombay Smash recipe as the signature cocktail for this party theme because it is a favorite drink in the islands. Since it has rum and pineapple, I decided to use those elements as a consistent theme throughout my menu and for decorations. To cut costs, eliminate the brandy and use Grand Marnier or whatever orange liqueur you have instead.  

MARTIE'S MOJITO MELON BOATS

Use honeydew or cantaloupe as your melon. I prefer cantaloupe. The marinade is exactly what you'd find in a mojito.... rum, mint, and lime.

For the marinade, mix a cup of rum, the juice of one lime, and 1/2 cup finely chopped mint leaves for each melon. I don't use spiced rum for this recipe. If the melon isn't very sweet, I will add about 1/2 cup simple syrup that I have infused with mint to my marinade or a little drizzle of honey.

Cut your melon into "boats" and use a toothpick to poke small holes in the top of each slice. Fill the holes with the rum mixture and let it marinate in the refrigerator or cooler for an hour or more before guests arrive. Plate and insert your "pirate sails" or other nautical decoration. I used scrap paper and some pirate stickers from Oriental Trading Company and a wooden skewer to make the sails.

CARIBBEAN-SPICED SHRIMP with PINEAPPLE SALSA

I love this recipe from my great friends at MyRecipes.com and it's perfect for this party theme. I thought it would make it on skewers to make serving easier. The shrimp cook so quickly, it's an easy make-ahead dish. Make the salsa in advance and bring it all to room temp before serving. This recipe calls for a lot of spices but you don't have to use all of them.

BAYLEY'S WEST INDIES SALAD

Another great recipe from MyRecipes.com, also perfect for an island themed party. I make it ahead and store individual servings in jars (a mason jar works great) kept on ice in the cooler until party time. I like to add plantain chips as a garnish just before guests arrive.

PIRATE PARTY DECORATIONS

The decorations are so simple. You can get a lot of what you need from my friends at ORIENTAL TRADING COMPANY. I made some of the decorations---- like the pineapple tree and the sails for my melon boats and filled in the rest with supplies from OTC. The pineapple tree only took about 30 minutes to make- start to finish. The sails were about 15 minutes. Use pirate hats, swords, coins, treasure chests, etc to fill in the rest. Here are the instructions for our fantastic pineapple tree:

You need a stable base--- a heavy piece of wood works. I told the guy at Lowe's what I wanted to do and he pointed me to the plumbing supplies for a flange and a short piece of pipe that screwed together. I attached it to the wood with Velcro but you can screw it down or glue it. Next, twist the top off the pineapples and cut the top and bottom to make them level. Cut out the inner core of each pineapple. I used an apple corer to do this, but a long, thin knife will also work. Stack the pineapples on top of each other to form the trunk of your tree. Add some foliage (you can even take cuttings from your own plants) by sticking the stems into the cut pineapple. Add a flag if you want to like we did. You can also use the pineapples to serve your shrimp skewers by inserting them into the pineapple! Everyone loved this idea! 

Get party decorations from Oriental Trading Company. You can get a huge box of pirate party booty and supplies for very little money. Check out the awesome pirate hats; you can double duty them by turning them into table decorations and serving bowls like we did for our Pirates of the Caribbean candy bar! Special shout out to all of our friends from the Metropolitan Cooking & Entertaining Show in Atlanta for having so much fun with us at our pirate party!    

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Fall Food: It's Apple Time! Triple A Salad with Arugula, Apples and Almonds

Fall is my favorite season and the food has a lot to do with that. I love the savory flavors of fall: apples are coming in right now and there is so much you can do with them! I watched my friends Sam & Carolyn make apple jelly on Sunday with locally grown Jonathan and McIntosh apples. It's a lot of work for a small yield but sooo worth it. Delish.

Try my Triple A Salad for your next dinner party. It's easy, colorful, and everyone will love it. I like the tart flavor of the Granny Smith combined with a sweet apple like Gala but you can use only one variety.

MARTIE'S TRIPLE A SALAD WITH ARUGULA, APPLES & ALMONDS and SHERRY VINAIGRETTE

Ingredients

Baby Arugula leaves or you can use Spinach if you prefer or mix the two together

1 Gala and/or Granny Smith apple, sliced (slice just before serving to keep from turning brown)

1 cup sliced almonds, lightly toasted (toss in a skillet or pan over heat to toast)

1 cup dried cranberries (soak in apple brandy if you have it to hydrate them but not required)

1/2 cup crumbled Gorgonzola cheese

Sherry Vinaigrette Dressing

I love love the Sherry Vinaigrette they serve at Chef Frank Stitt's Cafe Bottega. I didn't have his recipe but I believe this is very close.

1/2 large shallot, finely minced

5 thyme sprigs- remove the leaves from the woody stems and finely chop the leaves

4 tablespoons Sherry Vinegar

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

salt & pepper

Add the shallot, thyme, and sherry vinegar to a bowl. Use a whisk and slowly stream in the olive oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste. 

Combine all salad ingredients. Just before serving, slice the apple and toss with dressing. 

Stay tuned! My Caramel Apple Martini is our Weekend Cocktail!