What Are You Having for US Independence Day?

[johnnyd]

Here in Maine, a traditional July Fourth meal includes Salmon and Peas.

Salmon and peas on Independence Day is an old Maine tradition that hearkens back to the days when wild salmon were plentiful in the state's rivers, and peas were a tasty summer holdover of the traditional English diet. Old-time Mainers didn't plan to celebrate the Fourth this way; wild-caught salmon and home-grown peas were simply the foods that were available at this time of year after a long, hard winter and cool spring.

A True Fish Story - Portland Press herald 7.1.09 - A Maine tradition for over 100 years.

Interestingly, the area chefs are working this theme hard and coming up with some terrific menus.

*Earl Morse of Eve's at The Portland Harbor Hotel (formerly at White Barn Inn in K'Port) plans a nifty micro-plate of Atlantic salmon nestled on baby spinach with Maine pea puree and turned buttered potatoes.

*Chef Larry Matthews Jr. at Back Bay Grill in Portland is serving Scottish salmon, hand-rolled fettucine, chanterelles, English peas and pea puree.

*Joel Frantzman of Sullivan Harbor Farm in Hancock Village does a hot-smoked salmon toast on bitter greens with chilled pea soup.

Mere mortals poach a whole fish and serve with a bernaise or white sauce with dill & mustard, serve with fresh flash-boiled peas and new potatoes, then cap it off with a strawberry shortcake.

What's happening in your neck of the woods this weekend?

[PopsicleToze]

Our tradition is the typical family bbq chicken, potato salad, baked beans and garlic bread. Watermelon for dessert is a must.

We used to do homemade vanilla ice cream years ago, but that tradition faded away. Lots of little cold behinds sitting on the manual turner keeping the lid on.

Rhonda

[Kouign Aman]

Blueberry pancakes to start the day.

At some point, corn on the cob.

Everything else is still up in the air.

[Taboni]

I will be smoking a brisket as I am honing my recipe for an upcoming KCBS competition on the 25th

[petite tête de chou]

Grilled chicken, steaks, prawns and corn on the cob

Mayonnaise-based potato salad- maybe with bacon

Vegetable pasta salad dressed with a red wine vinaigrette

Watermelon, cantaloupe, nectarines and strawberries

Triscuits with smoked swiss, extra sharp cheddar and sharp cheddar

Refrigerator pickles

Maybe a chocolate cream pie or homemade ice-cream

[violetfox]

Here in Maine, a traditional July Fourth meal includes Salmon and Peas.

Salmon and peas on Independence Day is an old Maine tradition that hearkens back to the days when wild salmon were plentiful in the state's rivers, and peas were a tasty summer holdover of the traditional English diet. Old-time Mainers didn't plan to celebrate the Fourth this way; wild-caught salmon and home-grown peas were simply the foods that were available at this time of year after a long, hard winter and cool spring.

A True Fish Story - Portland Press herald 7.1.09 - A Maine tradition for over 100 years.

Interestingly, the area chefs are working this theme hard and coming up with some terrific menus.

*Earl Morse of Eve's at The Portland Harbor Hotel (formerly at White Barn Inn in K'Port) plans a nifty micro-plate of Atlantic salmon nestled on baby spinach with Maine pea puree and turned buttered potatoes.

*Chef Larry Matthews Jr. at Back Bay Grill in Portland is serving Scottish salmon, hand-rolled fettucine, chanterelles, English peas and pea puree.

*Joel Frantzman of Sullivan Harbor Farm in Hancock Village does a hot-smoked salmon toast on bitter greens with chilled pea soup.

Mere mortals poach a whole fish and serve with a bernaise or white sauce with dill & mustard, serve with fresh flash-boiled peas and new potatoes, then cap it off with a strawberry shortcake.

What's happening in your neck of the woods this weekend?

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All sound great, but I actually really like salmon with old-fashioned white sauce with chopped egg! New potatoes and peas are delicious and traditional, but given the weather which is best suited to ark-building as of the last three weeks, I don't see any new potatoes and peas arriving for the foreseeable future. (I'm in Franklin County, BTW.)

ANYWAY...we're going camping (don't laugh) and planning on fresh-caught trout au bleu, boiled "not new, or new from away" potatoes, and some kind of greens, possibly sauteed pea shoots. Definitely strawberry shortcake with fire-baked shortcakes and local strawberries.

Did I happen to mention beer?

[johnnyd]

I hear ya VF. The jet stream has built a wall of water around New England. We've had ten straight days of fog in Portland harbor. Camping sounds GREAT to me as long as I have plenty of polypropylene and there's a big fire burning at all times... and beer.

I worry that we won't see fresh peas until at least mid month, and they will be expensive. Last year I saw a basket-full at a small grocery store and piled handfulls into a bag to purchase. I ended up paying ELEVEN DOLLARS!!!

What am I supposed to do? "Honey! The peas are in season! All eight of them!"

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Taboni: Good luck on the 25th. Smoke 'em if you got 'em!

[Shelby]

I have a bunch of pork ribs that I want to smoke until they fall off the bone Also the usual pasta salads, baked beans and deviled eggs. I'm craving those jalapeno things that you wrap in bacon and throw on the grill.

We have today until Tuesday off!!! So, I will be cooking a lot. Tell me what you guys are having so I can get some ideas!

[mtigges]

I don't celebrate US Independence Day, but we just had our nationalistic holiday yesterday. I grilled a hanging tender. I've made this cut now I think 6 times or so. This was definitely the best.

I used about half a weber chimney's worth of lump, so med heat or so. It got a good sear on each side, just a touch of flame kissing, then finish on the cool side with some hickory smoking on the coals for probably less than 10 minutes ... till it was done.

With a huge plate of fresh snow peas steamed with fish sauce, chili, lime, basil, touch of soy and some garlic and onion I'd previously sweated.

Absolutely delicious. Best Canada Day ever.

[NadyaDuke]

We are hosting two barbecues this weekend, and I'm keeping them both simple. Friday we're having a family over and I'm thinking I'll serve:

Chips & Guacamole (Because I'm craving this!)

Jicama and Celery

Margaritas

Ribs

Potato Salad

Undecided vegetable salad- Cole Slaw? Broccoli Slaw?

We really won't want dessert but I may make homemade ice cream sandwiches on the excuse that there will be children present. And by homemade I simply mean ice cream between good store-bought oatmeal cookies.

For the 4th we're hosting a barbecue for the neighbors. We're providing hamburgers, hot dogs & fixings, and the guests are bringing the rest. We're getting the hot dogs at place we just learned about: Otto's Sausage Kitchen, which supposedly is one of the 10 best hot dogs in the country according to Epicurious. We haven't been there before so that will be fun and we'll see if buy three times more than I need like the year we went to Gartner's meats - another great butcher. Fortunately sausages freeze well!

[Fat Guy]

We're planning to do hamburgers (grinding our own meat) and hot dogs for tomorrow's July 4th cookout with friends in Connecticut. Then our version of Korean BBQ on Saturday. Grilled pizza on Sunday.

[lancastermike]

One big old hunk of pig on the smoker

[Shelby]

We are hosting two barbecues this weekend, and I'm keeping them both simple.  Friday we're having a family over and I'm thinking I'll serve:

Chips & Guacamole (Because I'm craving this!)

Jicama and Celery

Margaritas

Ribs

Potato Salad

Undecided vegetable salad- Cole Slaw?  Broccoli Slaw?

We really won't want dessert but I may make homemade ice cream sandwiches on the excuse that there will be children present.  And by homemade I simply mean ice cream between good store-bought oatmeal cookies.

For the 4th we're hosting a barbecue for the neighbors.  We're providing hamburgers, hot dogs & fixings, and the guests are bringing the rest.  We're getting the hot dogs at place we just learned about: Otto's Sausage Kitchen, which supposedly is one of the 10 best hot dogs in the country according to Epicurious.  We haven't been there before so that will be fun and we'll see if buy three times more than I need like the year we went to Gartner's meats - another great butcher.  Fortunately sausages freeze well!

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I'll have to google Otto's. Hot dogs and hamburgers sound darn good--I always tend to make ribs or chicken and overlook the great American stand-by.

Fat guy, what's your Korean bbq consist of?

[Shelby]

One big old hunk of pig on the smoker

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Can't go wrong with hunk 'o pig!

[Fat Guy]

Fat guy, what's your Korean bbq consist of?

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We haven't decided yet.

[Kouign Aman]

Assorted nibbles

Bratwurst - probably simmered in beer with onions. Maybe grilled.

Sauerkraut

corn on the cob

home grown tomatoes

fruit salad (cherries, grapes, pineapple probably, blueberries)

lemon meringue pie -I havent made one in forever, I love them, and I have lemons courtesy kind neighbors.

icecream (home made)

The child will probably not want a bratwurst and will hoover thru the pate instead.

[Pierogi]

Going to friends' house for pot luck BBQ........the hosts are providing burgers & dogs. The other offerings look pretty run-of-the-mill, potato salad, chips & dips, you get the drift.

I'm bringing my Fiesta Pasta Salad (dressing is mayo & s. cream with some lime juice and cilantro, mix-ins are scallions, zucchini, jalapenos, bell pepper and tomato...yum) and crostini with sun-dried tomato jam, topped with goat cheese. It's a Giada DiiLaurentis recipe, and it's great. One of the hosts particularly loves it, so I'm bringing it as a treat for her (and me).

At least I know I'll have 2 things to eat, plus the hottie dogs, that I'll like !

[judiu]

Assorted nibbles

Bratwurst - probably simmered in beer with onions. Maybe grilled.

Sauerkraut

corn on the cob

home grown tomatoes

fruit salad (cherries, grapes, pineapple probably, blueberries)

lemon meringue pie -I havent made one in forever, I love them, and I have lemons courtesy kind neighbors.

icecream (home made)

The child will probably not want a bratwurst and will hoover thru the pate instead.

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Smart kid!

[christine007]

If I show up without my famous potato salad, I'd get shot.

Nothing special, just a basic food done right, eggs potatos, mayo, sweet relish, dill relish, a squirt of mustard, and lots of chopped onion and celery.

extra good with hotdogs.

doing bacon baked beans too.

happy fourth for those who celebrate.

[MomOfLittleFoodies]

Grilled ribeyes, corn on the cob, pasta salad or mac salad, musubi and brownies.

[JAZ]

Foie gras hotdogs.

[John]

Hot dogs. And beer. Plenty of beer.

[Fat Guy]

Fat guy, what's your Korean bbq consist of?

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We haven't decided yet.

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Okay so late last night we started the marinating process. We sliced up a couple of pounds of short rib meat (that was the yield after deboning a greater quantity of flanken-cut short ribs) and about three pounds of strip, and we placed all the meat in a marinade consisting of:

3/4 cup of soy sauce

1/2 cup of orange juice

1.5 bottles of Sprite

1 grated pear

3 tablespoons finely chopped garlic

1 small white onion, chopped

2 tablespoons grated ginger

3 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoon honey

1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds

3 tablespoons toasted sesame oil

2 tablespoon ground red pepper

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

3 scallions, chopped

This also provided enough marinade to set aside a cup or so to reduce into a sauce.

For last night's dinner -- this is a weird weekend with the third day of the three-day weekend being Friday the 3rd, so the Friday night cookout really felt like our 4th of July celebration, not to mention there were a lot of fireworks displays last night -- we made hamburgers and hot dogs. Specifically, we double ground a combination of mostly chuck, some short rib meat and a little hanger steak with the KitchenAid grinder attachment, salting between the first and second grind. Hamburgers are much better when you grind your own beef. And we had Boar's Head knockwurst, which I believe to be one of the best widely available hot-dog-like products in the marketplace. And Cape Cod potato chips, which likewise are one of the best widely available products in their category. Plus various garnishes, and Allagash White Ale.

[rooftop1000]

Other than some pulled pork with beans...ie Pork and Beans, I have no idea : )

happy 4th everyone

[heidih]

Just getting the prep underway. On the Weber kettle will be pork tenderloin sliced and marinated with sesame oil, soy, plum jam, tangerine juice, loads of garlic, Dijon mustard (out of ginger!), and Sriracha (out of Korean red pepper paste). Sweet yellow farmstand corn picked this morning also on the grill. Green beans and peas from the garden steamed in a bare minimum of water and finished with a hint of butter. Coleslaw with my second garden cucumber and my dad's summer apples. Farmstand tomatoes that are super meaty will rest for a few hours with sweet onion, dash of balsamic and Cretan olive oil. The odd starch will be jasmine rice- but it plays well with the other dishes and sops up the juices. Pickled ginger and a homemade cranberry chutney on the side as well. The weather is superb and I can hear the first (illegal) fireworks. The sanctioned displays will start just as we are finishing and maybe having watermelon for dessert.

ETA: For snacking while prepping there is homemade salsa and guacamole with freshly fried tortilla chips. There is a Mexican restaurant less than 5 minutes away that sells their fresh chips for less than the mass produced stuff at the grocery store. That by the way was a revelation. They are a sit down place, but I asked one day if I could just get a bag of chips to take away and they said of course. I also just realized I used the last of the toasted sesame oil earlier in the week so I am going to go with peanut butter or ground peanuts in the marinade. I wish I had coconut milk to take it in a SEAsian direction but I refuse to go to the market today. Then I would have split the can between the rice and the marinade and added some red curry paste.