Kick off Memorial Day with refreshing summer drink recipes, crowd-pleasing side dishes, barbecue, and more.
From your first cocktail to dessert time, we’ve got your holiday weekend menu roundup. We saved the best for last too!
Cherry Moscow Mule
From Recipes From Trisha’s Southern Kitchen
6 ounces ginger ale
6 ounces ginger beer
4 ounces vodka
3 splashes cherry juice
2 limes, juiced, plus wedges, for garnish
Divide the ginger ale, ginger beer, vodka, lime juice, and cherry juice between 2 lowball glasses or copper mugs. Stir to combine. Add ice and serve with lime wedges.
Texas Ranch Water
1½ ounces Dulce Vida Blanco
3 ounces Topo Chico (or club soda)
Half of a lime’s juice
Ice
Lime wedge, for garnish.
Pour Dulce Vida Blanco, Topo Chico, and lime juice into an ice-filled glass. Stir to mix well. Garnish with lime and enjoy.
Bacon-Wrapped Torpedoes
(Yields 24)
12 extra-large jalapeños (split lengthwise with core and seeds removed)
24 raw bacon strips
Torpedo mix (recipe follows)
Take a split jalapeño and stuff with approximately 1 tablespoon of torpedo mix.
Wrap entire length of jalapeño tightly with a bacon strip and secure with 2 toothpicks. Smoke or grill torpedoes for approximately 1 hour at 200-225 degrees or until bacon is golden brown
Remove toothpicks and enjoy!
Torpedo Mix
2 pounds cream cheese, softened
1 pound smoked brisket or chicken, rough chopped
1 roasted red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
¼ cup cilantro, chopped
1 large jalapeño, seeded and chopped
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon red chili powder
Add ingredients to large mixing bowl. Mix ingredients until blended.
Chipotle Beef Fajita Queso
(Makes 6 – 8 servings)
3 canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro
2 cloves garlic
¼ cup fresh lime juice
¼ cup olive oil
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon ground cumin
1 pound skirt steak
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
¼ cup diced yellow onion
2 jalapeños, seeded and diced
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 cup half-and-half
1 cup water
1 pound yellow American cheese, shredded
Guacamole, for topping
Pico de Gallo, for topping
Tortilla Chips, for serving
Place the chipotles, cilantro, garlic, lime juice, olive oil, salt, black pepper, and cumin in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth to make a marinade. Reserve 1 tablespoon for the queso.
Place the steak in a bowl and add the rest of the marinade. Cover and refrigerate for 1 – 2 hours, turning the steak a couple of times. (Don’t marinate longer than 2 hours or the texture will begin to get mushy.)
While the steak is marinating, in a medium saucepan, warm the butter with the reserved 1 tablespoon marinade over medium-low heat. Add the onion and jalapeños and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Whisk together the cornstarch, half-and-half, and water until well combined, then pour into the pan. Bring to a simmer, stirring constantly, and cook for a couple of minutes, until the mixture begins to thicken. Add the cheese, turn down the heat to low, and cook, stirring, until the cheese has melted. Add salt to taste. Cover and turn off the heat.
After the steak has marinated, position a rack about 4 inches from the upper heating element and place a large, broiler-safe skillet on the rack. Preheat the broiler and skillet for 10 minutes.
With a paper towel, wipe the marinade from the steak, pat the steak dry, and cut it in half so it will fit in the skillet. Carefully remove the hot skillet from the oven and lay the steak in the skillet. Broil the steak, turning once, until nicely charred on both sides, 6 – 8 minutes for medium-rare or 10 – 12 minutes for medium. Transfer the steak to a cutting board, cover, and let rest for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, reheat the queso over low heat, stirring occasionally.
Slice the steak against the grain, then cut the slices into ½-inch cubes. Transfer the queso to a serving bowl, a small slow cooker, or a chafing dish over a flame. Top the queso with the steak and spoon on guacamole and pico de gallo. Serve warm with tortilla chips.
Lillie’s Q Oven-to-Grill Baby Back Ribs
Courtesy Chef Charlie McKenna, The Resort at Paws Up
2¼ – 2½ pound rack pork loin back ribs
¼ cup Lillie’s Q Gold
1 cup Lillie’s Q Carolina Dirt
½ cup Lillie’s Q Smoky or your favorite Lillie’s Q sauce
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. With a pastry brush, spread Lillie’s Q Gold all over both sides of the ribs. Generously sprinkle Lille’s Q Carolina Dirt over both sides of the ribs.
Place ribs in the middle of a double thickness of heavy foil cut 6 inches longer than the ribs. Wrap ribs in the foil. Bake for 1½ – 2 hours or until tender (the 2 middle bones of the rack should start to pull apart easily).
Remove ribs to a tray (discard liquid in foil packet). Spread Lillie’s Q Smoky or your favorite Lillie’s Q sauce all over both sides of the ribs. Grill on the rack of a covered grill directly over medium heat for 15 minutes, brushing with additional sauce every 5 minutes, turning once. Adjust heat as necessary to prevent burning.
Oak-Grilled New York Steaks
From Santa Maria-Style Barbecue Recipes From Alisal Guest Ranch And Resort
6 (10-ounce) New York strip steaks
Basting Sauce
5 tablespoons red wine vinegar
5 tablespoons garlic-infused vegetable oil
Seasoning Salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon white pepper
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
½ teaspoon onion powder
2 tablespoons granulated garlic
3 teaspoons salt
Mix basting sauce ingredients together, and mix seasoning salt ingredients together. Coat both sides of steaks with basting sauce and place on hot grill. Season tops of the steaks with salt mixture. Turn the steaks before the heat causes the juices to come out the tops of the steaks. Baste and season the tops of the steaks. Turn the steaks 2 more times, basting and seasoning after each turn. Continue turning the steaks until they are done to your liking. Check doneness with a meat thermometer.
Grandpa Davila’s Potato Salad
(Serves 12 – 15)
3 pounds russet potatoes, peeled
1 large egg
2 celery ribs, finely chopped
¼ green bell pepper, diced
¼ medium yellow onion, diced
¼ cup sweet relish
¼ cup diced sweet pepper
¼ cup sugar
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
½ cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon prepared yellow mustard
Bring the potatoes to a boil in a large pot of water and boil until soft, 25 – 30 minutes. Drain the potatoes, mash them a bit (you want them to remain slightly lumpy), and set them aside to cool.
Meanwhile, bring a small saucepan of water to a boil and boil the egg for 15 minutes. Allow the egg to cool, then peel and finely chop it. Stir together the egg, celery, bell pepper, onion, sweet relish, and sweet pepper in a medium bowl. Stir the sugar, salt, and pepper into the cooled, mashed potatoes. Stir the vegetable mixture, mayonnaise, and mustard into the potatoes. Mix thoroughly and serve.
Ice Cream
7 cups whipping cream
2 cups sugar
2 tablespoons vanilla
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 13-ounce cans evaporated milk
In large bowl, combine all ingredients. Pour into ice cream maker. Surround ice cream maker with ice and rock salt. Churn until thick. Pour into storage container. Thoroughly add in crushed Oreo cookies. Freeze.
Photography: Courtesy The Resort at Paws Up, Courtesy Dulce Vida Spirits, Courtesy Ten50 BBQ, Recipe edited and excerpted with permission from Queso!: Regional Recipes for the World's Favorite Chile-Cheese Dip by Lisa Fain (Ten Speed Press, 2017). Purchase the book at Amazon.com. Photography Courtesy Ten Speed Press, Courtesy The Resort at Paws Up, Courtesy Elk Mountain Ranch
