Time to Submit Your Fouth of July Recipes! (And A Recipe For Blue Cheese and Red Potato Salad)

Hello, it’s Brandy from Nutmeg Nanny! The time has come to submit your recipes! Your recipes can be anything that says Fourth of the July to you and you can submit as many recipes as you want. To submit a recipe enter it in the MckLinky below or email us if you prefer. The deadline to submit is tomorrow (July 1st at 9PM EST), which is when the MckLinky will close. The roundup and winner will be announced on July 2nd, and the winner will receive a prize. Faith and I are both excited to see the amazing recipes you all come up with! (MckLinky is located at the bottom of the page.  Please scroll down 🙂 )

Now onto this delicious recipe! I wanted to make something besides a red, white and blue dessert for the final roundup. When I saw this beauty I knew I had to make it. Potatoes, bacon and blue cheese…sounds like a winner to me! Although I do have one confession. I do not like blue cheese so I was a bit skeptical. I knew everyone else would love it, but would I?  I bought a very a mild blue cheese and I found the taste to be very pleasant. If you are a die hard blue cheese fan I would say go for something stronger.  The salad can definitely handle it.  The best part about this recipe is all the contrast of flavors. You get the slightly tart flavor from the vinegar dressing, the soft potatoes, the crunchy salty bacon and the crumbly tangy flavor of the blue cheese. It also has no mayonnaise so it’s perfect for the summer time BBQ and picnic 🙂  Enjoy!

Blue Cheese and Red Potato Salad:

2/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup minced shallots
1 tablespoon fresh parsley – chopped
1 tablespoon plus 1/4 cup fresh chives – chopped
1 tablespoon coarse-grained Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons honey
2 teaspoons lemon peel – grated

3 pounds small red-skinned potatoes – quartered

8 bacon slices
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese (about 2 1/2 ounces)
1 hard-boiled egg – grated (I left the egg out because I forgot…haha)

Whisk oil, vinegar, shallots, parsley, 1 tablespoon chives, mustard, honey and lemon peel in large bowl until well blended. Season dressing to taste with salt and pepper.

Cook potatoes in large pot of boiling salted water until just tender, about 8 minutes. Drain. Add warm potatoes to dressing; toss to combine. Season to taste with salt and pepper. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)

Cook bacon in large skillet over medium heat until crisp. Drain on paper towels. Crumble into small pieces. Mound potato salad on a platter. Sprinkle with bacon, blue cheese, egg and remaining 1/4 cup chives.

Source:Epicurious

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Grilled Chicken with Red & Blue(berry) Salsa

Hello, it’s Faith from An Edible Mosaic!  When I think of Fourth of July recipes, for some reason desserts usually come to mind.  I guess that’s because (at least in my family) the main dishes eaten on this holiday are standard casual picnic fare, and it’s the desserts that are usually all dressed up in red, white, and blue.  This recipe shows that red, white, and blue isn’t just for dessert. 

This meal is casual and couldn’t be easier to make, but still looks pretty and festive.  I used grilled chicken but if you want to switch it up I think this recipe would also be fantastic with grilled fish (I would use some kind of white-fleshed fish, such as haddock, tilapia, halibut, or cod). 

Don’t forget, your recipe submissions are due July 1 at 9PM EST.  Brandy and I can’t wait to see what you all make!

Grilled Chicken with Red & Blue(berry) Salsa  (Adapted from Julie Foster’s recipe for Blueberry Salsa featured in the July 2005 issue of Southern Living)

(Yield:  4 servings)

Red & Blue(berry) Salsa (recipe below)

4 (6 oz) chicken breasts, pounded to even thickness

Olive oil (for grilling the chicken)

Salt and pepper

Prepared couscous (optional, for serving)

Red & Blue(berry) Salsa:

1/2 c fresh blueberries, chopped

1/2 c fresh whole blueberries

1/2 red bell pepper, seed and diced

1/4 red onion, diced

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced (optional)

3 TB fresh minced parsley

2 TB fresh minced mint (optional)

1 TB lemon juice

Pinch salt

In a bowl, stir together all ingredients for the salsa and refrigerate until ready to use (you can make this up to 1 day in advance but if you do so, I recommend waiting until right before you serve it to add the fresh minced herbs).

Lightly brush olive oil on both sides of the chicken breast, then season both sides with salt and pepper.  Grill the chicken until fully cooked (there should not be any pink).

Serve the grilled chicken topped with salsa along with couscous.

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Red, White and Blueberry Sour Cream Tart

Head on over to Nutmeg Nanny to see this delicious dessert! Also remember that the MckLinkey will be up and running on June 30th! Faith and I cannot wait to see what you all have come up with 🙂

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Red, White, & Blue Sorbet Sundaes

Hello, it’s Faith from An Edible Mosaic!  Brandy and I are thrilled to be hosting our next All Through the Year Cheer event – Independence Day (aka Fourth of July 🙂 ).  Since this holiday falls right in the middle of beautiful warm weather, a light and refreshing dessert is always in order.  And what could be better to beat the heat than sorbet?
Since the Fourth is usually all about the red, white, and blue, I incorporated each color into this recipe:  blueberry sorbet topped with fresh strawberries and meringue cookies.  If you prefer, you can switch up the recipe and make strawberry sorbet topped with fresh blueberries.
 
Brandy and I can’t wait to see all the delicious recipes you come up with for the Fourth…and don’t forget the winner will get a fabulous prize!

Red, White, & Blue Sorbet Sundaes

(Yield:  4 servings)

Blueberry Sorbet:

1 pint blueberries, rinsed and patted dry

1/2 c blueberry nectar (or any juice you like)

Sweetener to taste, such as honey, sugar, Stevia, etc.

Almond Meringue Cookies:

1 large egg white, which has sat out at room temperature (about 70F) for 30 minutes

Small pinch salt

1/2 c plus 2 TB (about 2 oz) powdered sugar

1/8 tsp pure almond extract

Fresh strawberries, rinsed and patted dry

Fresh mint (optional, for garnish)

Equipment:

Blender

4 (6 oz) ramekins (or other molds of your preference)

Parchment paper

Baking sheet

For the sorbet:  In a blender, puree the blueberries with the juice until smooth.  Taste and add as much sweetener as you like.  Divide the mixture between the ramekins and freeze.

For the meringues:  Preheat the oven to 200F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Beat the egg white until foamy; add the salt and continue beating.  Gradually beat in all the sugar, then beat in the almond extract.  Stop beating when the meringue is glossy and holds ribbons when folded over onto itself.  Pipe or spoon the meringue onto the prepared baking sheet, leaving 1-2 inches between each cookie.  (Try to keep the cookies all about the same size so they cook at the same rate; I like to make them about 1-2 inches in size.)  Bake for about two hours, or until the cookies are dry.

To serve:  Unmold the sorbet into individual bowls; do this by letting the sorbet sit out at room temperature for a few minutes until the sorbet slides easily out of the ramekin or by placing the ramekins in a shallow dish of warm water for a couple minutes.  Put the sorbet in individual bowls and top with strawberries and meringue cookies.  Add some fresh mint for garnish, if desired.

Blueberry Nectar

Foamy Egg White

Glossy Meringue that Holds Ribbons

Meringue Cookies Before Baking

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Strawberry Shortcake Cupcakes

For the full recipe for Strawberry Shortcake Cupcakes, please see An Edible Mosaic.

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Fourth of July Announcement & Recipe for Blueberry Crumb Bars

Hi everyone! It’s Brandy of Nutmeg Nanny. Can you believe that it’s almost July! I guess this means that summer is in full swing. Faith and I are super excited to be hosting another All Through The Year Cheer. Here is the posting schedule that we came up with:

Friday June 11th: Brandy posts announcement & holiday recipe
Friday June 18th: Faith posts holiday recipe
Friday June 25th: Faith posts holiday recipe
Wednesday June 30th: MckLinky opens & Brandy posts holiday recipe
Thursday July 1st: McLinky closes and recipe are due at 9pm EST
Friday July 2nd: Roundup posted and winner is announced

As always, Faith and I will try to post other Fourth of July inspired dishes on our personal blogs. Also remember that you can submit as many recipes as you want that feel inspired by Fourth of July. See here for complete rules on participating. Don’t forget there will be a great prize for the winner 🙂 In fact the winner will even get to pick his or her prize. Scroll down to see what it is is! 😉

Now onto the recipe. Obviously Fourth of July is full of recipes that combine the colors red, white and blue. Even though this dessert only uses blue it’s screams Fourth of July to me. It’s easy, delicious and perfect for all those holiday parties and BBQ’s. I used frozen blueberries (fresh blueberries are still really expensive here in NY) and a delicious organic blueberry preserves for the filling. The crunchy bottom and topping mix well with the delicious berry center. It’s like eating a blueberry pie in bar form…Enjoy!!!

Blueberry Crumb Bars:

Crust:
2 Cups all purpose flour
1 Cup old-fashioned oats
1 Cup golden brown sugar – packed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 Cup chilled unsalted butter – cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1/2 Cup sliced almonds

Filling:
3 Cups fresh blueberries or 12 ounce package of frozen blueberries (do no thaw)
1 Cup blueberry preserves (10-11 ounces)
1 tablespoon all purpose flour
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon peel

For crust:
Preheat oven to 375°F. Butter bottom of 13x9x2-inch metal baking pan. (I actually lined my pan with foil and then buttered the foil. Then when the bars are cooled you can pull it out and cut without risking the bars sticking in the pan)

Whisk flour, oats, sugar, salt, and cinnamon in large bowl. Add 1 cup butter; rub in with fingertips until mixture sticks together in small clumps.

Transfer 2 cups to medium bowl; mix in almonds and reserve for topping.

Press remaining crumb mixture evenly onto bottom of prepared pan. Bake crust until golden and just firm to touch, about 22 minutes. Cool 10 minutes.

For filling:
Mix all ingredients in medium bowl. Spread evenly over crust in pan, then sprinkle reserved topping over.

Bake bars until filling bubbles thickly at edges and topping is golden brown, about 40 minutes; cool in pan on rack. Cut lengthwise into 4 strips, then cut each strip into 6 pieces, forming 24 bars.

Source: Epicurious

See those three lovely magazines? The winner of this ATTYC will get to pick one of these magazines and get a free one year subscription!  The funny things is that looking at these magazines almost makes me want to order a subscription for myself too…hehehe 🙂

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