Independence Day Fun!

Here's an update on the Picnic Game:

I'm going to a picnic and I'm bringing:

A: Almond Joy Pie: Brought by Marjie from Modern Day Ozzie and Harriet

B: Baked Beans: Brought by Kasha from Grub and Stuff

C: Chocolate Picnic Cake: Brought by Janet from Dying for Chocolate

D: Dutch Funnel Cake: Brought by Julie from The Sporadic Cook

E: Easy Blender Chicken Pie: Brought by Juliana from Simple Recipes

F: Five Bean Salad: Brought by me!

Do you remember this one? It was standard picnic fare when I was a child. Every once in a while when I'm asked to bring a salad to feed a crowd, I turn to this old standby. With Mother's old recipe, you can take short cuts and use some canned veggies. But to keep things fresh, you can make nearly the entire thing with lovely crisp vegetables. I personally use canned kidney and garbanzo beans, but use fresh yellow and green beans, quickly steamed. I use frozen limas, but par boil and cool them. Sometimes I add a carrot, or radishes...odds and ends of whatever's left in the vegetable bin. You can also add other kinds of beans like black or cannellini beans, but I am posting Mother's original recipe, cans and all; tweak it any way you like. It all depends on how much of a hurry you're in. Note: This has to be made a day ahead.

Mother's Five Bean Salad

Ingredients:
1 can slender green beans

1 can yellow  wax beans

1 sm can small lima beans

1 can kidney  beans

1 can garbanzo beans

1 cup diced celery

sweet red onion  rings to taste

1/2 cup diced green bell pepper

1/2 cup diced red pepper

2 cups cauliflower florets

1/2 cup water

2 cups cider vinegar

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 Tablespoon salt

1 clove garlic, split, remove before serving

Method:

Combine vinegar, water, sugar and salt and heat to dissolve sugar. Set aside to cool.

Place all the beans in a colander to drain the liquids and then place in large bowl. Add celery, onions and green pepper and cauliflower. Mix. Pour the dressing over the vegetables. Push the split garlic down in the marinade. Refrigerate for at least 24 hours, stirring several times.

Easily feeds 15 or more depending on portion size.

Check with Louise at Months of Edible Celebrations for the rest of the picnic recipes! There's still time to join the fun.

And do you need another dessert for the 4th? Here's an idea...........

Great BBQ's, family, children running around with sparklers and tables loaded with food is how I remember most of the Independence Day celebrations in our family...and the magnificent fireworks as we all lay back on our blankets. I bet most of us will be having picnics on the 4th...and while strawberry shortcake is what my mother made most often for dessert on the 4th, as kids we all preferred ice cream cones or popsicles. Because I'm still a kid at heart, I found a frozen dessert recipe that's made with fruit and yogurt. It's a favorite of mine because it has sweetened condensed milk as an ingredient. Has to be fabulous, right? Did I mention there are marshmallows? Yep, those too.
You want to make this at least a day ahead. It's a quickie dessert with red, white and blue ingredients for a Happy Birthday to America!

Fourth of July Frozen Delight

Ingredients:
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1/3 cup lemon juice
2 teaspoons lemon rind
2 cups plain yogurt
2 cups miniature marshmallows
1/2 cup chopped nuts
1 pint fresh strawberries, sliced
1 cup fresh blueberries

Method:
Combine the condensed milk, lemon juice and rind and mix well. Stir in the yogurt, marshmallows and nuts. Spread half the mixture in a 9 by 13 dish. Put half the strawberries and half the blueberries on top. Pour the other half of the yogurt mixture on top and use the remaining fruit on top, pushing them in slightly.
Cover and freeze.
Remove from freezer about 10 minutes before you're ready to cut and serve.
Makes about 15 servings.

Culinary History 101: Five Bean Salad (and The Picnic Game!)

Did you ever play the picnic game as a child? Well, Louise at Months of Edible Celebrations is hosting a virtual Picnic. In order to participate in the Picnic Game, each blogger chooses a letter and brings a dish that begins with that letter. Would you like to play? Then contact Louise and join in the fun!  (Please note that I am leaving space to list the other picnic dishes as soon as they become available.)




I'm going on a picnic and I'm bringing.....
A:
B:
C:
D:
E:

And my letter F: Five Bean Salad

Do you remember this one? It was standard picnic fare when I was a child. Every once in a while when I'm asked to bring a salad to feed a crowd, I turn to this old standby. With Mother's old recipe, you can take short cuts and use some canned veggies. And to keep things fresh, you can make nearly the entire thing with lovely crisp vegetables. I personally use canned kidney and garbanzo beans, but use fresh yellow and green beans, quickly steamed. I use frozen limas, but steam briefly and cool them. Sometimes I add a carrot, or radishes...odds and ends of whatever's left in the vegetable bin. You can also add other kinds of beans like black or cannellini beans, but I am posting Mother's original recipe, cans and all; tweak it any way you like. It all depends on how much of a hurry you're in.
Note: This has to be made a day ahead.

Mother's Five Bean Salad
Easily feeds 15 or more depending on portion size.

Ingredients:
1 can slender green beans (or fresh, steamed until crisp-tender)
1 can yellow wax beans (or fresh, steamed until crisp-tender)
1 can small lima beans (I use frozen, thawed and steamed briefly)
1 can kidney beans
1 can garbanzo beans
1 cup diced celery
sweet red onion rings to taste
1/2 cup diced green bell pepper
1/2 cup diced red pepper
2 cups cauliflower florets
1/2 cup water
2 cups cider vinegar
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon salt
1 clove garlic, split, remove before serving

Method:
Mix the water, vinegar, sugar and salt in a saucepan and heat until sugar is dissolved. Cool.
Place all canned beans in a colander to drain the liquids and then place in large bowl. Add any fresh vegetables you have made, then add celery, onions and green pepper and cauliflower. Mix.
Pour the dressing over the vegetables. Push the split garlic down in the marinade. Refrigerate for at least 24 hours, stirring several times.

Tzatziki

Do you  have a favorite recipe for Tzatziki? Every time I make it I am amazed at how good it is and wonder why I don't make it more often. It's so simple. And with our grills in full swing, we couldn't have a more flavorful accompaniment. Tzatziki (pronounced tsah-ZEE-kee) is a traditional Greek dish, which can be part of a mezze platter (a selection of Greek and middle-eastern small dishes served in "mezze" portions like tapas. ), served as a condiment or used as an appetizer. I most often serve it with toasted whole wheat pita chips as an appetizer, but it's a great sauce for grilled lamb or chicken, also divine on all kinds of meat and fish burgers.

Basically, the mixture combines yogurt and cucumbers with plenty of garlic and some chopped fresh herbs. English cucumbers (the kind that are shrink-wrapped at the grocery store) work best because they have few seeds, but you can use other cukes. Just be sure to slice them in half and seed them. Everyone has a different way to prepare the cucumber; I grate mine on a box grater and then twist them in a dish towel to get a little more juice out. I use Fage brand yogurt and place it in a sieve lined with gauze, over a glass bowl, covered, overnight. Please use Greek yogurt because regular yogurt will be too runny. I use both mint and dill in my Tzatziki and instead of lemon juice, I use champagne vinegar. But  lemon juice is fine and what is used in most recipes.

My recipe comes from my dear friend Nancy, who passed away a number of years ago. I think of her every time I make it. She loved the Greek Islands, which is where she said she got the recipe. The only change I have made over the years was adding champagne vinegar. Nancy used lemon juice. But I saw Ina Garten make it with champagne vinegar once and I tried it. I liked it even better...it was tangier.

Nancy's Tzatziki

Ingredients:
1 17oz. container Greek yogurt (I used Fage)
1 English cucumber (I don't bother to seed this kind)
1/2 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons champagne vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 heaping tablespoon minced dill
1 heaping tablespoon minced mint
1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons minced garlic
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Method:
Place the yogurt in a gauze or paper towel-lined sieve. Let stand, covered, overnight in the fridge. The next morning, grate the cucumber on a box grater. Dump it in a tea towel and twist to get some of the juice out. Add to the yogurt and then add the remaining ingredients.
Keep chilled until ready to serve. I serve it with pita chips.

Toasted Pita Chips
Preheat oven to 400°.Use 4 or 5 rounds of whole wheat pita, cut with scissors into triangles. Lightly brush both sides with olive oil and place on a foil-lined baking sheet. Sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper and bake in the oven until golden brown, about 8-10 minutes. Watch carefully as all ovens are different.