Appetizer – Cut, Fresh Vegetables with Dill Dip; Olives
Dip:
¼ cup mayonnaise
¾ cup low-fat yogurt
½ tsp onion powder
2-3 tsp dried dill
Mix all ingredients and let stand for a few hours if possible
Serve with any of your favorite cut-up, fresh vegetables
Mixed olives – pick any assortment of olives from your favorite vendor
First Course – Black Bean Soup with Corn Bread
Soup:
1 lb dried black beans
1 large onion, diced
5 oz. medium salsa
1 10 ½ oz. can chopped, no-salt-added tomatoes
1 smoked ham hock
6 cups water
½ tsp. salt
Combine all ingredients in a suitable pot. Bring to a boil uncovered, then cover and let simmer for 2-3 hours. Part way through the cooking, remove the hock, let cool, and remove the skin, fat, and bone. Cut up the meat into small pieces and return to pot. Adjust salt.
Serve with yogurt and hot sauce as toppings
Notes: Most any beans will do. Add more salsa and less tomato to taste. Choose the size of hock to get the amount of meat you want, although too large a hock will dominate the taste. This recipe can be scaled up as desired to provide leftovers. Frozen, this dish tastes even better on thawing and re-heating. Various other toppings can be used, grated cheese, sour cream, chopped onion, …
Corn Bread:
[With thanks to The Fanny Farmer Boston Cooking School Cookbook (c 1959)]
Preheat oven to 425 degrees
Grease (butter) an 8x8 inch baking dish
Mix/sift together:
¾ cup cornmeal – ½ polenta grade. ½ regular grade
1 cup flour
3 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
Add:
1 cup milk
I well-beaten egg
2 Tbsp. melted butter
Hand-whisk to mix ingredients, transfer to baking dish, and bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown.
Main Course – Beer-can Chicken with Artichoke and Potatoes
Chicken:
2 cups hickory chips, soaked in ½ the beer (see below) or water (to cover) for at least one hour
2 12 oz. cans beer
½ cup barbeque rub
2 3 ½ to 4-lb. chickens, excess fat removed, washed and blotted dry
Place hickory chips in bowl, pop the tops of the beer cans, use ½ the total beer to soak the chips, and cut additional openings in the cans.
Set up the grill for indirect grilling.
Get a baking sheet or pan large enough to hold both chickens
Add 1 Tbsp of the barbeque rub to each (now ½ full) beer can; distribute the remaining rub over the inside and outside of the chickens.
Lower each chicken over a beer can, which will fit into the bird’s cavity; use the legs and the can to form a tripod to hold the bird upright.
Drain the hickory chips. Transfer them to a smoker (you can use aluminum foil, tightly wrapped with a small opening to let out the smoke).
Put the smoker on the heated side of the grill, put the chicken on the unheated side.
Cook for about 1 ½ hours (at roughly 350 if you can measure it) or until internal temperature reaches 160 degrees.
Notes: This is simpler with a baking pan with raised sides – the sides (and corners) can be used to help support the chickens. You may need to add some heat under the pan itself – this is a grill- and cook-specific determination.
Artichoke:
Cut the tops and stems off artichokes. Use kitchen shears to cut the pointed tips off leaves. Rinse and drain.
Find a suitable pot to hold the chokes and add about ¾ inch water, ½ cup vinegar; add onion powder, garlic powder, and assorted herbs to the pot.
Add artichokes to pot, bring to a boil, and simmer covered for about 45 minutes, or until a fork easily pierces the choke top-to-bottom. Cool to serve.
Serve with melted butter, mayonnaise, or sour cream for dipping.
Potatoes:
2 medium-sized Yukon Gold (or other) potatoes per perso
Microwave potatoes until nearly done. Toss with a bit of olive oil and salt.
While still hot, place on barbeque grill (low heat) and cook for 10-15 minutes, turning once, or until nicely browned.
Salad – Mixed Greens
Enough mixed greens for needed servings.
Serve with salt, pepper, and your favorite dressing on the side. I provided olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and red-wine vinegar.
Desert – Cookie Tart with Fruit
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix in food processor:
1 ½ (scant) cups flour
½ cup whole-wheat flour
2 Tbsp. sugar
2/3 cup butter (cool, cut in small chunks for easier mixing)
1 egg
Small amount of water if necessary to hold the dough together
Press into a tart or pie pan. Bake for 20 minutes or until lightly brown. Set aside to cool.
Cut up your favorite fruit, sufficient to fill pan. I used two pints of strawberries, two nectarines, and two peaches. Toss with 2-3 tsps. of brown sugar and refrigerate until used.
Just before serving, fill the crust with berries.
Notes: Grease the pan! My recipe made no mention of this and the crust stuck terribly. This recipe is essentially shortbread. You can use your favorite tart or pie crust in its place. Use more whole wheat flour if desired.