Watermelon Sangria – From Concept to Glass July 22, 2009

I guess the process of creating a recipe is different for every chef, home cook, and food enthusiast.  For me it starts with a dash of inspiration, which sometimes comes from a product jumping off of the shelf screaming buy me – buy me and other times it might simply come from a photo.

This weekend is my Mother-in-Law’s family BBQ and among other tasks I’m helping to streamline the cocktail menu to allow Jeff, my Father-in-Law to break out from behind the bar and join the party.  He’s known for his quirky and innovative drinks so I know I have to bring my “A” game to our pre-party meeting.

I want the drinks served in large pitchers with the star of the show being the Watermelon Sangria served in the actual watermelon body with a serving ladle – this serving idea came straight out of this issue of Food Network Magazine.  The reason for the pitchers? The drinks are made pre-party allowing Jeff to escape from his bar duties plus it encourages guests to help themselves!

I plan to begin perfecting my Watermelon Sangria recipe over the next few days.  Although, at first thought I’m thinking of using white wine to keep the drink light and not over power the watermelon, I also feel vodka (maybe flavored – maybe not) might be another great addition instead of brandy also helping to keep things light.  I know we’ll need a little simple syrup to help sweeten the drink up a bit or perhaps pineapple juice. 

I’ll post my final recipe and pics once it has been perfected.  In the meantime got a sangria tip – or story post in the comments below!

Grilled Sweet Corn Salad June 24, 2008

Summer is here and it is salad time at the Koury house.  With the 4th of July just around the corner I have to get my salad game on to ensure my guests leave full – happy and refreshed!!  Every year we have a huge 4th of July party and most of our guests wait all year to try all of our new recipes so I can’t disappoint them!!  With many local farms here in Upstate NY corn is plentiful and relatively inexpensive plus I always feel it is important to support your local farming community.  I have been mastering a new corn salad and thought I would share it with you.

Ingredients:

5 – Corn on The Cob Ears

1/4 pound – Fresh Mozzarella

1/4 pound – Kalamata Olived (Pitted)

3 – Scallions

1 pint – Cherry Tomatoes

1/2 lb. Baby Green Beans

1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

3 Tbs. – Balsamic Vinegar

Salt/Pepper to Taste

How to Prepare

Husk corn and grill on high heat till dark grill marks are formed – remove from heat and slice kernels from cob – Remove ends of baby string beans add to boiling water for 2 minutes and strain (after straining add to ice/water bath to preserve color and snap) Dice fresh mozzarella – Halve cherry tomatoes & Kalamata olives – Finely slice scallions – combine above ingredients into a large mixing bowl.  In a smaller mixing bowl whisk olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and salt/pepper together. Pour over mixture and combine well. Transfer to serving bowl and voila your done!

 

Ultimate Sangria May 1, 2008

I love to celebrate Cinco de Mayo and each year host a huge party filled with Mexican inspired foods, desserts and drinks to compliment my “spread”.  Over the years sangria has become one of my signature drinks present at most of my parties.  After sampling hundreds of recipes I have combined my favorite ingredients to create the Ultimate Sangria (I dare you to have just one glass!).  Like most of my recipes the best part about it is that it can (and should) be made well before your guests arrive once again leaving you with plenty of time to actually enjoy your own party (what a concept, huh!).  Alright, I am sure you are on the edge of your keyboard eagerly awaiting the ingredient list to here you go…Try it and please let me knoe what you think!!

Ingredients:

1 – Bottle Merlot

2 – Cups Orange Juice (Pulp-Free)

1 – Cup Peach Brandy

1 – 12 oz Can Lemon Lime Soda

1 – Cup Pineapple Chunks (Drained of Juice)

1 – Apple

1 – Orange

1 – Peach

1 – Cup Seedless Grapes

To a large pitcher add pineapple chunks, grapes, 1/4″ cubes of peaches, orange, apple add above liquids – mix well with wooden spoon and place in fridge for at least 2 hours.  Serve over ice and enjoy!!

 

Beer Can Chicken Perfection April 15, 2008

I’ve been on a quest to create the perfect Beer Can Chicken.  As many of you know grilling and entertaining is a huge part of my life and I just hate being a slave to the grill, stove, oven or any other cooking device you might want to throw in there.  Consequently, I am always on the hunt for meals I can prepare that are easy, cost effective, and don’t require me to have a love affair with my cooking equipment!!  That’s how the Beer Can Chicken comes into the mix I can feed a crowd with very little effort on my part.  I am planning a get together for my family and want to sample several recipes this weekend ranging from “wowie zowie” spicy to simple herb butter chickens.  Since I am a bit of a “Chatty Cathy” I have been talking up my latest endeavor with just about anyone who will listen.  What I have been most amazed by is not the range of recipes BUT the range of cooking methods!! 

Traditional Beer Can Chicken calls for a can of beer to be placed inside of the chicken’s cavity and a drip pan placed below the chicken (this creates a fabulously moist chicken).  Normally a rub is used to season the skin and wood chips are optional.  In my opinion wood chips are like bacon if there’s an opportunity to use them, why would you pass!!

In the past three days I have also learned that by adding water to both the beer can and drip pan the chicken will become even more moist because of the extra vaporization.  Of course I tried this method and found that yes, it was more moist but it wasn’t more flavorful so I decided to take the idea and amp it up a little by adding 2 tablespoons melted butter to the beer and replaced the water in the drip pan with chicken stock.  Now this made a vast improvement!!  

As I mentioned before using a rub is common practice when preparing Beer Can Chicken.  I have several rubs that use varying in spice level depending upon my guest’s preferences.  A great tip I picked up from a family member was to not only incorporate the rub on the skin of the chicken but also add a few pinches to the beer can and this will help to infuse the flavor of the rub into the body of the chicken.  He was right, the chicken took on much more flavor but I knew this too could be enhanced.  I decided to apply the rub to the chicken skin as normal but to also separate the skin from the breast and apply the rub also under the skin directly to the breast meat and of course to the beer can.  This chicken was the winner and will be the method I will use to serve my family this weekend.  The chicken was incredibly moist from the added chicken stock and butter – it was wonderfully flavorful from the additional rubs and the wood chips were the icing on the cake (or should I say the sauce on the ribs, in this case).  The smoky flavor from the chips enhanced the taste of my rub creating Beer Can Chicken Perfection.  

 

Fire Up the BBQ Baby April 9, 2008

Finally it’s warming up here in upstate NY and after much anticipation, last weekend I fired up my grill for the first party of the season. I felt like a kid in a candy shop when it came to planning the menu. Its been months since my grill was last in action and truthfully I had a hankering for just about everything I have ever grilled.

I finally decided on my Island Dream Chicken (click for recipe) with grilled asparagus and a fruity homemade sangria. The great thing about this meal is that all of the prep work is done BEFORE your guests arrive. I can’t tell you how many parties I have attended that the host/hostess spends the entire time alone in the kitchen preparing the meal. I mean seriously how much fun is that (for anyone really)!! This is a great meal for a crowd because it can be made in stages – so its not so overwhelming to make everything at once. The chicken sits in the Island Dream marinade for 24 hours. The sangria can be made the morning of the party (this way the flavor of the sangria has time to infuse into the fruit – YUM!) and the asparagus is simply tossed with olive oil and kosher salt. Now, the only task left to do after your company arrives is relax…have fun and grill!!