FOURTH OF JULY SIDES SHOW
The BEST Baked Beans & a Cool Cucumber Salad for your cookout!
Hello beautiful people! We know that you’re probably going to be cooking up burgers and hot dogs (or some other Fourth of July family favorite) this weekend, so we’re giving you two of our favorite side dishes to round out the menu! These are both make-aheads, and can easily be transported to wherever you’re gathering this Fourth of July Weekend.
BUT FIRST… Don’t forget that What’s 4 Dinner? has your holiday weekend covered!
Looking for mains? How ‘bout some Barbecue Ribs, Perfect Burgers and Hot Dogs, Big Bold Steaks (no need to thaw!), even Pizzas, Skirt Steak Tacos, and Grilled Chicken any way you want it!
Perhaps some side dishes to fill out your Fourth feast? In addition to the two amazing recipes in this week’s issue, we’ve got recipes for Mac ‘n’ Cheese Perfection, a Summery Fresh Panzanella, two different Cole Slaws, Deviled Eggs, a Tropical Jicama Slaw, or Grilled Asparagus (with a Fire-Roasted Romesco Sauce).
And there’s always room for some dessert (it goes in a different pocket!). Of course, last week’s Summer Berry Crostata and No-Bake S’mores are sure to please a crowd, but don’t forget about our Lemon Raspberry Loaf, Skillet Brownies (can also be made in a regular pan!), Raspberry Crunch Bars, and a festive Berry Dessert Pizza.
We’ve also got plenty of Cocktails & Appetizers to whet your guests’ whistles (like Josh’s Signature Pomegranate Margarita and Elizabeth’s Grilled Shrimp Cocktail!), so be sure to take a browse through our full list of newsletter archives!
THE BEST BAKED BEANS EVER
AU: I have a confession. I used to loathe beans. I know, crazy, right??
EK: You aren’t alone. So many people’s experience with beans—especially baked beans—are canned beans quickly heated up on the stove. Those “pork and beans” are great as an ingredient, but alone, they’re kinda yucky. When you flavor beans with other delectable ingredients, they can’t help but be delectable! That’s basically my whole theory on food and cooking, btw. And how I created my Campfire Beans.
Don’t laugh, but I came up with the name first and then I envisioned what a tired, hungry cowboy would get excited about eating… and maybe drinking a little too… So, of course these beans have a “secret” ingredient! (HINT: It’s booze.)
AU: THESE ARE WHAT OPENED UP THE DELICIOUS WORLD OF BEANS FOR ME! Ever since the first bite I took at Hill Country Barbecue Market in NYC. For this week’s newsletter, I decided to take on my favorite baked bean: Elizabeth’s Campfire Baked Beans (with Burnt Ends) in hopes that you’ll make them for your Fourth of July gathering.
Now for ease, I’m going to exclude the burnt ends (because I am not smoking a whole brisket), but if you’d like to include them, just pick up some from your local BBQ joint!
This is a really easy recipe—sure, there are lots of different types of beans in it, but that’s what makes them so good! What won me over was that these were unlike the cloyingly sweet baked beans I had before. There was sweetness, but it’s balanced by the smokey bacon, tangy mustard and ketchup, and a cup of Southern Comfort doesn’t hurt either!
Elizabeth sent me her original version for the restaurant, but here I’ve attempted to match it for the home cook (based on years of tasting those delicious beans alongside my favorite smoked meats). Like all good make-ahead recipes, these get better a day or two later. So get a jumpstart on your bean-making and get in the kitchen!!
EK’s Campfire Beans
Elizabeth Karmel smartly flavors a variety of beans with other delectable ingredients, like bacon, onion, peppers, molasses and sweet bourbon. But these aren’t cloyingly sweet (like other baked beans you may have had), they’re perfectly balanced… everything you’d want in a baked bean recipe! The brisket burnt ends are optional (because I don’t usually have Texas brisket sitting around), but if you’d like to include them, just pick up some from your local BBQ joint!
Serves 8-10
Ingredients:
10 strips smoked bacon, roughly diced
3 cups diced yellow onion (about 2 medium onions
2 medium red bell peppers, diced
¼ cup yellow ballpark mustard
3 cups ketchup
⅔ cup sorghum molasses
1 tablespoon paprika
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
½ teaspoon dehydrated/granulated garlic
1 (28oz) can Pork & Beans (like Ranch Style, Van Camp’s or Campbell’s)
2 (15oz) cans Dark Red Kidney Beans, rinsed
1 (15oz) can Light Red Kidney Beans, rinsed
2 (15oz) cans Cannellini Beans, rinsed
2 (15oz) cans Black Beans, rinsed
1 cup Southern Comfort (or ¾ cup of bourbon + ¼ cup of orange liqueur)
1-2 pounds chopped brisket burnt ends (optional)
Method:
Place bacon in the bottom of a cold Dutch oven (at least 5.5 quarts). Cook bacon over a medium heat until all the fat is rendered out, and it begins to brown.
Add onion and red bell pepper and sauté until translucent, about 5-7 minutes.
Add mustard, ketchup, molasses and spices (paprika, salt, pepper, cayenne, dehydrated garlic). Stir well to combine, and bring to a simmer.
Stir in canned beans and let simmer for 15 minutes, or until liquid has reduced. Add Southern Comfort (or bourbon + orange liqueur) and simmer for another 40 minutes on low.
Finally, add burnt ends (if using), and simmer for an additional 20 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning.
MOVE OVER COLE SLAW…
I’M “COOL AS A CUCUMBER”
EK: This is the salad of summer. It’s a salad that is refreshing and light, but zingy and sassy, which means you can pair it equally well with delicate seafood and smoky barbecue. It’s also great on top of juicy burgers and hot dogs, instead of pickles. Beer-can chicken, Check! Ribs, skirt steak tacos, salmon; Check!
AU: This is my favorite cucumber salad of all time! I adore this cucumber salad and it’s a permanent fixture in my fridge during the warmer months. I love this salad so much, that we served it at our wedding!! Remember EK? We served brisket burnt ends on a party pick with this cuke salad skewered on it, too. It is, in my book, a perfect bite!
EK: Yes! That was special, for sure. I literally love it with any protein. And, let a little of the sweet and tangy vinegar dressing seep over on to my sliced garden-ripe tomatoes…yep! Summer perfection!
The vinegar dressing is very simple and does not have any oil—or any fat—which makes it a perfect companion to fatty brisket. I didn’t create this salad for Hill Country, but I knew that I had to bulk it up for my menu. From day one, I paired long slow-smoked Texas-style brisket with this quick salad. It didn’t take long before it became the restaurant’s signature dish—and it is still my favorite accompaniment to succulent smoked brisket.
The tart vinegar is sweetened with sugar and balanced out with a little bit of salt before dressing the thin cut cucumbers and rings of shallot. It’s a 4-ingredient salad that tastes like so much more. It is also impossible to mess up even if you new to cooking.
I was introduced to a version of this salad—a few years before I became the executive chef of Hill Country—when I spent some time with Darina Allen at Ballymaloe Cookery School in County Cork, Ireland.
AU: EXCUSE ME, BREAKING NEWS?!?!? My favorite cucumber salad’s origins are from IRELAND?!!?
EK: LOL, Yes!! If you aren’t familiar with Darina, you should be. She and her late mother-in-law, husband, children and other relatives have created the definitive cooking school in the UK and have written many fantastic cookbooks. While I was visiting, I made my American barbecue for them, and learned how to make scones and fresh raspberry jam, elderflower lemonade and Irish bread in addition to the addictive cucumbers.
At Ballymaloe, the dish was called “cucumber pickle” because it is similar to making refrigerator pickles. When I took a bite, it took me back to the platters of white onion and cucumbers that lined the tables at the summer camp that I attended.
The Allen’s Cucumber Pickle was so much better as those camp platters were only sprinkled with a little white vinegar before serving. I took the idea of the Ballymaloe Cucumber Pickle, and made a salad version that lived up to my taste memory.It continues to live as one of my favorite recipes and a dish that I make at home frequently.
In my version, you don’t boil the vinegar like you do in a traditional pickle, and I don’t think you need it. I like my cucumbers to retain some crunch and snap and the longer they sit in the vinegar, the softer they become. If you like cool, refreshing side dishes and are a fan of cucumbers, and pickled foods, this salad is for you.
Cool as a Cucumber Salad
This simple salad beats coleslaw hands down as an accompaniment for barbecued brisket. The vinegar dressing and the fresh cucumbers cut through the richness of the beef in a sweet and savory salad that is as refreshing as the name sounds. It is also a terrific substitute for coleslaw and makes a great healthy snack!
Serves 4-6
2 English (seedless) cucumbers (or garden-fresh cucumbers)
1 large shallot
¼ cup granulated white sugar
½ teaspoon kosher or sea salt
1 cup apple cider vinegar
Wash and dry the cucumbers.
Peel alternating strips of the green skin off the cucumber with a vegetable peeler.
Slice thin either by hand or with a mandoline-style slicer. Set aside.
Peel shallots and slice at the same thinness as the cucumber.
Mix cucumber and shallots. The shallot slices will un-ravel into small rings which is what you want. Set aside.
Whisk sugar, salt and vinegar together until completely dissolved.
Pour over cucumber and shallot slices and mix well, separating the slices to make sure none of them are sticking together.
Put vegetables and all the liquid in a non-reactive (plastic or glass) container with a tight lid and refrigerate, turning occasionally for at least 3 hours or overnight before serving. Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary.
*Notes
Keeps for three days in the refrigerator—but they’ll be gone long before that!
FOOD FOURTH THOUGHT…
EK: Ever wonder what the most popular Fourth of July food is in your home state? Well, I was sent the below chart outlining the Most Googled Fourth of July Food by state. So, find the state you are living in and see if you agree!
AU: Okay both California and South Carolina are Potato Salad and I know that those are not either of our favorite Fourth Foods…
EK: How funny that Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska and North Dakota are “Red, White & Blue Fruit Pizza,” They should definitely try my Berry Dessert Pizza!
That’s it for this week! We are taking next week off, so we can spend time with our friends and family. As always, if you make our recipes, tag us on the ‘gram (@kitchensitch & @elizabethkarmel), and use the hashtag #whats4dinner. Happy cooking!!