Blackened Corn Spicy Potato Salad and Patriotic Cookies

When you get a minute, over the course of the weekend, I hope you'll read the Declaration of Independence. (Click here for a copy.) The second paragraph is the juiciest, containing the basic human rights on which this country was founded: Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. (Jefferson borrowed some of these ideas from English political philosopher John Locke, who wrote earlier that the basic human rights were life, liberty, and property. ) Jefferson established that the purpose of government was to help human beings secure these rights. On these principles, the republic of the United States is established. We, the citizens, are the rulers, which is a hefty responsibility when you stop to think about it. For our republic to function, we citizens have to be well-informed and pro-active. The best route to becoming an educated citizen is to read the primary documents upon which this great country is founded. So take a minute this weekend to read that famous birthday announcement of our new nation, The Declaration of Independence. If you can, read it out loud to your family, just as it was done across the colonies in 1776, after we Americans first gained the rights and responsibilities of freedom. You may want to even take off your hat and shout a few huzzahs in between sparklers and piccolo petes.

And now, to assist you in your pursuit of happiness this weekend, I've got two great recipes to share. The first is a spicy potato salad, full of caramelized corn, cilantro, and spice. It's especially delicious with yesterday's Catalina Island cheeseburgers. Next, I'm re-sharing my patriotic M and M cookies from last year, since they're just such crowd pleasers. Now go forth and safely and happily enjoy your Fourth.

Blackened Corn Spicy Potato Salad:

Estimated Cost: $3.00

Notes: I always adjust the seasonings of starchy salads (such as potato, pasta, rice, quinoa) before serving. They tend to become more bland in the refrigerator.

3 lbs. russett potatoes, peeled

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 cups corn, thawed if frozen

1 large onion, chopped

1 (4 ounce) can diced green chilies

1/3 cup sour cream

1/2 cup mayonnaise (or use more sour cream)

juice of two limes

1/2 teaspoon cumin

a pinch or two of chipotle chili powder OR tabasco

1 teaspoon each salt and pepper
1/2 cup packed cilantro leaves

Place whole potatoes in a large pot of cold water. Bring to a boil over high heat. Cook until potatoes are just tender when pricked with a fork, about 14-18 minutes. Remove from heat and drain in a colander; cut into bite sized pieces when cool enough to handle. Place same pot over medium high heat. Add oil and warm. Add onions and cook for five minutes. Crank the heat up to high and add corn and green chilies. Cook, stirring every minute or so, until corn is blackened in places, about 5 minutes. Place potatoes and corn mixture in a large bowl. Add sour cream, mayo, lime juice, cumin, chili powder, salt, pepper, and cilantro. Chill for at least two hours before serving. Adjust seasonings just before serving.

Patriotic M and M Cookies

Estimated Cost: $4.00

Notes: If you use all white flour, you may need to add a bit more flour to the dough. You want the dough to be soft and not too sticky, with a texture like playdough.

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup brown sugar (I use dark)

3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 and 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1 and 1/2 cups all purpose flour

about 2 cups M and Ms

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter and sugars. Add eggs and vanilla. Stir in powder, soda, and salt. Add flour, 1 cup at a time. Add about 1/3 of M and Ms to dough. Shape into scant 1 inch balls. Place on cookie sheets. Bake until almost firm, about 8-10 minutes. Push remaining M and Ms into cookies immediately.
Next Up:

Blackberry-Raspberry Pie

Leftover Bonus: Tangy Peach BarbecueChicken Cobb Salad

This morning I slept in and barely made it to 9:00 church. Hopeless sinner that I am, all I could think about was going back home and writing this post. I almost walked out in the middle of church. My husband is questioning my sanity. Either that, or he didn't want to sit through church alone with the kids.

I'm enjoying my double life as Prudence Pennywise. So, now I'm home from church, and instead of preparing lunch, or hanging up dresses, or making the unmade beds, I'm here. With you, loyal readers. Loyal readers, like Clumbsy Cookie, the amazing (and kind and encouraging)professional pastry chef, that gave me this new blog award.

I'll pass it on sometime this week. A million yummy thanks!

Now for those leftovers; if you followed along with our Fourth Of July menu, you may have some odds and ends for leftover in your fridge. I used mine to make this fun and very portable Cobb Salad. The blue cheese dressing from the red potato salad is positively heavenly atop the peach barbecue chicken and corn cut from the cob. I also added a sliced peach, which may sound odd, but actually adds a lovely balanced sweetness. If you don't have leftover blue cheese dressing, use any dressing you wish, but you may want to add some cheese to the salad.

Tangy Peach Barbecue Chicken Cobb Salad

Estimated Cost: $4.00 for four servings

Notes: Pack some up for a work lunch for Monday. No need to measure amounts; use as much or as little as you like.

salad greens

leftover Peach Barbecue Chicken, or other barbecue chicken

corn, cut from the cob, or frozen, thawed

sliced cucumbers

chopped red onion or scallions

chopped tomato

sliced peach or apricot

Homemade blue cheese dressing or other dressing

Place greens in a bowl and top with above ingredients in separate small sections. Cover with dressing just before serving.

Coming Tomorrow:

The Best and EASIEST No-Cook Creamy Vanilla Ice Cream

Plus a Meme Tag for me

Buttermilk Blue Cheese and Red Potato Salad AND Tomato and Cucumber Slaw with Lemon Dressing

Scroll down for more recipes and a complete menu for the Fourth of July...

Holy firecracker, batman, it's the second of July already! Time to get a-movin' on that Fourth menu. Today, by the way, is a great day to get your grocery shopping done. You'll miss the crowds and still be able close in on the can't-miss deals.
For today, I've got two scrumptious salads for your cook out. The first is a no-peel red potato salad smothered in a blue cheese dressing, creamy with red potatoes, and crisp with fresh celery and green onions. You'll make a big batch of blue cheese dressing to have extra on hand to dress up greens next week. (In fact, I've got a truly fantastic peach-barbecue chicken cobb salad to use up some of these leftovers-coming this weekend.)
A tangy lemon cole slaw is the perfect compliment to the creamy red potato salad. It's got big flavor from the tomatoes, cucumber and cilantro, but it's also light and refreshing with a good deal of crunch. Both salads are delicious on their own, but even better together. In fact, they're best with the sweet brown sugar and bacon baked beans (scroll down for recipe) and that tangy peach barbecue chicken-but you'll have to come back tomorrow for that one. See you then!
Buttermilk and Blue Cheese Red Potato Salad
Estimated Cost: $6.50
Notes: This makes a big batch of blue cheese dressing, so plan on having leftovers. Make it a day ahead.
3/4 cup buttermilk
3/4 cup mayonnaise or whole milk yogurt
1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper
1 fat clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons apple cider or red wine vinegar
3 ounces crumbled blue cheese
3 lbs. red potatoes, scrubbed, cut into 1/2 inch chunks
2 large stalks celery, minced
1/2 bunch green onions, minced
2 tablespoons chopped flat leaf parsley

In a medium bowl, whisk together buttermilk, mayonnaise,salt, pepper, garlic, lemon juice, mustard, and vinegar. Stir in blue cheese. Place in refrigerator to thicken. Meanwhile place potatoes in large pot and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil over high heat and cook until just tender, about 8-10 minutes. Drain and toss with 1/4 cup reserved blue cheese dressing. Refrigerate potatoes until cool, about 1 hour. Toss with about 1/2 cup dressing and add celery, green onions and parsley. Add more dressing as needed and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Tomato and Cucumber Slaw with Lemon Dressing
Estimated Cost: $3.50
Notes: Ideally you should mix the dressing ingredients separately, but I confess that I never do. I always just toss it right onto the slaw ingredients and start mixing. This salad is best made a few hours before serving.
1 (10 ounce) bag slaw mix
2 tomatoes, finely chopped
1 medium cucumber, peeled and chopped
1/2 cup chopped cilantro, mint, or basil
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper
3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive oil

Combine all ingredients in a big bowl and mix. Season to taste for salt and pepper. Refrigerate until serving time. This salad keeps well for at least 4 hours. I even like it the next day, although it won't be quite as crisp.Coming Tomorrow:
Grilled Chicken with Easy Tangy Peach Barbecue Sauce
Plus a trick to keep boneless chicken moist on the grill...

Radish and Dill Red Potato Salad

Cool and Creamy Potato Salad for your Memorial Day Feast...This potato salad is a bit of a black sheep among its spudly peers. First of all, it has no mayonnaise. (Sorry, Dad-I know how you crave your Best Foods.) No pickles. No celery. No vinegar. No peeling potatoes-oh, don't you love it already? Here's what it does have: fresh and green cooling dill, smooth sour cream, spicy radishes, piquant Dijon mustard, buttery red potato bites, crisp green onions. It's crunchy, creamy, refreshing and luscious, all in the same bite. Dill makes this dish. If you can't find fresh, use good quality dried-the kind where it still smells like fresh dill, not heaps of mowed grass.

Once I made this potato salad in college for my boyfriend (now husband) and his friends, but I forgot to buy dill. It took half an hour to find some kind stranger in the apartment complex with dried dill to borrow. Why I didn't just send my boyfriend to the store is beyond me. Apparently, I waited until he was my husband before marching him off to market for forgotten items.
This time, prepared, I shelled out the $2.29 at the market for a package of fresh dill. I only used a wee bit, so next week I'm making refrigerator dill pickles.

Radish and Dill Red Potato Salad

Estimated Cost: $3.50

Notes: You can make this one day ahead. Be sure to adjust the seasonings before serving-starchy salads can become bland in the fridge.

3 lbs. red potatoes, scrubbed
about 1/2 cup thinly sliced red radishes

about 1/2 cup chopped green onion

1 and 1/2 cups sour cream (I used half light)

2 tablespoons dijon mustard

1 teaspoon each salt and pepper

about 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill

Cut potatoes into 1 inch chunks. Place in a large pot of cold water. Bring to a boil over medium high heat. Cook until potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes. Drain potatoes. Toss hot potatoes with radishes and onions. Add in the sour cream, mustard, salt and pepper, stirring gently. When potatoes cool down to room temperature, add in dill. Taste and adjust seasoning. Refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving.

Look what's coming tomorrow...