Entertain the Possibilities - Home cooking becomes a special occasion; Get recipes, photos, tips and playlists
  • Blog
  • About

Bodacious BBQ Sides and Perfect Picnic Pass-Arounds – Part 2

7/15/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
Last week I shared some stories and pictures from our 4th of July dinner party + neighborhood fireworks show. Now we’re digging into the details with recipes and party-planning tips.  

Previously: Bodacious BBQ Sides and Perfect Picnic Pass-Arounds – Part 1 

My next Party-Planning Tip doesn’t even deserve its own number, it’s really a continuation of #1. Make ahead, even just a little bit helps. Thinking specifically about the proteins here. Sure, it’s fun to live-grill your party (which almost becomes a group activity) + awesome aromas, but depending on the size of your gathering there can be drawbacks to cooking the meal in front of your guests while fulfilling all the other hosting and cooking duties. For one, your guests don’t receive your full attention and two, did you see the part about all the other hosting and cooking duties?!

So for our dinner party on the 4th we planned the cooking time so that the smoked ribs and grilled chicken would be done shortly before the guests arrived, and wrapped them tightly to keep warm-ish. For the ribs, we sliced the racks, doused them with sauce, packed them into covered aluminum pans and stuck them back in the still-smoldering smokers until serving time. But the messy part was over and done before our guests arrived.

For the Grilled Chicken Drumsticks, my tried and true method is a bit more counter-intuitive. The recipe comes from Epicurious. It looks overwhelming but stick with it because a) it’s really not, there are several variations included within this recipe; and b) it is totally worth it if you like juicy, flavorful chicken. 

  • First of all, brine the chicken in advance. I do it the night before and in the morning pat the chicken dry and keep it chilled until ready to grill. 
  • Grill using a combination of direct heat to sear, then indirect heat to finish cooking the chicken. 
  • Bathe the warm chicken in a zesty vinaigrette until serving time. Cover and chill if it will be a while but bring back to room temperature before serving. Or heat gently in a warming drawer or low temperature oven for a few minutes.

Many Thanks to our guests who brought side dishes and desserts to round out the meal! All are summertime classics, just kicked up a notch or three. 

Especially delicious were Pamela’s Caesar Salad (she uses her mom’s recipe – wow, thanks Rachel!) and Ellyn’s Smoky Baked Beans. (It’s pretty amusing that the linked recipe for the beans says Category: Vegetarian, but then the first ingredient listed is bacon. You can omit it and the beans will still be delicious, but the bacon surely does add a lot of flavor.)
Printable Recipe- Rachel's Caesar Salad
File Size: 511 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

I’ll offer one final Party-Planning Tip for this post: Have plenty of to-go containers available. My motto is “No one goes home empty-handed,” especially when there’s such abundance.

Stay tuned for another party post coming soon with all the details for Ilise’s Magical Smoked Ribs. 

What are your favorite summertime sides? Tell us about the flavors you savor in the Comments. 
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    When home cooking becomes a special occasion - Recipes, playlists, table tips and more
    Picture

    ​
    Entertaining Vintage

    Vintage treasures for the kitchen, home, collectibles, and gifts

    Categories

    All
    Afternoon Dance Break
    Birthday Greetings
    Cookbook Road Test
    Cool Tunes
    Drinks
    Entertaining Vintage
    Fish
    Kitchen Reno
    Kitchen Tips
    National Days
    Party Planning
    Pop Culture
    Recipe
    Savory Bites
    Supper Club
    Sweet Bites
    The Arts
    Travel
    TV
    Video

    Archives

    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    August 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015

    RSS Feed

    Subscribe to our mailing list

    * indicates required
Proudly powered by Weebly