Best Ever Potato Salad

Posted by: Annie


I have always been somewhat close minded about potato salad that does not come from my mom's kitchen.  I have always preferred my mom's classic potato salad, and had little interest in exploring other varieties - until now. About two weeks ago, we hosted a party at my house for my roommate's birthday. We were having a cookout, and I immediately thought that the first cookout of the season must have potato salad.

I remembered reading on Brown Eyed Baker about a potato salad that involved bacon drippings, and decided I would venture out of my safe potato salad bubble and make a new dish. Let's just say, I am no longer only loyal to my mom's potato salad (sorry ma!)

Bacon drippings combined with red potatoes all sorts of deliciousness completely won me over.

What you'll need:

4 cups cubed red potatoes
10 slices bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
4 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
1 stalk celery, diced
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 medium green pepper, chopped

Boil the potatoes until they are soft enough to be pierced with a fork. Drain the potatoes and put aside. While the potatoes are boiling, fry the bacon in a skillet over medium low heat. Using a slotted spoon, remove the bacon and drain on a paper towel lined plate. Pour out all but 2 Tablespoons of the bacon drippings. Stir in the sugar, mayo, mustard, and salt and whisk together. In a large bowl, mix together the potatoes, eggs, celery, onion, and green pepper.  Mix in the dressing, and stir well to coat all the ingredients. Finally, mix in the bacon. Cover, and chill in the refrigerator for up to 3 hours before serving.

Source

Chocolate Chip Crumble Bars

Posted by: Annie

I learned something about myself as a baker. I SUCK at crumbling. These are supposed to be chocolate chip CRUMBLE bars, and mine kind of just look like normal bars. Don't get me wrong, they were delicious (I may have even eaten one on my way to work at 6:30 am with a Red Bull - epitome of health you are talking to here,) but my crumbles kind of baked all together to look like non-crumble. Crumble-fail.

I was actually very surprised at the texture of my Chocolate Chip non-Crumble Bars; they were very cakelike and incredibly moist. I made these bars for my good good good friend Jinnely who just received her master's from Temple University in Education! We have been friends since middle school (awww,) and now work together as teachers in Philadelphia. She graduated on Thursday evening and walked in to a big plate of these bars on her desk the morning of her big day.

Me and Jinnely!

What you will need:

2 cups flour

2 cups brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 stick butter

2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (1 cup for the topping, 1 cup for the batter)

1 egg

1 cup milk (I used fat free)

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl combine flour, brown sugar, butter and salt. Mix well and use a fork to crumble the mixture. Reserve 1 cup of the crumb mixture and set aside. Stir in 1 cup chocolate chips, egg, milk, vanilla and baking soda. Mix well and pour into a lightly greased 9x13 pan. Add 1 cup chocolate chips to the reserved crumb mixture and sprinkle on top of the batter. Bake for 30-35 minutes until the crumb topping is golden brown. Cool and cut into bars. 

Source

Bourbon Glazed Salmon

Posted by: Maggie

Everyone who knows me is aware that I enjoy a drink or three on occasion on Fridays, Saturdays, and Thursdays during kickball season. I'm mainly a beer or wine girl, but I really don't discriminate - except when it comes to tequila. Let's just say that I used to travel to San Antonio frequently for my old job, and had enough tequila on those trips to last the rest of my life.

I tried bourbon for the first time last fall at a karaoke bar. It made me feel all warm and tingly (probably because I was drinking it straight up), and I instantly fell in love. I don't drink it often, because a) if I'm drinking liquor I insist on a decent brand, and I don't like buying $15 cocktails on the regular, and b) I feel tipsy after one, whereas with beer I'm sober as a judge after three. I may be drinking it more often in the near future though, since making this recipe required the purchase of my very own bottle of Jim Beam.

This recipe was absolutely delicious, and if the glaze wasn't the consistency of maple syrup I probably would have attempted to drink it. The original recipe recommends broiling the fish to get it crispy, but the inside of my oven looks like this, and so I just cooked it on my countertop grill:

What can I say...I don't have a lot of kitchen storage.

Here's what you'll need:

3/4 cup bourbon

2/3 cup brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground mustard

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tablespoon honey

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon worcestshire sauce

4 6-ounce pieces salmon 

Coarse salt

Pepper

Olive Oil

In a small saucepan, whisk together the first seven ingredients and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce to a simmer, and whisk frequently for 8-10 minutes, or until mixture reduces by half. Transfer the glaze to a bowl, and allow to thicken and cool while you make the salmon.

Rub your countertop grill (I use the Cuisinart Griddler and LOVE it if you're looking for a recommendation) or grill pan with olive oil, and heat over medium heat. Lightly brush both sides of the salmon with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill to desired doneness - I take mine off when it is just barely opaque in the thickest part.

Brush cooked salmon with glaze, and serve immediately.

Source: How Sweet It Is