Celebrating America's Ethnic Roots

 THis Fourth of July celebrate the many centuries of immigrants that contributed to America's culinary table. Try different and new dishes and spices for a truly memorable American feast. The recipes are varied but all are delicious.

Yes you could have the German based hamburger and hot dogs. These are always fun but how about celebrating Middle Eastern immigrants culinary contribution - the kebab. These are easy to make on the grill.  It's just taking cut up chicken breasts and alternating them with grape or,cherry tomatoes, onions and peppers. You can marinate the meat in lemon for more flavor. Shrimp can also be used for an even tastier variation.Kabobs can easily made vegan with just having the veggies and omitting the meat. Tofu can also be part of the kabob. Marinate in Middle Easter spices like turmeric and sumac.Look to our Caribbean community for another barbecue must cook. Jerk chicken is a great addition to any outdoor party,It''s marinating or rubbing legs and wings with a combination of soy sauce, nutmeg, allspice and Chinese five spice powder. All of these symbolize the various ethnicities that make up the Caribbean.Marinate the meat overnight in this. You can also create jerk pork and lamb along with beef. Even shrimp can have that spicy , smoky flavor.

What about sides? Here look to the people who originally fed America -the indigenous tribes.Corn is an important part of any Fourth of July cookout.If you want moist, juicy kernels then soak int ears in their husks in water from half an hour to six to seven hours overnight. You can turn them into Mexican street corn by adding a sauce made of mayo, Mexican sour cream(or the america one if you can;t find the Mexican one) garlic ,lime zest and cilantro. Another indigenous staple was beans, A bean salad is always a welcome side when you eat out doors. Try a three bean type but add different spices. You could give it an Asian vibe by adding some soy sauce to the vinaigrette along with some freshly shredded ginger. Oregano  garlic and red wine vinegar will give it an Italian spin. Italy does give us pasta and it can be fun to create a pasta salad but think more Italian. A panzanella or bread salad from Naples is perfect .Mix ripe thinly sliced  San Marzano tomatoes with chunks of Italian bread and olive oil.YOu could add chopped red onion of you want more flavor along with garlic. Olives and mozzarella chunks can also be added for more weight. This is also good as a leftover for the next day.

America is a marriage of the indigenous and foreign. The same can be true of our cuisine. Try some of the recipes for this  truly American holiday.

Food Treks

Foodies love to try all sorts of different food. They travel the globe enjoying the flavors of a country. It may be pasta in Tuscany or sushi in Osaka. Travel companies and guides have  up picked up on this and now offering food based trips. It goes far and wide, from walrus meat in Siberia to blackeyed pea stew in Ghana.

New York Times restaurant critic ,Ligaya Mishan, took a break from writing reviews to explore the new trend in foodie traveling. We have Anthony Bourdain to thank for this adventurous spirit. He gave Americans the courage and curiosity to go off the beaten path while on vacation and sample street fare and trying tasting menus in private homes. Attempts to follow Chef Bourdain's itinerary are typically orchestrated by by small, indy tour operators. They also have roots in the place so they know to bring visitors to home chefs selling pho from their kitchens or small business owners that also make sandwiches or kabobs on  a small stove at the back of their shops.Now international tour  companies are taking notice and planning their own culinary treks. One of the highest profile  contenders, the Monacan based Silversea, who has just partnered with cruise giant Royal Caribbean has planned a new 596 (!) passenger ship built expressly for culinary voyages.It will have a test kitchen that doubles as a clubhouse. However that launches a year from now in 2020.

Gastro-pilgrims, as they're sometimes called, won't wait. There are so many different tours right now, catering to the whopping ninety-three percent (!)food travelers.These are people who are not satisfied with local buffets. They want cooking  classes in Oaxaca, and even trips to floating markets like the one in Kashmir. More and more tour operators are  also trying to give these travelers a sense of substance of the lives of their chefs and servers.Mexico City food tour coordinator, Rocio Vazquez Landeta of Eat Like A Local is conscious of the class discrepancy between her tourists and the food vendors they visit. She makes a point of paying vendors full price for their goods and time spent making the foods instead of demanding discounts like other tour guides do. She has also hired an English tutor for the vendors' kids who at eight and eleven, are already working with their parents.She tips them for weekend tours they conduct.Then there is Mona Boyd, the Arkansas born founder of Landtours in Accra, Ghana. She arranged for small tour groups to not only dine with local home chefs but also to cook with them. An informal setting like this can foster a more candid cultural exchange. However , all homes and situations have to be vetted. Tourists can't get sick drinking unpurified water or freak out when they see the home chef accidentally drop the main course on a dirty floor.

It's now possible for foodies to travel the world looking for their wildest culinary adventures.The world is their oyster. Literally.

Cook On A Hot Tin Roof

What happens when an early heat wave arrives? Don't cook. Adopt a summer attitude when it comes to cooking and baking. Look more towards lighter fare and less time in the kitchen. Wipe off the grill and get it fired up.. It's too hot to cook indoors..

An unexpected burst of high temps leaves most home chefs flummoxed . After all, they've planned a week of dinners and even lunches that require preheating the oven and roasting or cooking.Air conditioning should be turned on full blast but if you don' t  have it installed yet take heart. The microwave is your best friend during these times. If it can be microwaved do it. Those meat pies and pizzas can be zapped quickly instead of  baking in a hot 375 degree F ovens. Even preheating can be bad because it turns a kitchen into a proofing drawer. Most meat pies take almost an hour  to thoroughly cook up - which means being stuck and eating in a steam bath. Another idea is to just get cold cuts and make sandwiches along with getting premade salads. If the cold cuts don;t cut it  for you nitrates , then buy a whole roasted chicken or ribs at your local grocery. Acme now has roasters that are already cut into pieces and Stop & Shop has bags of fried chicken.

If the temps get too irritating, then get out the grill. You can still grill those steaks and salmon you planned  on cooking in the oven. They may even taste better than what you originally had planned for them originally. Marinate them in teriyaki  or barbecue sauce. The roast chicken and Cornish hens can even be put on the barbecue.. They do need to be spatchcocked or split open for grilling. Even if you planned on cooking a small turkey, it can be spatchcocked or butterflied and cooked on the grill as well. As for those veggies, put them in foil packets next to the meat. It's an easy fuss-free way of cooking them during an early heat wave. Add butter or olive oil along with herbs and spices to the packets. Again this may be better than what you originally had planned.A grilled dinner leads into a grilled dessert. It's never too early for s'mores. Some stores are already pushing the components so take advantage of that. Try something fun, like subbing in dark chocolate for milk  chocolate or chocolate graham crackers for the regular. You can also have grilled fruit kabobs, using apple and pineapple chunks along with grapes.

Don't let a heat wave leave you hot and bothered. Be cool - and keep your lunches and dinners the same way. It'll be a breeze to make - and to eat.

Pork On The Grill

Pork is usually a barbecue's uninvited guest. Most people prefer beef or chicken or even the rarer shrimp or tuna. Yet by ignoring pork ,they're missing out on some tasty cuts.It's a versatile meat that can work well with anything on it,from. A spicy rub to a simple citrus squeeze. One of the best cuts is the simple pork chop.Pork , unfortunately has the problem of being dried out and too tough when set over an open flame.For a juicier bite,brine the chop in a salt and water bath for two to three hours prior to putting on the barbecue.Another idea is a marinade. This works well for a thinner pork chop because the meat will absorb more of the fluid. Start with a simple vinaigrette ,.Use olive oil lemon juice and maybe some Rosemary for extra flavor. you can also use a bottled salad dressing such as Italian for grilling. Pork loin is another grill worthy cut.Again, it may dry out after intense searing so prepare it with a marinade.With this you can go spicy by adding chili peppers to the liquid or sweet ,adding eithervhoney or molasses alongvwithva dash of orange juice.For something different try poke kabobs.These can be marinaded in a vinegar and preserve mix to give it a tang.For all pork dishes ,please use meat thermometer.Undercooked pork can harbor parasites which can lead to trichinosis, a deadly condition affecting the internal organs.The internal temps on any pork cut should be 145 degrees Farenheit. Pork is a great alternative to chicken or beef.Try pork kabobs or grilled chops for a different barbecue experience.It's a tasty shake up to the ordinary.

A Serbian Delight The Balkan Burger

Serbian food isn't well known in th e States unless you're in a Serbian or Bosnian American neighborhood. Te thing is is that you're missing out on good food if you haven't tried it. Yesterdays' New York Times Dining section was all about some specialties of the former Yugoslav Republic. One was the pljeskavica, the Balkan version of a burger.

The article, again another one expertly written by Dining regular , Julia Moskin, tells about some interesting and tasty Balkan foods. The most famous , of course is the pljeskavica. This is a mammoth sized hamburger made with not only ground beef but also lamb and pork and served on a light , fluffy pita. It also has sparkling water along with chopped onions and paprika added to it to give it its' distinct flavor and body. Every Serb and Bosnian has a different spin on the recipe but it amounts to a great flavor . There are several different toppings that can be served with the hamburger. One is ajvar a red pepper and eggplant mix. Another topping is kajmak, a butter and cream cheese spread that's served a a dipping sauce with the pljeskavica.

The meat can also be rolled into sausage like shapes called cevapis. These are usually made with ground beef or pork, and then kneaded to make the meat hold together smoothly. They can also be extruded through a funnel. Afterwards they are grilled and served with white bread and pepper. The name derives from the Turkish kabob and they can also be found in Turkey as well as Macedonia and Romania..

Balkan food is one of Europe's best kept secrets . Take some time and uncover these phenomenal meat specialties of pljeskavica and cevapis . They are delicious and filling, a familiar form of ground beef or pork in an exotic new way.