A perfect July 4 picnic
Grandmother's salad
By Brian Hughes
brianh@crestviewbulletin.com
It was by virtue of just a few days that my grandmother, Lillie Colkitt Snyder Hughes, was born an American citizen. The ship bearing her parents, August and Wilhelmina Snyder, from Germany had only recently arrived at Ellis Island when Grandmother was born.
Sadly, few mementoes from my great-grandparents have been passed down to me apart from a few old photos, a tattered 1800s Bible printed in ornate German gothic type, and a fabulous oil painting of the mill in Mount Holly, N.J., where Great-grandfather worked, and where my grandmother would deliver his daily lunch bucket.
Despite the absence of tactile remembrances, my great-grandparents’ rich Rhenisch heritage has transcended the generations in the form of Great-grandmother Snyder’s famous hot German potato salad. Fabulous backyard picnics weren’t complete until Mom came out the kitchen door bearing a big bowl of the wonderful treat made from her in-laws’ recipe.
Because it was served hot off the stove, it was always the last dish to be prepared. While Dad was grilling the burgers or wieners, Mom would be finalizing the “Kartoffelsalat,” as Great-grandmother would’ve called it. In fact, until I moved to the South, I never imagined that potato salad could be served cold.
As we celebrate Independence Day, I think of the freedoms and liberties my ancestors earned as new, hardworking Americans. When I make this potato salad, I remember, too, my roots in the German Rheinland. I hope you like it.
Dankeschön, Grossmütter!
Hot German potato salad
Makes 6-8 servings, so I often double it when satiating hearty German-sized appetites.
6 medium potatoes
10-12 slices bacon
½ cup chopped onion
3 tbsp flour
4 tbsp sugar
1 ½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. celery seed
Few dashes pepper
½ cup vinegar
½ cup water
Peel, dice into ¾-inch cubes and cook the potatoes in salted boiling water and drain.
Meanwhile, in a large frying pan or skillet, fry the bacon crisp, then drain on a paper towel.
Brown the onions in the bacon grease until lightly browned.
Blend in the flour, sugar, salt, celery seed and pepper; cook over low heat until smooth and bubbly, stirring constantly.
Remove from heat and stir in vinegar and water (slowly so you don’t get spattered). Heat to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil one minute. Sauce will suddenly thicken.
Put cooked potatoes in a serving bowl, pour the sauce over them, crumble the bacon into the potatoes and stir to mix. Serve immediately.
Guten apetit!
The Fourth of July is for surviving the heat, packing a supper picnic for friends and family and waiting for great fireworks that last for a short amount of time but return each of us to our childhood on their first loud pop. Before you lean back in the lawn chairs or plop back on your grandmother’s quilt to ooohh and aahhh over the colors in the night sky, try this menu. And use this as family time, no cell phones, iPods, iPads, electronic games - just conversation – amazing how much fun it will be. Citronella candles and a lighter are helpful if you don’t bathe in mosquito spray for the evening. We even include a picnic checklist for those of you going to the beach, the river or farther than the back porch.
Pack up:
Cold sweet tea in mason jars with lids for each guest, if you want to get in the spirit of the holiday - tie red, white and blue ribbon or raffia around the lip of the jar.
Paper or plastic dinner and dessert plates, napkins and forks for each guest
A platter of sweet tea fried chicken (no serving utensils –– guests can grab this with their fingers)
Supper biscuits (no serving utensil)
Fruit salad (serving spoon)
Grandmother Lillie's German potato salad (see sidebar)
Paula’s Amazing All-American Apple Pie (knife to cut pieces and pie server)
Citronella candles and lighter
A quilt passed down through your family
A flashlight to get you where you are going
Sweet tea chicken:
1 quart cold water
2 gallon-size tea bags
1 ½ cups sugar
1 lemon, quartered
1/3 cup salt
6 chicken breasts – skinless and boneless
Peanut or canola oil for frying
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch
½ teaspoon black pepper
buttermilk for dredging
1 teaspoon hot sauce
Bring the cold water to a hard boil and remove from heat. Add the tea bags and steep for at least 5 minutes. Remove the tea bags and add sugar, stir till sugar is dissolved. (For those of you from above the Mason Dixon line, you cannot melt sugar in cold tea.) Add lemons and salt and refrigerate overnight – in a non-metal container.
The next morning, add chicken, cover and refrigerate 4 to 8 hours. Drain the chicken.
Put the flour in a shallow bowl; add cornstarch, and black pepper. Mix together. I use a brown paper bag.
In another bowl, mix buttermilk and hot sauce.
Dredge the chicken in the flour mixture or shake it in the bag with flour.
Dip flour-coated chicken into the buttermilk bowl.
In a deep fryer or a cast iron skillet, heat enough oil to come halfway up the sides of the pot to 350 degrees.
Fry until fully cooked. Transfer to a serving platter and drain on a paper towel.
Supper biscuits
3 cups all-purpose flour (plus 2 tablespoons to toss onto dough before baking)
¼ cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons baking powder
¾ teaspoon salt
½ cup cold butter, cut into cubes
1 ½ cups cold buttermilk
½ cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Add all dry ingredients in a large bowl. Cut in the cold butter with a pastry blender until the butter is the size of peas or just slightly larger. Gradually add the cold buttermilk until it is just combined. Stir in the cheese and do not overwork the dough.
Pat the dough down and dust the top of the mixture with 2 tablespoons of flour. Using an ice cream scoop, arrange scoops of biscuits onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake 18 to 20 minutes until brown. Brush with butter if desired.
Fruit Salad
1 (20 ounce) can pineapple chunks, drained with ¼ cup juice reserved
1 orange, peeled and segmented
1 kiwi, peeled, halved and sliced
1 cup seedless grapes
1 cup quartered strawberries
¼ teaspoon grated lime zest
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon poppy seeds
In a large bowl toss the fruits together.
In a small cup, mix lime zest, lime juice, lemon juice, honey, poppy seeds and ¼ cup reserved pineapple juice. Mix well.
Toss over the fruit, refrigerate.
Pie
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2 deep-dish piecrusts, leave in freezer until you need them.
4 – 6 apples (tart or sweet, your choice) peeled, cored and cut into bite size pieces
3 Tablespoons melted butter
1/3 cup dark Karo syrup
3 Tablespoons sugar
1 ½ Tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon salt
Combine melted butter, Karo syrup, sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon and sugar. Pour over the apples and mix well. Remove the two piecrusts. Place one crust (still in pan it came in) into a slightly larger round glass pie dish. Turn other piecrust onto the top of the apple filled crust and gently remove from its pan. Using both thumbs press the two crusts together, fluting the edges into sealed scallops. With a paring knife, cut slits in the pie top, radiating from the center will look like a small sunshine, but cut only through the top crust.
Praline glaze:
¼ cup brown sugar, packed
¼ cup chopped pecans
3 tablespoons dark Karo syrup
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 tablespoon cornstarch
Melt the butter and add other ingredients. Reserve for topping. (Note, it spreads easier when warm, I make mine in a large Pyrex mixing cup and warm in the microwave when the pie is ready for the glaze.)
Bake pie for 45 minutes until it is golden brown. Remove from oven and dollop the praline glaze over the pie top, spread to the edge and return to oven and bake another 10 minutes until top is bubbly.
Cut and serve, cover with aluminum foil and refrigerate any remaining pie, if there is any.
