Dennys Food and Recipes: Labor Day, Football Tailgating: Check Out Some New Drinks, Appetizer Cheesy Zucchini No-Fry Fries with Smoked Paprika Dip Sauce

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Dennys Food and Recipes: Labor Day, Football Tailgating: Check Out Some New Drinks, Appetizer Cheesy Zucchini No-Fry Fries with Smoked Paprika Dip Sauce: From Denny:  Ready to try something new for the Labor Day weekend and tailgating season?  Audition it on Labor Day and check out your reviews, and, if all goes well, you have some winners for the tailgating season.  I know.  I know.  The conventional wisdom is that you are not supposed to audition something new on your guests but my crowd likes to review.  Come on; put a little risk into your life!

I usually cook up standards I know most people enjoy and then introduce a couple of new things for review and comment.  It's a conversation starter and since my friends tend to be as opinionated as myself, well, they enjoy weighing in.  They even make suggestions to kick it up, tone it down or variations that I might not have considered.  Since I value their input it's all done in good fun.  For my guests to take home I also make copies of the new recipes with space for them to make notes while we discuss the food.

The first two drinks up for consideration are old standards with new twists:  a Planter's Punch and a Bloody Mary.  The new twist for the Planter's Punch is that it has some added Camus Cognac with the apple cider, apple juice and pineapple juice.  The new twist for the Bloody Mary is the addition of Lucid Absinthe with the spicy bloody mary mix, worchestershire sauce, horseradish, black pepper, celery salt and garlic salt.  These two drinks come from  Niccole Trzaska at The Liberty Bar in New York City.

This appetizer recipe is from Chef Sara Moulton, one of the busiest TV chefs.  Check out this link to her site for online cooking classes, links to her TV shows and awesome easy recipes.  Sara has enjoyed a long career:  a 25-year stint at Gourmet magazine (which had a run from 1941 - 2009), hosted several Food Network shows for a decade, hosts public TV's "Sara's Weeknight Meals" and has written three cookbooks, one of which is "Sara Moulton's Everyday Family Dinners."  Whew! All while raising her own family.  It's no wonder she specializes in quick and easy food...


Dennys Food and Recipes: Labor Day, Football Tailgating: Check Out Some New Drinks, Appetizer Cheesy Zucchini No-Fry Fries with Smoked Paprika Dip Sauce

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Dennys Food and Recipes: BBQ Grilling: 3 Tasty Compound Butters To Compliment Your Recipes

Dennys Food and Recipes: BBQ Grilling: 3 Tasty Compound Butters To Compliment Your Recipes: From Denny:  Whether you are grilling or baking in the oven specially infused butters offer wonderful flavor choices to celebrate your food!  Chef Sara Moulton is known for easy recipes that can be done at home with a minimum of fuss.  She's also one of my favorite food teachers as she is so relaxed, giving even the novice cook a boost of confidence.

Her first recipe is for an herb butter.  Do you have some favorite herbs that you just can't cook without?  This recipe is all about your favorite combination of herbs, though she does suggest a few to get you started.  While you could substitute a Vidalia sweet onion in place of shallots, well, shallots are that much sweeter, and, oh, so wonderfully flavorful so try to find them in your area.  Shallots, a favorite of classically trained chefs, are usually in plentiful supply in the spring and summer months, often into autumn.

Are you more in the mood for a citrus butter?  Chef Moulton combines the zest and juice of lemons and limes for a sublime summer taste that everyone will enjoy.

How about something more substantial for those manly men who enjoy a great grilled steak?  Oh, this recipe is for you!  Combine this steak butter with Dijon mustard, a fresh finely minced garlic clove and Worchestershire sauce (we prefer Lea & Perrins at our house though you could use the brand you like),

If you can't grill outside just use a grill pan on the stovetop to get those prized grill marks, turn it over and place it in the oven to finish.  When ready to plate make sure the steak plate has been heating in the oven. Place a large slice of this steak butter onto the plate and then place the steak on top of the butter.  Talk about awesome taste as the butter melts on the very hot plate, spilling out like a gravy for your steak!  That's the method all the old steakhouses of the 1940's and 1950's used before restaurants went to open charcoal or wood fired grilling.

The beauty of all these butters is that all you have to do is roll them into logs and wrap in plastic wrap and aluminum foil and freeze until ready to use.  Just slice off the amount you need and return it to the freezer.  How simple is that?  You can make these up way ahead of when you will need them...

Dennys Food and Recipes: BBQ Grilling: 3 Tasty Compound Butters To Compliment Your Recipes

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