A La Carte: Celebrate inauguration in style with these all American dishes

There’s no better time for an all American party than the three-day weekend preceding President-elect Barack Obama’s inauguration. Most of us will be working or in class during the actual ceremony at noon on Jan. 20, but that doesn’t mean we can’t celebrate before or after the event.

These dishes represent states that impacted the outcome of the 2008 election: Barbeque for North Carolina, Philly cheese steaks for Pennsylvania, and key lime pie for Florida. Serve with red, white and blue cocktails.  The key to a successful inauguration party is to set aside party affiliations and celebrate your patriotism.

Bacon Wrapped Shrimp with Chipotle BBQ Sauce
25 Shrimp, shelled, deviened
1/2 pound Bacon, partially cooked and cut in half
1/2 cup BBQ sauce
1/4 cup canola oil
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 ounces Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons chipotle pepper in adobo
1/2 teaspoon red chili flake
1/4 teaspoons cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoons black pepper
5 to 8 bamboo skewers

Soak bamboo skewers in water, to keep from burning during grilling. Cook bacon partially, cut in half, and let cool on paper towel. Wrap bacon around shrimp, and skewer with bamboo through the point where bacon ends meet, to keep from unraveling. Skewer 3 to 5 shrimp per bamboo.
Combine all ingredients in blender, except bacon and shrimp and puree. Separate the sauce in half, one for basting, one for dipping.
Cook bacon wrapped shrimp on grill over medium heat. When shrimp begin to turn pink, begin basting with chipotle sauce.

Philly Cheese Steak
2 fresh Italian sandwich rolls or Kaiser buns, split in half crosswise
1 white onion, thinly sliced
1/2 large green bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 pound rib-eye steak, very very thinly shaved or sliced
1/3 pound thinly sliced white American or Provolone cheese
OR 4 ounces melted cheese whiz
Italian pickled peppers and Ketchup, optional

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Heat a cast-iron skillet or griddle over medium-high heat. When hot, add the oil, onions and bell peppers, and cook, stirring, until caramelized, about 6 minutes. Add the garlic, salt, and pepper, and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds. Push off to one side of the griddle.
Add the meat to the hot pan and cook, stirring and breaking up with the back of two metal spatulas, until almost no longer pink, about 2 minutes. Mix in the sautéed vegetables. Top with cheese slices and melt. Spoon the cheesy meat mixture into the warm buns and serve immediately with condiments of choice, or put the meat in the bun and dip the spatula in the cheese whiz and then wipe the spatula down the inside of the bread.

Frozen Key Lime Pie
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (10 crackers)
1/4 cup sugar
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted
For the filling:
6 extra-large egg yolks, at room temperature
1/4 cup sugar
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
2 tablespoons grated lime zest
3/4 cup fresh lime juice (4 to 5 limes)
For the decoration:
1 cup (1/2 pint) cold heavy cream
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Thin lime wedges

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. For the crust, combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter in a bowl. Press into a 9-inch Pyrex pie pan, making sure the sides and the bottom are an even thickness. Bake for 10 minutes until firm and golden. Cool completely.
For the filling, beat the egg yolks and sugar on high speed in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment for 5 minutes, until thick. With the mixer on medium speed, add the condensed milk, lime zest, and lime juice. Pour into the baked pie shell and freeze.
For the decoration, beat the heavy cream on high speed in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment until soft peaks form. Add the sugar and vanilla and beat until firm. Spoon or pipe decoratively onto the pie and decorate with lime. Freeze for several hours or overnight.
Note: If you have concerns about raw eggs, combine the yolks with 1/2 cup of the lime juice in a double boiler. Whisk constantly over medium heat until the mixture reaches 140 degrees. Use in place of the raw egg yolks and remember to add the remaining 1/4 cup of lime juice to the filling mixture with the condensed milk and zest.

Red Devil
1 oz. vodka
1 oz. Peach Schnapps
1 oz. Southern Comfort
½ oz. triple sec
½ oz. sloe gin
1 splash orange juice
1 dash grenadine
Ice cubes

Shake ingredients with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass or over ice in a highball glass.

White Way Cocktail
1 ½ oz. gin
¾ oz. white crème de menthe
Ice cubes

Shake the ingredients with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Blue Hawaiian
1 oz. blue Curacao
1 oz. rum
1 splash cream of coconut
1 splash pineapple juice
Crushed iced

Blend the ingredients until smooth and pour into a highball glass. Spear a cherry and pineapple wedge to decorate the drink.

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Posted by HeraldAdmin on Jan 15 2009. Filed under Recipe, Weekend Scene. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

Cody Kimball
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