4th of July cook :D (very pic heavy!)

Rezen73

So today, I decided to try and use most of the veggies I still had on hand to go with my traditional 4th of July cook.

First up: Roasted corn with cilantro-pistachio pesto. I was inspired by an episode of "Grill It!" with Bobby Flay; he made some corn with a scallion vinaigrette; and seeing that I had a lot of extra cilantro on hand I decided to do a cilantro pesto. Keeping with the "green" theme, I opted for pistachios instead of pine nuts.

Prep:

Pistachios! Surprising ingredient, but wow it really made the pesto!



Leftover cilantro from last weekend's cook.



Cilantro, scallions, garlic, pistachios, olive oil, salt, pepper. mmmm goodness



All done!



Next up: the corn. For the corn, I partially shucked it - I peeled the husk back just enough to remove the silk, then slathered it with some bacon fat, sprinkled with freshly ground black peppercorns, some garlic, red pepper flakes, and kosher salt. mmmmm.



Then I put the husks back and tied it with butcher string.



Next up: the umami burger glaze! Fish sauce, sugar, kosher salt, and granulated garlic.



Beef meets glaze. (for these burgers, I got a ~2 pound grass fed prime chuck roast, and had the butcher grind it for me).



A jucy lucy! Which is nothing more than two thin burger patties with cheese sandwiched in-between. hehe



Jucy Lucy all done



Next: fire roasted salsa! Two bowls - each with roughly the same ingredients - tomatoes, peppers, onions, shallots, garlic - half to be roasted, half to be fresh. All pureed in the food processor for yummy goodness



What kind of 4th of July cook would be complete without a couple of ABTs?

Tried a different take on them this time, seasoning the ground hot Italian sausage with some ancho chili powder, garlic, black pepper, and salt .. and also seasoning the bacon in the same manner.



Partially assembled ABTs and seasoned bacon!



Back to the salsa. Veggies ready to go on the grill - lightly drizzled with corn oil & sprinkled with a wee pinch of kosher salt.



Fresh veggies ready for the food processor.



Head of garlic drizzled with some EVOO, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. I roasted this for the aioli.



First batch of veggies on the grill



Nice and toasty



Remaining veggies on the grill:



Ready to be processed!



The aroma from the salsa was unbelievable!



Roasted garlic all done for the aioli



My little buddy chillin' while daddy cooks



Corn & ABTs on the grill.



Corn & ABTs done



Whatcha doin' daddy?



A tale of two burgers: jucy lucy & umami burger. And bacon to boot



lol silly doggie. I had to get a new plate since he "licked" that one clean. lol



As you can see, I pan seared the burgers in a cast iron skillet.



mmmmm bacon.



mmmmm jalapenos.



Assembling the burgers.



Look at the gooey cheese spewing forth from the jucy lucy!



Plated. Jucy lucy w/fire roasted salsa on top, an ABT, roasted corn with cilantro-pistachio pesto, and some potatoes. I'm still full and it's hours later. haha

Focker

Dang, nice cook

You had me at "then slathered it with bacon fat"

Marc from IL

Pic heavy... Great egging....

Unknown

Rezen,
I really enjoy your posts. Awesome work. What did you ultimately think of the fish sauce burgers?


I made them tonight. Now I do fish sauce, soy sauce and garlic and onion powder. Then I add some steak spice to the outside. I think they're great.

Rezen73

Hi Tweev-tip,

I haven't had it yet! haha. Was too full off the jucy lucy and other stuff. :-)

The smell is amazing, though.

Every time I open the fridge, the aroma from the salsa, aioli, and fish sauce burger hits me and makes me salivate. I only wish I was still hungry

Vincent Chase

Awesome!! A seriously inspiring cook.. I really admire your creativity. Going to have to steal your bacon fat on the corn idea and the umami burger sounds interesting, as does the pesto. And the grill-roasted garlic for your aioli.. man I bet that was delicious!! Look forward to more of your posts

ozegg

Lovely looking cook, I think I will have to try and replicate it, thanks for all the great pictures!

Frank from Houma

Nice - thanks for sharing

BENTE

wow that all looks great i think i will rill my vegies next time i make salsa

Clay Q

Got to hand it to ya, ground prime chuck roast is fit for a King. :woohoo:
Beautiful pic's and great step-by-step and then I see your finished dinner ready to eat, made my mouth water.
I bet the pups were droolin also.

ozegg

Lovely looking cook, I think I will have to try and replicate it, thanks for all the great pictures!

eenie meenie

Rezen, really nice cook for the Fourth of July. I hate to plagiairze, but you had me with the corn slathered with bacon fat, lol. Everything looked great. Roasted salsas are so good. I'll have to try the half & half technique the next time. Usaully I use either fully roasted or fully raw.

cookn biker

Great pictourial!!
Slathering pig fat and grinding prime chuck....love it!!
Thanks for sharing!!

thechief96

Very Very nice.Great looking food. Excellent Post.