Two Salads and Brownies for the Lake!

Sumner (now Sumner and John) has done a lake weekend with Birmingham and Atlanta friends for several years now. I have been lucky enough to be included in these and for the past few years Russ has been a part of them too. Sumner’s parents have a great lake house that lends to lots of fun times in the water and on the porch! Everyone always brings some food and some drinks and we eat, drink and be merry all weekend! There are a few dishes that have become traditions for the annual lake weekend including Sumner’s Lime Daiquiris, Erin’s Rotel Cheese Dip, and Sumner’s Broccoli Salad. This year I am tasked with bringing the Broccoli Salad, a potato salad, and a dessert.

Don’t be fooled by other Broccoli Salad’s out there as this one is the best! I might be a little biased as it always reminds me of fun weekends at the lake, but I have tried other broccoli salads and have yet to find one I like as much. It is very simple to make too. You start by washing the broccoli, cutting the stem off, and separating / cutting it into bite size pieces. You then add golden raisins, toasted chopped pecans, chopped red onion, and crumbled bacon or taken (turkey bacon). For the dressing you mix mayonnaise, sugar, and apple cider vinegar together. The dressing is made and left in a separate container until you are ready to eat.

The broccoli salad has the perfect mix of ingredients that give great flavor and lot of texture. The dressing is light, sweet, and tangy and complements the salad perfectly. This is a real crowd pleaser that everyone loves. It is a great dish for picnics, tail gates, lake weekends, or any other time. I don’t think it is as good the next day as it looses some of it great crunchy texture, so if you are making it for just a couple people you might just dress half of it to start with and keep the rest of the dressing and dry salad for another day. Russ rates the broccoli salad a 9.

I don’t have a tried and true potato salad. On top of that I don’t even have a particular favorite kind of potato salad as I like the ones with mayo and mustard, the white ones with no mustard, the vinegary ones…. The only thing I don’t like is when they are too saucy and it overtakes the potatoes and other ingredients. So, I went on a search for a recipe and talked to a couple co-workers and ended up going with a co-worker’s tried and true recipe for Sour Cream Potato Salad.

To make the salad you boil the potatoes whole, let them cool, and cut them into large chunks. You also hard boil four eggs, let them cool, and give them a rough chop. You then chop the celery and onion (my addition) and toss all of these ingredients together. You then make the dressing in a separate bowl. You combine mayonnaise, sour cream, Italian dressing, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. This is then gently tossed with the potato mixture. Shortly before serving you add the chopped pimientos, and pickle relish.

While I really like the use of sour cream in this potato salad I found it a little to saucy for my tastes. I think it is a good recipe, but I think I'll keep searching for my tried and true potato salad recipe. Russ rates the potato salad a 7.

My last item was any type of dessert. I knew I wanted one that I could make ahead and that most everyone would like. I decided to try a brownie recipe that I found earlier this summer and had wanted to try. It is for Classic Brownies that can be made with or with out nuts. I made them without as that is how Russ’ prefers them.

It is a fairly simple recipe; however, I managed to make it more complicated by not reading the ingredients list very well before hand. I start making them only to realize the bar of unsweetened chocolate I have is 4 oz and not 6 oz. I then do a pantry search and find exactly 2 oz of unsweetened chocolate! So, I think I am good to go only to get a little further and realize that I don’t have cake flour like I thought I did. Allen and Russ were hanging out on the porch, so they sweetly offered to go get cake flour. Two grocery stores later and with a little help from someone in the flour aisle and they find it. Finally I am ready to get started.

To make the brownies you melt the chocolate and butter slowly in a double boiler. You then mix the flour, salt, and baking powder together. Once the chocolate and butter are melted you remove them from the heat and whisk in the sugar little by little and then stir in the vanilla extract. You then fold the flour mixture into the chocolate mixture in thirds. The batter is then poured into a baking pan that is covered in foil and sprayed with Pam. The brownies bake for about 35 minutes at 325 F. If you like you brownies cakey then be sure that the cook through and that a tooth pick comes out clean. If you like them a little more chewy then cook them until the toothpick comes out with just a little batter on it.

I made these on Thursday night and let them cool over night wrapped in foil. I went ahead and cut them Friday morning and Russ helped me out by sampling them. He said that he would like to start having brownies for breakfast more often! The brownies are rich, dense, and just little chewy. Russ rates the brownies a 9.

The lake weekend was lots of fun! Russ and I enjoyed being with good friends and good eats! (Russ and I forgot to take pictures of the Broccoli and Potato Salads. Sorry!)

Broccoli Salad, Recipe from Sumner

Salad Ingredients:
2 heads of broccoli (wash, cut most of the stem off and separate)
½ cup of golden raisins
½ cup toasted pecans, chopped
½ cup red onion, chopped (plus a little extra)
1 pack (12 slices) turkey bacon

Dressing Ingredients:
1 ½ cups of mayo
½ cup sugar
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

To prepare the salad wash the broccoli and cut off the bulk of the stem and separate it into bite size pieces. Chop the pecans and onion. Cook the bacon according to package directions. Crumble the bacon once it is cooked. Toss all ingredients together in a bowl.

To make the dressing mix the mayo, sugar, and vinegar together and refrigerate it for at least 3 hours. Keep the dressing separate until you are ready to serve the salad and then dress it. The dressing makes a lot more than you need, so add it as you go and use enough to give it a good, light coat.

Sour Cream Potato Salad, Old Southern Living Recipe Collection

6 medium red potatoes
4 hard-cooked eggs, chopped
½ cup sliced celery
2/3 cup mayonnaise
½ cup sour cream
¼ cup Italian dressing
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 ¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
¼ cup sweet pickle relish
1 (2 oz) jar diced pimiento, drained

Wash potatoes, and cook in boiling salted water to cover 30 minutes or until tender. Drain and cool completely. Peel and cube potatoes (I didn’t peel them). Combine potatoes, eggs, and celery in a large bowl; toss gently.

Combine mayonnaise, sour cream, Italian dressing, lemon juice, salt, and pepper in a small bowl; stir well. Pour over potato mixture tossing gently. Cover and chill thoroughly. Just before serving, add the relish and pimiento; toss gently. Yield: 8 cups.

Classic Brownies, Cook’s Illustrated

1 cup (4 ounces) pecans or walnuts, chopped medium (optional)
1¼ cups (5 ounces) cake flour
½ teaspoon salt
¾ teaspoon baking powder
6 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped fine
12 tablespoons (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, cut into six 1-inch pieces
2¼ cups (15¾ ounces) sugar
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 325 degrees. Cut 18-inch length foil and fold lengthwise to 8-inch width. Fit foil into length of 13 by 9-inch baking dish, pushing it into corners and up sides of pan; allow excess to overhand pan edges. Cut 14-inch length foil and, if using extra-wide foil, fold lengthwise to 12-inch width; fit into width of baking pan in same manner, perpendicular to first sheet. Spray foil-lined pan with nonstick cooking spray.

2. If using nuts, spread nuts evenly on rimmed baking sheet and toast in oven until fragrant, 5 to 8 minutes. Set aside to cool.

3. Whisk to combine flour, salt, and baking powder in medium bowl; set aside.

4. Melt chocolate and butter in large heatproof bowl set over saucepan of almost-simmering water, stirring occasionally, until smooth. (Alternatively, in microwave, heat butter and chocolate in large microwave-safe bowl on high for 45 seconds, then stir and heat for 30 seconds more. Stir again, and, if necessary, repeat in 15-second increments; do not let chocolate burn.) When chocolate mixture is completely smooth, remove bowl from saucepan and gradually whisk in sugar. Add eggs on at a time, whisking after each addition until thoroughly combined. Whisk in vanilla. Add flour mixture in three additions, folding with rubber spatula until batter is completely smooth and homogeneous.

5. Transfer batter to prepared pan; using spatula, spread batter into corners of pan and smooth surface. Sprinkle toasted nuts (if using) evenly over batter and bake until toothpick or wooden skewer inserted into center of brownies comes out with few moist crumbs attached, 30 to 35 minutes. Cool on wire rack to room temperature, about 2 hours, and then remove brownies from pan by lifting foil overhang. Cut brownies into 2-inch squares and serve. (Store leftovers in airtight container at room temperature, for up to 3 days.)