Any Plans For Labor Day Cookouts 2021?

Anyone have plans for Labor Day weekend cookouts, even for 1 or 2, considering the Delta variant?
Summer seems to have given way to an early fall here, so plans are for smoked ribs at our rancho; not sure on sides just yet. No guests, but want to take advantage of sunny, dry weather, before heading into winter. How about you?

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Was thinking of grilling, but just received an invite from a friend for an enchilada party. He’s a great cook so I never say no when he invites us! Will take an appetizer and plenty of wine to keep the party going. :grin:

I will be SHOPPING for some BBQ ingredients this weekend, though. My mother- and sister-in-law are coming for a visit next weekend and they both love BBQ, so I plan to smoke up a few racks of ribs while hubby takes them into the city next Friday. They aren’t super adventurous eaters so I’ll keep the sides traditional, maybe coleslaw and potato salad or similar.

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I’m planning on working Monday. 4 hours. Cleaning the hot tub tomorrow. What’s so cool is I’m working on the master sausage maker of northern California’s house .Our commencation was make it look good. Of coarse . It’s coming out beautiful. It will be a fun weekend. No matter what , there’s going to be great food and wine.

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Our National legal bank holiday for Dia de Los Trabajadores (Labour Day) is May 1st …

Happy Labour Day Weekend.

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We are going to an outdoor get together this weekend with a small number of friends (all vaxxed, and in our pandemic bubble). I’m making a couple of vegetable salads with CSA produce. These will be tomatoes with sumac onions and
roasted carrots with panch phoran. Both will be takes on Ottolenghi recipes.

I have been wanting to break out a panch phoran spice blend I bought from a local cooking teacher, so I am excited for this.

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Have fun and Happy Labour Day Weekend Wishes.

National Labour Day Weekend for us in May 1st …

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Here are the veggie salads I mentioned upthread. Roasted carrots with panch phoron is first. Best enjoyed either barely warm or at room temp.

Next up is tomatoes with sumac onions. I subbed chopped Marcona almonds instead of pine nuts, though I think the salad is equally good without nuts at all. I subbed white balsamic vinegar for the white wine vinegar I didn’t have. (In general, I would avoid standard white vinegar for the onions as I think that would be entirely too sharp with the sumac.)

Our host had made beef brisket and pork ribs for main dishes, and these salads paired well.

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Both look delicious! Love sumac onions and roasted carrots!

No cookout… my friends with a backyard are away for the weekend, the ones with houses have rented them for the summer, the ones living at their house would require a bus ride that I am unwilling to engage in… so…

Back to Ottolenghi. I have come to the conclusion that so many of his recipes are essentially variations on a theme. So the 5 phoron carrots remind me of these carrots with cumin and coriander from Plenty More, but with the tadka/vaghar spices expanded to five :joy:

I think my favorite carrot recipe from him is the first one I ever ate, at a friend’s - slightly spiced, with onions that sweeten and caramelize alongside the carrots, and yogurt as a foil. (There’s that overlap again with the yogurt…)

Re 5 phoron - have you tried any Bengali recipes with it? The combination of spices adds a different something, very nice.

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That’s next! My reason for getting the panch phoron was actually to make a Bengali tomato relish with summer tomatoes. I had a pile of CSA carrots as well as a pile of cherry tomatoes to work with this weekend so it was sort of the luck of the draw.

I appreciate the way the Ottolenghi recipes mix and match flavors because then I gain options for ingredients that I happen to have as opposed to buying more goods.

ETA: I believe we’d really be into that Moroccan carrot salad you linked to. Thank you. :star_struck:

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The easiest way to taste it the 5 phoron is to use it for a simple dal.

Did you buy mustard oil for the tomato chutney?

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Not yet! Adding mustard oil to the grocery list now.

I don’t stock mustard oil anymore because I would use it maybe once or twice a year, and eventually the bottle would have to be thrown out.

It struck me recently that the pungency of mustard oil is reminiscent of strong-tasting extra virgin olive oil - so I use that to finish sometimes when mustard oil is called for.

(If you’re going to buy it - you have to heat it to smoking point before using, I’m sure the recipe instructions include that.)

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It’s too hot to cookout, signed Houston.

My personal grilling season is November to mid-May.

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