July 4th Weekend YUM-O Food!!

We did nothing but eat the weekend Laura was here for July 4th!!

Weber’s Real Grilling Grilled Crab Cakes
Salsa
1 ripe mango, about 1 lb, peeled, seeded and cut into 1/4 inch dice
1 medium red onion. finely chopped
3 tbsp finely chopped fresh basil
1 tbsp fresh lime juice
1 tbsp minced jalapeno pepper
1/2 tsp kosher salt

Crab Cakes
3/4 pound fresh, frozen or canned lump crab meat
1 cup plain breadcrumbs
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1 egg, beaten
2 green onions, white and light green parts, minced
1/2 tsp soy sauce
1/4 Tabasco sauce
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/8 tsp pepper

To make the salsa: in a medium bowl combine the salsa ingredients. Mix well and let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes to 3 hours until flavors blend.

Drain the crab meat in a sieve. In a medium bowl, flake the meat with a fork and discard any shells or cartilage that might remain. Add the remaining ingredients, mixing gently but thoroughly. Shape into 12 small cakes. Place cakes on a plate, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes until firm enough for the grill.

Grill over direct high heat until the bread crumbs are toasted, 6-8 minutes, turning once with spatula very carefully. Serve warm with salsa spooned on top.

There was also steak, bread and zucchini. But, really, who cares about that?

Also that weekend we had smoked ribs, caprese kabobs and Mexican street corn (inspired by our corn the week before in New York City) Dos Caminos. The ribs I smoked for about 5 hours with a rub and then threw them on the grill with sauce to finish them off. The kabobs Laura put together with mozzarella, cherry tomatoes and fresh basil. She finished those off with a balsamic glaze made by simply reducing balsamic vinegar on the stove. The Mexican Street Corn was kind a a creation made by looking a various recipes online and throwing together what I had on hand. I grilled the delicious sweet white corn to start. Then spread on a mixture of sour cream, a dash of heavy cream to loosen things up, chili power, garlic, chipotle puree, salt and pepper. Finally topped the hot corn with a squeeze of lime juice and grate queso fresco. OMG it was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO good. Best thing I ate all weekend HANDS DOWN. (notice the paper towel and beer. Both necessary).

Laura
All I can add to this is that I've never had Mexican street corn before this. I was pleasantly surprised at how delicious corn can be. The crab cakes were awesome, too.  Honestly, the whole weekend of food and fireworks was perfect. Especially since I got to throw together some skewers and Meredith did all the hard stuff.  I'm sure she knew that I was too drunk to cook.  Hey, where's the rum punch recipe?