What’s your All American meal?

Memorial Day is synonymous with BBQ’s and cookouts, but unfortunately, this City Girl does not own a grill.  Nonetheless, I did make my own All American meal using some of my favorite recipes which consisted of ‪fried chicken, Southern Living macaroni and cheese recipe, Piero’s Italian Cuisine creamed corn recipe and a pear-grape-pecan-blue cheese salad.  The salad was inspired by Daniel’s Restaurant in Apex, North Carolina.

Two great tips for frying chicken that I read in the Art of Simple Food by Alice Waters are 1) soak the chicken in buttermilk for 20 minutes and 2) use a cast iron skillet for crispier chicken.  The verdict was…oh this is oh-so-good, I will not only have seconds, but thirds and I will forgo the dessert tonight.    I actually ended up soaking the chicken in buttermilk for an hour.   I agree that the cast iron skillet did yield a very crispy chicken, but noticed the color of the skin was a little darker for my taste.   I might lower the temperature to medium heat vs. medium high heat next time.  Regardless, I got several kudos from my dinner guests.

The mac & cheese as well as the creamed corn were comfort food at its best.   I was lucky enough to have picked up a special edition of Southern Living years ago that has one of my favorite go to mac & cheese recipes.  I can only make this a couple times a year because it is so indulgent and simply dangerous.

On my last trip to Las Vegas, I dined at Piero’s Italian Cuisine, which is off the strip.  What a true gem!   I will be sharing my Las Vegas foodie adventures soon, but one of my great take away’s was a note card with their creamed corn recipe.   This is definitely making an appearance again at my future dinners.

The salad was a meal on its own.   I made it again the next day, but served it as a main course.  The blue cheese and pecans provided that meaty, savory flavor while the fruit provided a light sweetness that did not over power the salad.   I could have added chicken as an option, but I think the salad is the star.

Let me what’s your favorite All American meal.   I would love to hear what’s on your menu for this Memorial Day.