Time to clean off those grills and buy that charcoal- Memorial Day weekend is here! Want to kick off the summer with a party that will have everyone else talking all season long? We have just the menu to get your mouth watering and your meat cookin’. A friend recently had me over for ribs and used Bobby Flay’s recipe below. Amazing results!!

Bobby Flay’s Dry Rub Recipe for Ribs

Recipe courtesy of The Food Network

Ingredients

Baby back ribs- dry rub below is for 4 racks

1 tablespoon cumin

1 tablespoon paprika

1 tablespoon granulated garlic

1 tablespoon granulated onion

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 tablespoon brown sugar

2 tablespoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon white pepper

Yield: About 9 tablespoons, enough for 4 racks

Directions

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Place ribs in large enough pyrex dish or cookie sheet with sides. Use hands to rub the mixture all over your ribs. Place in oven and slow cook for 5 hours.

When ready to serve, you can serve them as is, or slather your favorite bar-b-q sauce on them and grill just for a few minutes on each side. Make sure your grill is not set on high.

Southwestern Corn Salad

Ingredients

8 ears fresh corn in husks

1 red bell pepper, diced

1 green bell pepper, diced

1 red onion, chopped

1 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1/2 cup olive oil

4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced

3 limes, juiced

1 teaspoon white sugar

salt and pepper to taste

1 tablespoon hot sauce

 

Yield: About 8 servings

Directions

1.       Place the corn in a large pot with enough water to cover, and soak at least 15 minutes.

2.      Preheat grill for high heat. Remove silks from corn, but leave the husks.

3.      Place corn on the preheated grill. Cook, turning occasionally, 20 minutes, or until tender. Remove from heat, cool slightly, and discard husks.

4.       Cut the corn kernels from the cob, and place in a medium bowl. Mix in the red bell pepper, green bell pepper, and red onion.

5.      In a blender or food processor, mix the cilantro, olive oil, garlic, lime juice,

sugar, salt, pepper, and hot sauce. Blend until smooth and stir into salad.

 

Citrus Moscato Sangria

Ingredients

1 grapefruit, peeled and cut into supreme style segments

2 oranges, peeled and cut into supreme style segments

1 blood orange, cut into slices

2 clementine mandarins, cut into slices

10 kumquats cut into slices

2 tablespoons honey

½ cup orange liqueur like Grand Marnier

2 cups chilled sparkling water

Juice of 1 lemon

1 750 ml bottle chilled moscato wine – can also use Spanish moscatel wine

Ice

 

Yield: Serves 6-8

Directions

1.       Put the citrus fruit slices and segments in a pitcher. Add the honey and orange liqueur, let macerate for at least 30 minutes.

2.       Add the chilled sparkling water, moscato wine, lemon juice and ice. Mix well. The citrus moscato sangria can be served immediately or kept refrigerated for a couple of hours before serving.

Tip:  When serving the sangria use a spoon or fork to put some of the citrus pieces into each glass.

 

Add chips, salsa, guacamole and maybe some warm queso fundido dip with chorizo for apps.

Dessert… how about fruit skewers with mojito dip containing  ingredients like mint, sugar, rum, lime juice… Yummy!