Community Cookbook: A parade of favorites ready for holiday gatherings

Memorial Day, considered the unofficial start of summer, is almost upon us.

Memorial Day, less commonly known as Decoration Day, and the adjacent weekend encompass a wide range of activities. Remembrance and thanks to those who died while in military service or have served and died since is the heart and soul of the holiday. Tributes include grave decorating and visitations, ceremonial acknowledgments, displays and parades. It’s a time to remember and thank those still living who have sacrificed and are sacrificing for their service. For many of us, it’s also a time to remember our loved ones who are gone.

Numerous community events take place over the Memorial Day weekend, including music and food festivals, car shows, marathons, concerts and special dinners. The National Memorial Day concert will broadcast this Sunday on PBS. Gatherings with family and friends are popular. It can be a great weekend to be active.

The Memorial Day weekend, considered the onset of the barbecue season, is an ideal time to clean the patio and light up the grill. AC Hamburgers and McRibless Sandwiches are options for a backyard barbecue or dinner. The patties can be cooked indoors or outdoors on a grill for added enjoyment and flavor. And what’s a more natural part of a Memorial Day meal than an excellent potato salad? A Dilly of a Potato Salad may do until you can find one.

AC Hamburgers

Arctic Circle’s original hamburgers aren’t all that great compared to today’s opulent Big Macs, Whoppers and Jumbo Jacks. Enough of the Arctic Circle’s burger and fry sauce can make them delicious. This recipe doesn’t attempt to duplicate the newer, fancier Angus hamburgers offered by Arctic Circle, but rather the original hamburger enjoyed so much since the 1950s. Frozen ground beef patties are convenient. Thin patties improve the ingredient balance and resulting flavor.

¾ cup mayonnaise

⅓ cup buttermilk

¼ cup ketchup

2 frozen quarter-pound 80/20 or 73/27 ground beef patties

Salt

2 (3½-inch) hamburger buns

8 dill pickle chips

⅔-1 cup coarsely shredded lettuce

Make the sauce by whisking the mayonnaise, buttermilk and ketchup in a small bowl or measuring cup until well blended (increase the tanginess and thickness by adding powdered buttermilk to the sauce). Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour to allow the flavors to blend. Stir well before using. Heat a medium skillet over high-medium heat for five minutes (don’t do this with nonstick cookware). Add the patties in a single layer and cook for five minutes. Flip and cook for another four to five minutes. Flip and cook for one to two minutes, or until juices quit sweating from the tops (ground beef patties must reach 160 degrees to be safe). Remove from the heat and sprinkle both sides of the patties with salt. Warm or lightly toast the buns. Liberally spread sauce on the insides of the top bun halves (I like a thin coat on the bottom halves also). Place the patties on the bottom bun halves and liberally spread sauce on the patties. Top each patty with four pickle chips, ⅓-½ cup of lettuce, then the top bun halves.

Notes: Use the extra sauce for fries or other dippers. Top the patties with cheese slices at the end of cooking for cheeseburgers. Bottled fry sauce can substitute for homemade.

Yield: 2 hamburgers

McRibless Sandwiches

Keeping track of McDonald’s episodic offering of the popular McRib sandwich can be annoying. They are pretty good and don’t have to be difficult to make at home. McDonald’s pork patty is somewhat plain; the real flavor contributor is the barbecue sauce. K.C. Masterpiece and Bull’s-Eye are good choices, but any thick, flavorful sauce will do. I like extra onion and pickle on the McRibless. This sandwich begs the accompaniment of a good coleslaw and macaroni salad, or at least some chips.

1 (12- to 16-ounce) package ground pork or bulk regular or hot pork sausage

Barbecue sauce

4-5 hoagie or Kaiser rolls, sliced in half, horizontally

Thinly sliced sweet or white onion

Dill pickle chips

Shredded lettuce (optional)

If using ground pork, season it with salt and black pepper. Shape the pork or sausage into four to five patties sized and shaped to fit the rolls, allowing for some shrinkage from cooking. Cook over high-medium heat until well done, turning over halfway through for even cooking (the patties should reach a finished temperature of 160-165 degrees). Warm the barbecque sauce and toast the rolls, if preferred. Spread a liberal amount of sauce on the inside of the roll halves. Layer the onion on the bottom halves. Place a patty on top of each, then pickle chips, lettuce, if used, and the top roll halves. Warm the sandwiches before serving, if needed.

Notes: Jimmy Dean bulk sausage works well. I like the hot variety best.

Yield: 4 or 5 sandwiches

A Dilly of a Potato Salad

Potato salad is an essential dish for picnics, barbecues and potlucks. It’s a solid choice for inclusion in almost any meal with the possible exception of breakfast. How many of us, if pressed, would confess to eating potato salad for breakfast at least once or twice? Potato salad fits in with nearly any food, including the holiday turkey, as Mom proved many times. A zillion variations of potato salad exist in the food universe; this is yet another.

⅓ cup plus 2 teaspoons mayonnaise

1 tablespoon granulated sugar or sugar substitute

1 teaspoon yellow mustard

¾ teaspoon salt

¼ plus ⅛ teaspoon black pepper

5 cups (4-5 medium, about 1½ pounds) russet potatoes, cut into ½- to ⅝-inch cubes,

2 tablespoons dill pickle juice or 4 teaspoons white vinegar

½ cup finely chopped dill pickles

½ cup green onion, sliced into ¼- to ⅜-inch pieces

¼ cup diced celery

2-3 tablespoons bacon crumbles (optional)

Paprika for garnish

Combine 6 cups of water and 1 tablespoon of salt in a large saucepan, cover, and let sit for an hour to dissolve the salt. Make the dressing by combining the first six ingredients (through black pepper) in a small bowl or measuring cup. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use. Thoroughly scrub the potatoes. Peel them, if preferred. Add the cubed potatoes to the saucepan and add a little more water, if needed, to cover the potatoes by an inch. Cover with a lid and bring just to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until fork tender, about eight to 10 minutes, adjusting the heat, as needed, to maintain a simmer. Drain and spread the potatoes out in a shallow baking pan. Let cool for five minutes, then transfer to a medium bowl. Sprinkle the pickle juice or vinegar over the potatoes and quickly mix thoroughly. Mash some of the potatoes to produce a creamier salad, if preferred. Stir in the remaining ingredients, except the dressing and paprika. Add the dressing and stir well so the ingredients are well blended. Sprinkle paprika over the top. Let the salad cool in the refrigerator, then cover and refrigerate for two to three hours to chill and allow the flavors to blend.

Notes: The salad will last a week or more in the refrigerator if made with regular mayonnaise. Use the salad up within a day or two if made with light or fat-free mayonnaise for the best quality.

Yield: About 6 cups

Dick Sellers is a freelance writer. Contact him at dickskitchencorner@outlook.com.