Summer Series: Your Fourth of July Fix!

Hey, everybody! First off, happy fourth of July! This is definitely one of my favorite holidays, so what a great day to start a new summer series! In addition to posting recipies this summer, I have decided to start a new summer series to give my readers ideas for good summer meals that you'll probably know how to make, but will just help freshen your memory with ideas that you probably wouldn't have though of, and that will be a nice change from the typical hot dogs and hamburgers. There will be 3 parts to each entry of this series.

One- A dish that you would not think of right away, but is very convienent to make for the summer months, cookout or not.

Two- A "Rain Check" situation. This part of the entry will consist of an alternative way of preperation, without sacrificing any flavor.

Third- A way to fix the dish incase you burn it or something. This will be a way to not sacrifice the whole meal, for a small issue. This will especially come in handy if you are having a cookout with a lot of guests.

So today: Fourth of July foods!

First on the list: Grilled Chicken Legs

A: I feel like when most people think of chicken, depending on their age, they either think of it in nugget form, or in the form of a grilled chicken breast. However, there are so many more things that you can do with chicken than what first comes to mind. Its such a simple meal, and for entertaining a large group of people, especially if you're having some sort of cookout, its extremely cost effective. This is because this cut mainly consists of dark, and less tender pieces of meat, therefore bringing the price down from the more expensive all tender white meat chicken breast. All you have to do is sprinkle this with a little bit of seasoned salt, or your own mix of herbs and spices, and cook it on medium heat. Make sure you cook them skin side up, especially at the beginning. You do this beacuse since the skin is essentially just fat in the sense of the purpose that it serves, and chicken is a very lean meat, as the juices come out of the skin, they will drip onto the chicken legs before they hit the drip pan, rather than just straight into the drip pan. This way the chicken legs will be basted all throughout the cooking process. Anyway, these are great because you can serve them either hot, or cold, meaning that if most of your dishes are based off of the grill that day, you can make them ahead of time and not have to worry about heating them up.

B: "Rain Check" If you don't have a grill, or would rather choose to serve them hot and have too many other foods on the grill, you can also bake them. However, I wouldn't recommend using a seasoning if you're going to bake this. Some type of breadcrumbs, such as "Shake 'n Bake" will work great for them. You can also serve them cold if you choose to prepare them this way. However, I prefer them served hot when they have been made this way.

C: Finally, I know that during the summer, people tend to be busier than usual. The great thing about chicken legs, is if you get carried away during a cookout preapring other foods, every single leg you buy will have the skin still intact, so if you happen to accidently burn them, the skin will be the first thing to burn. Therefore, if you burn them, simply peel the skin off, season the meat, and flip it so that the new seasonings cook into the meat in which they have been sprinkled on. Problem solved, and nobody will ever notice.

Until next time,
K