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Need that perfect recipe for your 4th of July picnic? Check out my Grilled Burger, Grilled Corn, Guacamole, Deviled Eggs, Lemonade and Easy Brownies here!

Grilled Burger

Basic Hamburger

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 to 1½ pound ground beef chuck (80% lean meat)

½ to 1 teaspoon salt

freshly ground black pepper

4 hamburger buns

toppings and condiments

Directions:

1. Gently mix the beef with the salt and pepper. Divide the meat into 4 equal portions and then form the hamburgers, being careful not to over-handle the meat. One good way to do this is to throw the meat back and forth between your hands like a baseball, packing the meat each time you catch it. Flatten the balls into patties, making an indentation or divot in the center of each patty.
2. Pre-heat the grill until hot (if using charcoal, coals would be covered with white ash; if using gas, pre-heat for at least 10 minutes). You should be able to hold your hand about 2-inches over the grill for only 2 to 3 seconds before pulling it away. Place burgers on grill, season with salt and pepper, and cook to desired degree of doneness (see below), flipping once and never pushing down with the back of a spatula.

Cooking Times for Burgers:

Medium Rare – 4 minutes per side

Medium – 5 minutes per side

Well – 6 minutes per side

1. Lightly toast the hamburger buns, either in the oven or on the grill. Place the cooked burger patties on the toasted hamburger buns and serve the burgers with your choice of toppings – tomato ketchup, mustard, relish, mayonnaise, onions, tomatoes, lettuce, mushrooms, etc…

Grilled Corn

Grilled Corn

Recipe – What you do:

Grilling Corn (4 ways):

1. Do nothing!
   1. Grill corn in the husks.
   2. Let the corn grill, and the husks burn, for about 15 – 20 minutes, turning every 5 minutes.
   3. Let it cool slightly, peel the husks away and enjoy!
2. Do a little
   1. Pull the husks back from the ear and remove the silks.
   2. Add a pat of butter and some herbs and replace the husks (or at least 2 layers of husks).
   3. Grill for about 15 minutes, turning every 5 minutes.
   4. Let it cool slightly, pull the husks back and enjoy!
3. Do a little more
   1. Completely shuck the corn and then wrap each ear in aluminum foil, with or without butter.
   2. Grill for 15 minutes, turning every 5 minutes.
   3. Let it cool slightly, remove the aluminum foil and enjoy!
4. Do it naked!
   1. Completely shuck the corn and place it on the grill as is.
   2. Grill, turning every 2 minutes or so, until some but not all of the kernels are nicely toasted and brown.
   3. This is done best with really fresh corn that doesn’t need the benefit of steaming to retain its juiciness.
5. Get help
   1. Completely slice the kernels off the ear of corn.
   2. Toss in a BBQ Grill Skillet – more even toasting of all the kernels
   3. Easy to throw into other dishes without having to slice the kernels off a hot cob!

• Brining or soaking the corn does nothing to help it. Buying fresh is the only way to get juicy corn.

Blistered Corn and Mango Salsa

Ingredients:

2 ears corn, husks removed

1 poblano pepper

¼ cup finely chopped red onion, soaked in cold water and drained

1 mango, finely diced (about 1½ cups)

½ avocado, finely diced

¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro

pinch (or more) crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

juice of 1 to 2 limes

salt

Directions:

1. Pre-heat your outdoor grill until you can only hold your hand above the grill grates for a couple of seconds before you want to pull away.
2. Place the ears of corn and the poblano pepper on the grill. Turn the corn every two minutes or so and grill until some, but not all of the kernels are toasted and brown. Remove and when cool enough to touch, cut the kernels from the ears and place them in a bowl. Grill the poblano pepper until the skin has blackened. Remove the pepper from the grill and place in a plastic bag or a covered bowl. This will make it easier to remove the peel, which is what you want to do when the pepper is cool enough to touch. Once peeled, chop the pepper into small dice and add it to the bowl with the corn kernels.
3. Rinse the chopped onion in cool water and drain well. Add this to the bowl as well, along with the mango, avocado, cilantro, and crushed red pepper flakes. Season to taste with the lime juice and salt.
4. Serve with tortilla chips or as an accompaniment to grilled seafood or chicken.

Guacamole

Guacamole

Makes 2 cups

Ingredients:

3 Haas avocados, halved, seeded and peeled

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice (about 1 lime)

½ teaspoon salt

¼ to ½ teaspoon ground cumin

pinch ground cayenne pepper

¼ cup finely diced red onion, soaked and rinsed

½ Jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced (or leave the seeds in for spiciness)

½ cup finely diced tomato

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Directions:

1. Place the avocado and lime juice into a large bowl and mash with a potato masher or large fork.
2. Add the salt, cumin and cayenne pepper and mix well.

Stir in the onion, pepper, tomato and cilantro. Season to taste with more salt and lime juice as needed and serve with some tortilla chips.

Deviled Eggs

Deviled Eggs

Makes 24

Ingredients:

1 dozen eggs

¼ cup tablespoons mayonnaise

2 teaspoons Dijon, spicy brown or yellow mustard

pinch to 1/8 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper OR ¼ teaspoon hot sauce

salt and freshly ground black pepper

paprika

Directions:

1. Place a rack in the pressure cooker and add 1.5 cups of water. Place the eggs on the rack and lock the lid in place. Cook under pressure for 6 minutes. Release the pressure using the Quick-Release method and transfer the eggs to an ice bath to cool. Peel.

2. Slice the boiled eggs in half and remove the yolks, transferring them to a bowl.

3. Crumble the yolks with a fork, and then add ¼ cup of mayonnaise, and the remaining ingredients. Combine well, and if you want the mixture creamier, add more mayonnaise, 1 tablespoon at a time. Season to your liking.

4. Transfer the yolk mixture to a piping bag with a star tip, or to a large zipper sealable bag. Squeeze out all the air from the bag, seal it and force all the mixture to one corner of the bag. Snip off the end of the corner and squeeze the yolk mixture back into the halved whites. Sprinkle with a little paprika on top and garnish with any number of flavors – bacon bits, herbs

Lemonade

Lemonade

Makes 4½ cups

Ingredients:

1 cup water

1 cup sugar

6 lemons (about 1 cup of juice) + 1 lemon for garnish

3 cups water, still or sparkling (about 750ml bottle)

Optional ingredients:

1 grapefruit

1 orange

½ cup fresh raspberries, crushed

3 sprigs of mint, slapped between your hands to bruise the leaves.

OR

16 ounces wheat beer

Directions:

1. Make a simple syrup by combining 1 cup of water with 1 cup of sugar in a small saucepan. Bring this to a simmer to dissolve the sugar and then cool completely.
2. Juice the lemons, removing all seeds and pulp. Add the 3 cups of water (still or sparkling) to the lemon juice and then add the simple syrup to taste, depending on how sweet you would like the lemonade. I like to start at ½ cup. (If you are mixing this with beer for a summer shandy, go a little sweeter and add ¾ cup.)
3. Pour over ice and enjoy.
4. As an option, you can also add the juice of one grapefruit, one orange, some raspberries, or a combination of them all. And almost any version of lemonade is delicious with some bruised mint leaves.

Easy Brownies

Easy Brownie

Ingredients:

4 ounces unsalted butter

8 ounces semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate

3 eggs

1 cup granulated sugar

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup all-purpose flour

Directions:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350ºF and grease an 8-inch cake pan with butter.
2. Melt the butter and chocolate together in a double boiler, or carefully in the microwave. Set aside to cool.
3. Beat the eggs and sugar together in a stand mixer, or with an electric hand mixer, until it reaches the ribbon stage (the eggs fall from the beater in one solid line like a ribbon). Add the salt and beat well. Drizzle in the cooled chocolate mixture.
4. Stir the flour into the mixture just until no streaks of flour can be seen. Try not to over-mix at this stage.
5. Transfer the batter to the greased cake pan, smoothing out the surface.
6. Bake in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out relatively clean.

Let the brownies cool completely in the pan. Then, remove the brownies from the pan, cut into squares and serve.

Want more 4th of July recipes?

Check out David's favorite Summer Holiday recipes --->here!

Meredith Laurence - Blue Jean Chef 

Watch more episodes of The Basics!