NikitaThis week, I asked everyone to make their version of an All-American meal. What's funny about my story is how we stumbled upon the definition of American eats. While we were strolling around Sam's Club last weekend making sure to visit each Sampler Lady, we found ourselves sold on these amazing baked beans. They were sweet and smoky with chunks of beans and pork (or maybe it was hotdogs - not too sure). We also picked up some shredded smoke pork that you can just heat up in the oven. Now we bought these items not even thinking about the Saturday Bites challenge. I was actually going to move in a different direction with potato salad and coleslaw, but we made it home with our goodies and decided to start throwing dinner together after running a day of errands. I didn't want plain shredded pork, so I found a Homemade BBQ sauce recipe by The Food Network's The Neely's. I've watched them from time-to-time and know they LOVE BBQ, so their sauce MUST be amazing, right?! Right-o for sure! It took me 30 minutes to whip this sauce together and I already had ALL the ingredients. I put the sauce into little squirt bottles and we smothered our pork sandwiches in it. When we thought we didn't have enough sauce, we poured little side dipping dishes full of the sauce. And just like good ole American consumerism requires, we ate it all on paper plates because nobody wanted to do dishes. LOL! It was amazing and the leftovers were even better. I even cooked some smoked polska sausage later in the week with the same BBQ sauce. This recipe for BBQ sauce comes HIGHLY recommended. Enjoy! JenWhen I think “All American,” I think of barbeque. I made one of my husband’s favorite foods this week – ribs. I like to use my instant pot for ribs since they turn out really tender in a short amount of time. The number of spices used in the recipe seems like overkill, but it turns out great (even if you forget one or two when making it). The ribs go well with lots of different veggies as side dishes. My girls asked for green bean casserole. AmySoooooo I found myself googling all American food. I was not impressed. I've decided to lean forward and get to the heart of the matter. Rather than an All American dish I decided that I wanted to celebrate American ingenuity. Because, face it, when an American is poor, stoned or incarcerated(or any combo of the three) they have the ability to create dishes that are sick af. A package of Ramen a tortilla and whatever is on hand becomes a county (jailhouse) burrito. I have friends. To me one of the most ingenious(and tasty) American creations is the chopped cheese sandwich. It's a clever and cost efficient way of stretching ingredients. For both the origins and cult following of this beloved sammich read this New York Times article: The recipe is as basic as you can get. Yes, use the American cheese! It works superbly here. I tend to play around with the seasoning. This time I used garlic powder and Penzey's Chicago Steak Seasoning. Whatever suits your palate. There are a multitude of recipes for chopped cheese sandwiches all over and some decided to complicate this humble sandwich. If that's your gig then more power to you. However it is to my understanding that the following link is the closest to the real deal. I'd rather go for the authentic Bronx based recipe. I can be a purist at times. And use the American cheese! Don't be an Americant! GeorgiaI totally agree with Jen.. When it comes to all American food my first thought is bbq'd or grilled food. (We like grillin) Apparently so does the husband. I came home from work one evening and he had the most wonderful meal made for me. All grilled. this was his first time using the grill since we got it several years ago. And he did an amazing job. Veggies - onions, tomatoes and zucchini, Sweet potato (yes, also grilled to perfection) Ham steak I think the only seasoning he used on any of it was salt and pepper. He also made some blueberry lemonade. (I added a splash of vodka in it) It was perhaps the nicest meal I've had in a long while. I love how each culture has very distinct food that represent who they are. Until next week, Nikita, Jen, Amy and Georgia
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