I don’t know about you, but to me holidays are simply not as much fun unless they are shared.
When you move away from friends and family for a job (as we’ve continually done all of our married life) you’d better develop a new group to take the place of what you’ve lost . Out friends and neighbors have become our family now.
By August, I was already inviting different people to come for Labor Day dinner, and when the group reached 13 we were set.
Kroger had tenderloin of beef for sale —$7.99 a lb. True, the grade was ‘Select’ and not ‘Choice’, but I was going to marinate it anyway and serve it with a sauce so I bought some.
I have an old recipe for Elote con Queso (Corn Custard) from a Jane Butel cookbook that I knew was delicious. Five ears of white corn and 4 Anaheim green chilies and I was done.
Guests offered to bring rolls, dessert, salad and appetizers! Super.
First, the beef had to be trimmed of the silver skin and any slippery fatty pieces. I left in any hunks of hard, white fat knowing they’d melt on the heat of the grill and add some juiciness and flavor to the beef. Next I mixed up a marinade—soy sauce, sautéed shallots and garlic, apple cider vinegar, lemon juice and some brown sugar. I didn’t put the meat into the marinade until Labor Day morning because of concerns about saltiness. Good thing—-it was salty!
Next I cut the kernels from the 5 ears of white corn and combined them with 9 eggs, 8 oz of Monterey Jack cheese, 8 oz. of Cheddar, the chilies which had been grilled, peeled and deseeded,
and 3 cups of heavy cream. This was whipped together and refrigerated. The only thing I had to add was 1 T. of baking powder right before I poured it into a buttered casserole and baked it at 350 for 1 hour.
I decided to do one appetizer. I sliced some ciabatta, brushed the slices with olive oil and grilled them lightly. Then I combined chevre, garlic, basil and sun dried tomatoes. Right before serving the spread was heaped on the bread slices and broiled. Really tasty.
The beauty of this type of a menu is that almost everything can be done way ahead. I even grilled the meat an hour before my friends started coming so that it could be sliced and ready before we sat down.
Our cocktails were Raspberry Margaritas and Old Fashioneds and we drank red wine with dinner. 3 reds actually that I wanted to try.
The Mayo Family Winery Cab was probably the most expensive (around $40), the J. Lohr was about $12 and the Panarroz was about $7. The Panarroz (from Spain) was soft and juicy tasting with berry and licorice-y flavors. But nice with the meat. The Mayo tasted harsh by comparison….just not as enjoyable. My favorite was the J. Lohr—-delicious. Full of fruit flavor and very easy to drink.
In spite of the name of the holiday—things were done in advance and I didn’t really ‘labor’. Especially with friends that contribute so many things to the group dinner. So we relaxed, ate outside, enjoyed Liz’s wonderful fruit pizza and coffee to finish our celebratory meal and reconnected with one another on Labor Day.
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