Tag Archives: cola recipes

Entertaining: What’s Cooking Labor Day Weekend!

If you are like me, you are finding it very hard to believe that September and Labor Day Weekend are here!  But with that we like to celebrate Labor Day Weekend with friends and family. Here are a few of the recipes I’ll be using to entertaining this weekend!

Part of my holiday weekend will be filling the house with some sunflowers, while I still can. Nothing says late summer more to me than sunflowers! In addition, I’ll be using the best of the produce from the farm stands this weekend and corn is still at it’s peak! I’ll be making some corn hummus with corn leftover from another meal. You need just four extra ears.  This recipe calls for roasting the corn in the oven at 425 for 45 minutes wrapped in foil. I’ve been making my corn like this all summer, it’s easy to prep in advance and really easy to serve a crowd of people. I prep it before anyone arrives, leave it on a tray in the oven and just turn the oven on an hour before I want to serve it warm. Delicious!! so make a few extra and also make Roasted Sweet Corn Hummus

Another favorite meal that is an easy meal for a crowd that is delicious and super simple to make is Brisket with Cola Barbecue Sauce. You’ll love the flavor using your favorite NON-DIET Cola in your sauce!

Wondering what to serve along side this dish , you definitely need some fresh coleslaw. I like to make my Grandma’s Coleslaw with Warm Dressing.  Definitely, a comforting complement to the brisket!

The perfect dessert for a crowd is a crumble and this crumble mixes blueberries and plums for a slightly sweet and spicy dish. You will love my Blueberry Plum Crumble!

If you need a breakfast brunch idea for the weekend, one of my favorite dishes is Vanilla Bourbon Soaked French Toast. I use big thick slices of brioche soaked in vanilla and bourbon. Bourbon? Why not it’s a holiday weekend and the french toast is topped with a  yummy mixed berry and plum compote!

I will definitely try to bake some cookies this weekend to have around the house and in celebration of sunflowers I think I’ll be baking sugar cookies topped with sanding sugar to look like my beautiful sunflowers! Use my Favorite Sugar Cookie recipe!

From by the bay, make great friends and family food memories this weekend!

Maryann

 

Roasted Sweet Corn Hummus

Brisket with Cola Barbecue Sauce

Grandma’s Coleslaw with Warm Dressing

Blueberry Plum Crumble

Vanilla Bourbon Soaked French Toast

Favorite Sugar Cookie

Brisket with Cola Barbecue Sauce

I have been intrigued with cooking with cola and other soft drinks ever since I first read about it – which was in the Nigella Lawson’s book “Nigella Bites”. Leave it to me to learn about Southern cooking  from a British food writer.  I started to experiment with barbecue sauce and the result is this jazzed up version for brisket. It’s a great way to entertain a crowd with big flavor and little work. The sweetness of the cola permeates the brisket which is then perfectly balanced with the acid coming from both the Balsamic vinegar and Worcestershire sauce. You will find yourself making dish over and over again. Yes, it’s that good!

From by the bay wishing you sweet cola food memories! Maryann

blog cola brisket

Brisket with Cola Barbecue Sauce

Serves 6

3 pounds brisket

3 cups cola barbecue sauce

Directions

Place brisket overnight in a sealed plastic bag along with the barbecue sauce. Next day, preheat oven to 275F. Empty the contents of the plastic bag into a Dutch oven include all the sauce. Cover with lid and place in the oven for approximately 4 hours. Brisket takes approximately 1 hours and 15 minutes per lb to cook. Remove from oven. Using two forks pull the meat apart and shred into the remaining sauce. Combine and serve. This can also be served as a sandwich using either fresh rolls  and coleslaw or as a soft taco along with some sour cream. 

 

Cola Barbecue Sauce

Makes 3 cups

12ozs. Cola

1 ½ cup ketchup

4 garlic cloves, smashed

5 bay leaves

¼ cup balsamic vinegar

¼ cup Worcestershire Sauce

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1 teaspoon fine sea salt

¼ teaspoon chili flakes

5 bay leaves

1 tablespoon fennel seeds

2 tablespoons fresh thyme, chopped

2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, chopped

Directions

In a medium saucepan bring all ingredients to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 30 to 45 minutes , sauce will thicken . Cool and use with steak, chicken or pork.

Note: no diet cola for this – the sugar is essential to the taste of the barbecue sauce.