The Fourth of July is the ideal time for a barbecue.
Food industry veteran Chef Dawn Tyson got her start at a Thai restaurant in Baltimore, Maryland.
She then moved to New York City following her college graduation and took a publicist job at BMG/RCA Records. Soon after taking the position, Dawn began catering and baking for artists and co-workers, eventually deciding to start her own catering business, Dawn’s Dish.
Chef Dawn owned and operated a cafe in upstate New York, before deciding to sell her business to move on as a coordinator at the Culinary Institute of America.
Tyson spoke to theGrio about some Fourth of July recipes, great for any cookout, and her recent book Soul: Southern American Cuisine.
When it comes to Independence Day, Chef Dawn said the first thing you think of is “any kind of barbecue: ribs, chicken, fish.”
While barbecue food is generally thought of as bad for your health, Dawn said she has been recommending healthy side options to friends for this year’s cookout.
“A lot of people I’ve been pushing to do some grilling of fruit, which is outstanding,” she said. “I love grilled pineapple.”
“I’ve told people to go a little lighter with the coleslaw recipes, not so much mayonnaise, maybe a light vinaigrette. Adding some more, fruits and vegetables to their diet. I always say everything in moderation, so the soul food, it’s fabulous, but you could always add some other stuff to it to counter balance all of that.”
Mixing it up
“Hot dogs are sort of my weakness,” Chef Dawn confessed. “I do look for different flavored hot dogs.”
If you are looking to change up your menu for the Fourth this year, she suggests trying sage and rosemary chicken dogs that you can purchase at a local grocery store.
Chef Dawn shared a dessert recipe that can be done right on the grill.
“It’s sort of a change up on one of the recipes I have in my book,” she said. “There is a cobbler recipe that is in my book, with the cobbler recipe I always use peaches or fresh fruit, that you can do on the grill.”
Chef Dawn has fond memories of making this same recipe as a child.
One of my favorite childhood memories is making this cobbler with my grandmother. I used to climb the peach tree in my grandparent’s front yard and gather all the peaches for the cobbler. My grandmother would let me use a butter knife to cut the peaches up for her when I was little. I know the peaches were not cut perfectly, but my grandmother always praised the job I was doing. And no matter how the cut peaches looked, the cobblers always came out perfect!
“You can put it on the side burner and by the time you finish your main course, it will be finished.” The full recipe for ‘Grandma’s Peach Cobbler’ from Chef Dawn is listed at the end of this article.
More Recipes
Chef Dawn’s first book, Soul: Southern American Cuisine, was published late last year. The cook book includes recipes for many comfort food dishes that Dawn, herself, frequently creates.
“It was on my bucket list to have a book published,” Dawn said. “I really wanted to do soul food so that’s what i did. ”
She credits a conversation with her mother about two years ago with motivating her to get going on her first book.
Next are five recipes Chef Dawn Tyson gave theGrio to share with readers for July 4th.
BBQ Ribs
Ingredients:
12 ounce bottle of dark beer
or stout (I prefer Guinness.) 1⁄2 cup water
BBQ SAUCE
3 tablespoons butter
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup water
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons Tabasco 1⁄4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1⁄4 cup white vinegar 3 racks spareribs – cracked
1 teaspoon dried thyme 1⁄2 teaspoon dry mustard 1⁄2 cup dark brown sugar 1⁄4 cup molasses
1 teaspoon paprika 2 cloves garlic – minced 2 onions – finely chopped
Directions:
Preheat oven to 275 degrees for a “low and slow” roast.
Clean ribs and place in a baking pan. Mix together beer, water, and vinegar and pour over ribs. Cover pan with aluminum foil and roast ribs for about 4 hours. Do not uncover pan. Cook for about 4 hours.
Meanwhile, make your sauce. In saucepan, melt butter, and then sauté onions and garlic.
Add vinegar, water, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco or sriracha, cayenne, thyme, dry mustard, brown sugar, molasses, and paprika; bring to a boil. Turn down heat and cook until mixture reduces a bit and thickens.
After taking ribs out of the oven, let cool slightly. While cooling, get your grill or broiler ready. Baste ribs in BBQ sauce and place on grill. Cook one side approximately 7-10 minutes. Turn ribs over and cook an additional 6 minutes. Baste ribs continuously. Save some sauce for serving ribs.
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BBQ CHICKEN
Ingredients:
3 pounds chicken parts 2 teaspoons dried thyme 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon pepper
Directions:
Clean chicken and season with salt, pepper, and thyme. Par-cook chicken by roasting in pan for about 1 hour in a 350-degree oven. (Note: Do not cover chicken.) Remove chicken from oven and let cool slightly. Get your grill or broiler ready. Baste chicken in BBQ sauce (made as directed above) and place on grill. Cook one side 7-8 minutes, then turn over and cook an additional 10 minutes. Baste with sauce frequently. Save some sauce for serving chicken.
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Crab Boil
Ingredients:
The best time is having a bushel of “live” crabs ready to boil with all my nieces and nephews screaming in glee—or fear! Invite the family over for a barbecue. Boil some crabs and turn them out cooked on newspaper on the table in your backyard. So much fun!
½ bushel of crabs (about 2 dozen crabs)
1 bunch of celery with tops–chopped in large pieces
1 large onion–large chop
1 sprig thyme
12 bay leaves
4 cloves garlic
¼ cup Old Bay seasoning
2 lemons–quartered
2 beers–dark ale or stout (Guinness is what I use.)
Directions:
Place celery, onion, garlic, thyme, bay leaves, and lemons in a large 5/6-quart pot with basket – fill pot about ½ with water. Bring to a boil and allow seasoning to cook for about 10 minutes. Add salt and pepper. Then add live crabs and cover quickly. Add both bottles of beer. Cook crabs for about 20 minutes, and set the pot aside for about 10 minutes. Pull basket of crabs out and turn out on table covered with newspaper. Dig in and enjoy!
How to Eat a Hard Shell Crab
First, I hand out crab mallets and nutcrackers. Both work well when trying to crack the claws. I usually pull off all the claws first and set them aside. Then turn the crab over and you will see the “apron,” which is the small shell that sort of looks like a “soda can tab”. By pulling on this “apron” it will allow you to peel back the top of the shell. Pull away the “lungs.” They are not good to eat. Finally, break the crab in half and proceed to extract the meat from both half’s. I like to leave the claws for last.
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Potato Salad
Ingredients:
6 large potatoes (Red or Yukon Gold recommended)
4 hard-boiled eggs
2 stalks celery – finely chopped
¼ cup Vidalia onion – finely chopped
1 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon yellow mustard
2 tablespoons white vinegar
3 tablespoons sweet relish
1 cup mayonnaise (homemade or Hellmann’s)
½ teaspoon paprika
Salt
Pepper
Directions:
Boil potatoes with skin on in salted (a teaspoon) water until tender. Drain and cool. Once cooled, peel and cut potatoes into cubes. Add chopped celery and onions and refrigerate. Peel and chop hard-boiled eggs and set aside. In a separate bowl combine sugar, mustard, vinegar, sweet relish, and mayonnaise. Whisk together ingredients and pour over cubed potatoes. Add chopped eggs and gently mix together until mayonnaise sauce coats all of potato mix. Salt and pepper to taste and garnish with a sprinkle of paprika.
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Grandma’s Peach Cobbler — can be made right on the grill. Still use a Pyrex or heat resistant dish. And cover the finished cobbler with aluminum foil and place on the grill to cook. Make sure the heat on the grill is a low flame /hot embers before baking.
Ingredients:
For the Batter:
½ cup butter
1-¼ cup flour
2 tablespoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1 cup milk
For the Filling:
4 cups sliced fresh peaches [You can also use this recipe with summer berries (blueberries, blackberries, strawberries) or even ripe summer pears.]
¼ cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. (Or grill)
Mix together the peaches, sugar, cinnamon and lemon juice. Allow the mixture to sit while you make the batter, so the juices can be drawn out of the peaches. Place the butter in a 9 x 13-inch Pyrex baking dish and put the dish in
the preheating oven. While the butter is melting, mix up the batter by combining the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, and milk. When the butter is completely melted, remove the pan and pour the batter into the melted butter. Then, carefully spoon the peach mixture evenly over the batter. Return dish to the oven and bake for 45 minutes. As the cobbler cooks, the batter will begin to rise up and around the peaches.
Serve warm, as is, or add a dollop of whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
Follow Carrie Healey on Twitter @CarrieHeals.