Celebrity-Certified Memorial Day Recipes
May 22, 2012 — -- intro: Need a little help planning your Memorial Day menu? Hollywood's here to lend a hand.
ABCNews.com reached out to a few famous celebrity party throwers to find out what they'll be grilling and swilling this holiday weekend. Click through for recipes that'll make your summer kick off a smash hit.
quicklist: 1title: Jessica Seinfeld's Feta Saladtext: From Jessica: "This is a wonderful salad for a picnic -- it's easy to serve, as well as eat on a lap. Bulger is also good for you and easy to prepare, even for someone with little confidence in their cooking skills."
Bulgur Wheat Salad with Cucumber, Feta, and Dill
Serves four
Ingredients
1 cup bulgur wheat
2 kirby cucumbers
¼ cup chopped fresh dill
2 scallions, sliced
½ cup pitted kalamata olives, halved
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
½ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1 cup (4 ounces) crumbled Feta
Preparation
In a medium saucepan, bring three cups of water to a boil. Add the bulgur to a large bowl, then pour the water over it and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Let sit until it is tender but still a little chewy, about 30 minutes. Drain into a fine-mesh strainer and run cold water through it to cool. Shake out any excess water and return it to the bowl.
Meanwhile, quarter the cucumbers lengthwise and thinly slice them crosswise. Prep the dill, scallions, olives, and lemon juice.
Add the cucumbers, dill, scallions, olives, lemon juice, oil, salt, and pepper (12 turns on pepper mill) to the bowl with the bulgur and toss. Drain the feta (if in water) and crumble it to measure one cup. Gently fold into the salad.media: 16398048
quicklist: 2title: Katie Lee's Pineapple-Coconut Sundaestext: From Katie: "For those who can't get out of town on Memorial Day Weekend, these sundaes will instantly transport you to an exotic locale. When you grill lightly the pineapple, the sugars come out and caramelize beautifully. They are the perfect treat for your backyard picnic."
Pineapple-Coconut Sundaes
Serves eight
Ingredients
1 pineapple, peeled, cored, and cut into 8 rings
About 1 quart coconut ice cream or sorbet
About 1 cup caramel sauce
8 sprigs fresh mint
Preparation
Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat. Coat with nonstick cooking spray. Grill the pineapple slices for two to three minutes on each side.
Place each slice of pineapple in an individual serving bowl. Top with a scoop of coconut ice cream and drizzle with caramel sauce. Garnish with mint.media: 16398093
quicklist: 3title: Tracey Stewart's Guacamoletext: From Tracey, wife of "Daily Show" host Jon Stewart: My all-time favorite summer recipe to make with my kids is guacamole. The mashing, the cool pits, the discussion over what to add, how to season and then the resulting deliciousness. We have lengthy discussions about what we all like in our guacamole and the try to come up with a compromise on how much to add of each item. As long as your avocados are ripe it's very hard to mess up guacamole.
Moomah's Froggy Dipper GuacamoleServes six to eight
Ingredients
3 Haas avocados, halved, pitted and peeled
1/2 lime, juiced
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 medium onion, diced
1 vine-ripened tomato, seeded and diced
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1 clove garlic, minced
1 mango (oh yeah baby!)
Preparation
In a large bowl, place the meat of the avocado and add lime juice. Using a potato masher, add the salt and mash. Then, fold in the onions, tomatoes, cilantro and garlic. Add the yummy mango at the end. Serve.media: 16398082
quicklist: 4title: Kate Walsh's Billionaire Boyfriend Martinitext: From Kate: "This Memorial Day, I'm serving Billionaire Boyfriend Martinis in an homage to my newest fragrance which is all about fantasy, indulgence and sexiness -- you can get it at HSN.com and Sephora.com. The ice chips floating on the surface resemble added bling. Delicious with just about everything from a raw seafood bar to fresh berries."
Billionaire Boyfriend Martini
Serves one
Ingredients
6 Parts Absolut Vodka
1 Part Dry Vermouth
Preparation
Fill a mixing glass with "rocks." Add all ingredients with shaved ice. Shake very well (obviously not stirred) and pour into a martini glass and leave ice chips floating on the surface. Garnish with a tangerine twist. media: 16398105
quicklist: 5title: Gabrielle Union's Skinnygirl Cucumber Coolertext:
Skinnygirl Cucumber Cooler
Serves one
Ingredients
1 part Skinnygirl Cucumber Vodka
2 parts soda
Preparation
Shake vodka and soda in a cocktail shaker with ice, pour over fresh ice, and garnish with a cucumber slice. media: 16398118
