Celebrity Chefs' Fourth of July Recipes
Triple Pork Burgers with Quick Cucumber Kimchi
Bill Kim’s thin, triple-stacked burgers, loaded with ginger, lemongrass, cilantro and basil, are inspired by a lemongrass pork sausage he likes to serve.
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Pug Burger
This delectable blue cheese burger is one of chef David Lentz’s most popular recipes.
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Watermelon Salad with Feta and Mint
Although Jacques Pépin cuts a small, seedless watermelon into rounds with a melon baller (adding the trimmings to the salad, too, so as not to waste them), you can also chop the watermelon into cubes.
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Roasted Sweet Potato and Okra Salad
Marcus Samuelsson drew on African staples like yams and okra to create this completely original recipe of roasted sweet potatoes tossed with red potatoes, wilted spinach and sautéed okra. Toasted mustard seeds and a caper vinaigrette give this delicious salad a nutty, tangy flavor.
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One-Pot Sticky Chicken Wings
Sweet, spicy, gooey and crispy, Andrew Zimmern’s wings are glazed with an addictive sauce that he can’t get enough of.
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Balsamic and Rosemary-Marinated Florentine Steak
Chef Matt Molina marinates thick porterhouses in olive oil, balsamic vinegar and rosemary for this classic recipe.
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Michelle's Turkey Burgers with Lemon Mayonnaise
Spike Mendelsohn created this healthy burger for First Lady Michelle Obama. He serves it with Swiss cheese and calls it the Michelle Melt.
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Hot Dog Melts
Wolfgang Puck may be the ultimate L.A. chef, but he grew up in Vienna, and the food there is one of his touchstones. These sausages, called Wiener Würstchen, are a favorite from his childhood. He splits the dogs, fills them with cheese and wraps them in bacon. Once they’ve been roasted, he serves them on a bun with a spicy horseradish mustard. Although they may seem over the top, they’re irresistible.
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Tomato Salad with Pickled Walnuts and Blue Cheese
Richard Blais garnishes his take on a caprese salad of tomato and mozzarella with pickled walnuts, made by tossing candied walnuts with a little vinegar. (Alternatively, use British pickled walnuts, available at some specialty food stores.) “The blue cheese and the celery give this dish a little ‘adultness,’” he says.
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Heirloom Tomatoes Stuffed with Summer Succotash
“Succotash was one of those things I truly hated as a child. I grew up with the frozen kind—it was the lima beans I especially objected to,” says Thomas Keller. That changed as he got older and started eating succotash made with fresh vegetables. Now he thinks limas are extraordinary. For a lovely presentation, he spoons his buttery succotash into hollowed-out heirloom tomatoes.
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Skirt Steak with Paprika Butter
“I love skirt steak because it’s just fatty enough, and it cooks quickly, which is great for dinner parties,” says Vinny Dotolo. He serves the steak thinly sliced, with a lightly smoky, tangy paprika butter.
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Tomato and Garlic Dip
The iconic Andalucian salmorejo is essentially a superthick gazpacho, made with plenty of ripe tomatoes, garlic and olive oil. Invariably, it’s topped with chopped hard-boiled eggs and ham and served with fried eggplant or toasted country bread.
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Great-Grandmother Pearl's Angel Food Cake with Peaches
“My great-grandmother won so many blue ribbons with this cake,” Katie Lee says. “I love to serve it with peaches, because the cake sops up the juices so nicely.”
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Apple Pie Granita
Natural-style apple juice—less filtered than regular—is high in vitamin C and antioxidants. Here, Emeril Lagasse transforms it into a refreshing granita.
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White Peach Tart
“This crust is not what you’d expect," Marco Canora says. “Instead of being crunchy, it’s puffy and cakey.” The dough is terrific for impromptu baking, because it doesn’t need to be chilled before it’s rolled out. For the filling, Canora recommends using peaches that are ripe but still firm, as drippy fruit will make the soft crust soggy.
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Strawberry Tart with Flaky Pastry
Elisabeth Prueitt cuts the pastry into a precise circle and weighs it down during baking to create an elegant base for sliced strawberries and whipped cream. The adaptable crust can be topped with almost any seasonal fruit.