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Recipe of the Week: Celebrating America’s 246th birthday

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Check your supplies of charcoal or gas for the grill, break out your favorite picnic recipes and hang your American flags. It’s time to celebrate America’s birthday.

Our forefathers could not have imagined the way that we currently celebrate the day the Declaration of Independence was approved by the Continental Congress. But over the decades and centuries food and fireworks have become the norm, whether we are celebrating in our backyards, at the beach or in our communities.

We all have our favorite recipes for summertime holidays, whether they are mom’s potato salad, grandma’s fruit cobbler or your aunt’s deviled eggs. After we grill and eat our fill, fireworks are a bonus as they replicate the “bombs bursting in air” referred to in our national anthem.

American flag cakes decorated with strawberries and blueberries are a sentimental dessert favorite for the Fourth of July, but here is a different take on an edible flag from foodnetwork.com. You can use this recipe or mix up your own favorite deviled egg filling.

Long may she wave!

Deviled Egg American Flag

Nonstick cooking spray

18 large eggs

¼ cup sour cream

¼ cup mayonnaise

1 ½ tablespoons distilled white vinegar

3 teaspoons yellow mustard

1 teaspoon hot sauce

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

¼ cup loosely packed fresh parsley, finely chopped

Paprika or cayenne pepper, for garnish

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F Generously coat a 13-by-9-inch straight-sided baking dish (preferably glass) with cooking spray.

2. Separate the egg whites and yolks into 2 medium bowls. Whisk the whites until combined and just foamy, then transfer them to the prepared baking dish. Cover the dish with foil and bake until they have fully set, about 20 minutes. Let cool completely in the baking dish.

3. Meanwhile, beat the yolks until smooth. Lightly coat a medium nonstick skillet with cooking spray. Add the yolks, and scramble over medium-low heat until fully cooked and slightly dry, 4 to 5 minutes.

4. Transfer the yolks to a food processor. Add the sour cream, mayonnaise, vinegar, mustard, hot sauce, 1/2 teaspoon salt and a few grinds of pepper, and pulse until smooth and creamy. Spoon the yolk mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a small round tip, or a resealable plastic bag with the tip cut off.

5. Put a platter on top of the baking dish with the egg whites and flip to turn them out onto the platter. With a long sharp knife, trim about 1/4-inch from the edges, including any browned outer edges, to make a neat rectangle of whites. Cut the trimmings into 1/4-inch cubes that will be used for “stars” (discard any with browned edges).

Cut the large rectangle of egg whites into 54 square pieces: 6 rows across and 9 columns down. Straighten the eggs to keep the rectangle together. Pipe a heaping amount of the egg yolk mixture onto the upper left-hand corner of the rectangle (this will be the section of the flag that holds the stars).

Use the rest of the yolk filling to generously pipe 6 horizontal stripes right over the middle of each egg (see Cook’s Note). Sprinkle the corner square with parsley and the stripes with paprika or cayenne. Top the parsley with the small dice “stars.”


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