Daily Archives: August 12, 2009

One of the major advantages of renting a vacation property is the ability to cook during your stay.  Here at FlipKey, we recognize that there is nothing quite like eating out doors on a beautiful day at your vacation getaway.  Whether grilling on the porch, picnicking at the beach, or simply gathering together in the backyard for a meal, there is nothing quite like a summer vacation feast combined with warm summer air to put your mind and stomach at ease.   With summer feasts in mind, we would like to introduce a new series of regular blog posts highlighting the many possibilities to create superb vacation rental dining experiences.

For our first post, we’d like to share with you three special recipes to help you achieve the ultimate beach rental barbecue, leaving your guests and yourself wowed and so full that your only option will be to sleep off the meal.  We proudly present the FlipKey summer barbeque Triptych:  Cobb Salad, Beef Ribs, and fruity Sangria.   Happy dining.  Happy travels.

Cobb Salad
Serves 8 appetizer sized portions

• 3 hardboiled eggs (shells peeled) and chopped
• 6 Slices of Bacon
• 1 head of Romaine Lettuce
• ½ bunch of watercress lettuce (hard stems removed)
• 4 cups chopped grilled chicken breast (boneless and skinless)
• 2 avocados, peel and seeds removed, diced
• 2 medium tomatoes, diced
• 2 tablespoons fresh chives
• ½ cup Roquefort cheese, crumbled
• 1/3 cup red-wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon Dijon-style mustard
• 1-2 teaspoons sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
• 2/3 cup olive oil

1. Cut the hard-cooked eggs into 1/2-inch dice. Set aside.

2. Fry bacon for about 10 minutes.  Stop frying when bacon is crisp. Move bacon onto paper towels to dab off excess fat. Once bacon cools, crumble it and set it aside in a separate bowl.

3. Rinse lettuce and spin dry.  Chop and break up lettuce into small, bite-size pieces. Toss Romaine and Watercress together in a large bowl.

4. In a large salad platter, lay out tossed lettuce as a bed, filling the bottom of the platter.  Neatly arrange grilled chicken, tomatoes, avocado, Roquefort cheese, eggs, and bacon in a pattern on top of the lettuce bed in rows.

5. In a separate bowl combine mustard, salt, pepper, vinegar, sugar,  and oil, stir until all ingredients have blended. Serve dressing separately or over the salad. Your choice.

Barbeque Ribs
Serves 8 portions

• 4 pounds pork baby back ribs
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 1 jar of your favorite marinade

1. Remove excess fat and clean ribs.

2. Preheat grill for medium heat while mixing the following ingredients in a small bowl: 1 jar of marinade, ketchup, brown sugar, and orange juice.

3. Once grill has reached medium heat, Grill ribs for 1 hour.

4. After I hour of grilling, coat ribs on all sides with sauce.

5. Allow ribs to grill for another 15 to 25 minutes with sauce. Remove ribs from grill and Enjoy!

FlipKey’s Beach Rental Sangria
Serves 8 portions

• 1 Large Orange (sliced)
• 1 Large Orange (juiced)
• 1 Lemon (sliced)
• 1 peach (sliced)
• 1 bottle of dry red wine (Merlot or Shiraz)
• 1/3 cup of sugar
• 2 cups club soda
• 1/3 cup of brandy

1. Slice 1 of the oranges as well as the lemon.  Gently squeeze fruit slices over pitcher to extract juice from fruit. (Note: Be careful to keep fruit slices in tact.) Keep sliced fruit on the side to be added later.

2.Add sugar to the fruit juice in the pitcher.  Juice the second orange in a separate bowl.  Remove seeds from juice and discard remaining orange.  This orange is only meant to be used for juice.  Pour the juice of this orange into pitcher.  Stir together orange juice, lemon juice, and sugar, ensuring sugar completely dissolves.

3. Pour wine and brandy into pitcher.  Slice peach.  Add peach slices, orange slices, and lemon slices.  Stir.

4.Chill mixture for at least 2 and ½ hours, but preferably overnight.  Just before serving, pour in chilled club soda and stir.