Home » Food & Drink » Southern Cooking » A Southern Labor Day Cookout - Page 2

A Southern Labor Day Cookout - Page 2

© Dar Cheek

Herbed Pork Roast w/Au jus

1 pork roast
2 cups water
6 cloves of garlic, peeled
Whatever herbs are growing in your garden: (I like Thyme, Rosemary, Lemon Basil, Sage, and sometimes a handful of Mint)
A handful of hot peppers
Salt & Pepper

Place all these ingredients in your crockpot and cook for 6-8 hours. Keep a close eye on it towards the end, and don't cook it quite to the falling apart stage. Then take it out of the crockpot and wrap it in foil. Save your juice in the refrigerator and simply warm it up to serve with your roast.

When ready to grill, place the pork roast (in the foil) on the rack and grill along-side your spare ribs. During this time, the roast will begin to fall apart. When you take it off the grill, shred it up or place, as is, on a serving platter. Serve with the warm au jus.

Egg-Mustard Potato Salad

5 lbs of potato, peeled, cubed & boiled, drained & cooled
2 cups salad dressing or mayo
1/4 - 1/2 cup spicey brown mustard to taste
6 boiled eggs, peeled & diced
1 cup diced onion
1 cup diced celery
1 cup diced green bell pepper
2 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1-2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp celery seed


Place all ingredients in a bowl and stir. Cover and refrigerate until read to eat.

Summer Cole Slaw

1 preshredded bag of cole slaw mix
1/2 - 1 cup of salad dressing or mayo (depending on how creamy you like it)
a splash of vinegar (1-2 capfuls)
1 tomato, diced
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder

(I call it summer cole slaw because it just isn't the same without a homegrown tomato! Oh, and surely you're not still shredding your own slaw!?) Just mix all the ingredients in a bowl, saving the tomato for last. Cover and store in the fridge til ready to eat.

Pineapple Baked Beans

(Okay folks, here's where I show you what a cheat I am.)
2 large cans of Bush's baked beans (or your favorite)
1 can pineapple chunks
1/2 cup brown sugar
6 slices bacon

Pour everything except the bacon into a casserole dish and stir. Place bacon slices on top of beans and 1) cover and place in fridge until 1 hour before the cookout, or 2) Bake for 1 hour at 350deg. These can also be cooked in a cast iron bean pot on the grill!

Corn-on-the-Cob

6-8 ears of corn (frozen or fresh)
1 stick (1/2 cup) of butter or margarine
2 tsp thyme

The copyright of the article A Southern Labor Day Cookout - Page 2 in Southern Cooking is owned by Dar Cheek. Permission to republish A Southern Labor Day Cookout - Page 2 in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.