Culture

The Made In Memorial Day Menu

From best-in-show burgers cooked on the Griddle, to pan-seared, chimichurri-coated shrimp, to seasonal, riffable desserts, here’s what we’re grilling this weekend.

By Team Made In
May 22, 2023
memorial day menu table spread
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In our hearts, if not in the Gregorian calendar, Memorial Day is the official start of summer. This menu celebrates that, and (with some collaboration between some of our favorite chefs and our own in-house culinary dream team) was designed to celebrate outdoor live-fire cooking.

The image displays a menu featuring various dishes and drinks, each accompanied by hand-drawn illustrations, such as a cocktail, a burger, a shrimp, corn, and a cake.

Cocktail: Texas Sun by Erin Ashford

texas sun cocktail

Being outside is practically a prerequisite to imbibing this citrus-y cocktail from Holiday co-owner and Beverage Director Erin Ashford. In it, a basil-bay simple syrup adds a subtle herbaceous lift to Sotol, a distilled spirit that’s related to Tequila and Mezcal but features a grassier, more vegetal flavor. The cocktail is further complemented by a bit of lemon and a few bubbles, and garnished with grapefruit charred in Enameled Cast Iron.

Appetizer: Grilled Oysters Two Ways by Rhoda Boone

oysters two ways

Raw oysters can be divisive, but Culinary Director Rhoda Boone is determined to make them something everyone can enjoy. Enter: Grilled Oysters Two Ways. The first is inspired by the charbroiled oysters found in classic oyster bars that dot the Gulf Coast, and features a rich garlic butter sauce and Parmesan. The second turns the bloody mary on its head—instead of a cocktail garnished with various appetizers, it’s various appetizers garnished with a cocktail (in this case, a spicy tomato-vodka sauce). Choose your favorite or make them both—the world is, dare we say, your oyster.

Main: Wagyu Burger by Chef Tom Colicchio

wagyu burger tom colicchio

From (Top) Chef Tom Colicchio, this indulgent take on the cookout classic pairs Wagyu beef with truffle Pecorino, balsamic onions, and bread and butter pickles. Fancy ingredients aside, it’s still relatively simple to make, especially if you prep pickles and onions ahead of time. Just like our smash hit smash burgers, these are seared on the Griddle for a smoky charred finish.

Main: Ginisang Hipon (Sautéed Shrimp) by Chef Melissa Miranda

shrimp

In her recipe for ginisang hipon (a Filipino sautéed shrimp dish), Musang’s Chef Melissa Miranda shares a simple Filipino dish that uses a surprising but familiar ingredient: Sprite. Once you’ve lightly seared the shrimp in a Carbon Steel Frying Pan, lemon-lime soda deglazes it to release all the flavorful fond—sort of like a white wine. There’s a chimichurri for serving, and because it calls for aptly named “colossal” shrimp, this recipe serves as a hearty main course salad.

Side: Grilled Potato Salad by Rhoda Boone

grilled potato salad

This warm potato salad is all crispy edges thanks to the Griddle and Grill Press, which smash and sear so deeply it tastes almost as if a hash brown decided to be a salad. A simple cider vinaigrette seasons the potatoes and makes the most of their creamy, mild-flavored interiors, and is a welcome reprieve from the typical mayonnaise-drenched affair. Plus, bacon bits, cornichons, scallions, and parsley—each bite is equally tangy, smoky, vibrant, and herbaceous. A far cry from your standard potato salad.

Side: Grilled Corn with Guajillo Crema by Jessica Vargas

grilled corn recipe

No summer grilling menu is complete without corn, and this version—served alongside a smoky-sweet guajillo crema—goes the extra mile. It’s topped with all the usual suspects (lime, cilantro, cotija) and seared on the Griddle for 360-degree char. The best part about all street corn-adjacent dishes is how simple they are to scale—perfect for cookouts.

Dessert: Olive Oil Cake with Brûléed Stone Fruit by Chef Susana Querejazu

olive oil cake

This recipe from Chef Susana Querejazu, Executive Pastry Chef at Austin’s Commodore Perry Estate, requires little more equipment than a mixing bowl, a whisk, and a Pie Dish. The result is a fluffy and moist cake that substitutes olive oil for butter, making this the perfect light, quick, but still delicious dessert for a Memorial Day gathering—or any other time.

Tools You’ll Need:

griddle on grill

Carbon Steel Griddle System

The Griddle System is a modular approach to outdoor cooking that spans a customizable Carbon Steel surface, a rust-resistant Stand, and a Stainless Steel Lid. Engineered for adventure, it dials up ease and control while maintaining the rustic, elemental aspect of cooking over open flame of any variety.

For example: On the grill, the fully perforated Grill Griddle allows smoke to reach the oysters without letting them fall into the flames, while the original Griddle’s flat surface is better suited to searing burgers and grilled corn. The Half Grill Griddle offers the best of both worlds, perfect for our grilled potato salad and cooks who just can’t choose.

Carbon Steel Frying Pan

Carbon Steel Frying Pans can be found in restaurant kitchens across the world, and it’s no secret why. With the maneuverability and control of Stainless Steel and the heat retention, durability, and naturally non stick finish of seasoned cast iron, it’s completely adaptable and basically indestructible. As if to demonstrate its impressive range, our menu features two recipes that highlight distinct but equally ingenious uses for this restaurant staple: sautéed colossal shrimp seared on the stove, and a quick olive oil cake paired with grilled stone fruit.

Stainless Clad Essentials

Stainless Clad Cookware is nonreactive and doesn’t require any seasoning, which gives you greater flexibility in just about everything. In our Memorial Day cocktail recipe, the Stainless Clad Saucepan is responsible for coaxing the delicate flavors of bay and basil into the simple syrup, but it’s just as helpful for making grains, simmering sauces, and more.

French Bakeware

A piece of Bakeware that doubles as a serving vessel is any host’s best-kept secret. Whether serving a fresh olive oil cake from the Pie Dish, presenting your oysters in the Baking Slab, or dishing up another treat in the Square or Oval Baking Dishes, you can keep the dishes to a minimum and the wow factor to a maximum.

Tableware and Serving Pieces

Disposable plates and single-use serving dishes may mean less cleanup at the end of the night, but we encourage any super host (or super host in training) to invest in some actual service pieces. Not only does our English Serviceware and Tableware make serving large meals (either buffet- or family-style) a breeze, but they’re designed to withstand the rigors of restaurant kitchens—meaning they look just as good on their hundredth dinner party as they did for the first.

Glassware

In the same vein as tableware comes glassware—sure, you can serve your guests with disposable or cheap glasses, but if the alternative is Italian-fired glassware, you can guess what our pick is. From a pre-dinner cocktail to post-dinner wine, our array of Glassware makes any beverage look (and taste) better.

Ready to Cook?

Get ready to make this Memorial Day or any other summertime weekend barbecue the most memorable one yet. Whether you make every dish on the menu or pick and choose, you’re sure to impress.