Culture

The Made In Memorial Day Menu

From best-in-show burgers cooked on the Griddle, to seasonal, riffable desserts, hereโ€™s what weโ€™re grilling this weekend.

By Team Made InMay 24, 2024
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 the beauty and bounty of 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 thatโ€™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, of course, with grapefruit charred to perfection in our Enameled Cast Iron Skillet.

Appetizer: Grilled Oysters, Two Ways by Rhoda Boone

oysters two ways

Raw oysters can be divisive, but our Creative 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 headโ€”instead of a cocktail garnished with various appetizers, itโ€™s various appetizers garnished with a cocktail (in this case, a spicy tomato-vodka sauce). Choose your favorite or make them bothโ€”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, itโ€™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 to juicy perfection on our Carbon Steel Griddle for a smoky, flame-kissed finish.

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

In her recipe for ginisang hipon (a Filipino sautรฉed shrimp dish), Musangโ€™s Chef Melissa Miranda shares a simple Filipino dish that uses a surprising but familiar ingredient: Sprite.

Once youโ€™ve lightly seared the shrimp in a Carbon Steel Frying Pan, lemon-lime soda deglazes it to release all the flavorful fondโ€”sort of like white wine in a pan sauce. Thereโ€™s a chimichurri for serving, and because it calls for aptly named โ€œcolossalโ€ 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 our Griddle and Grill Press, which smash and sear so deeply the final dish 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 parsleyโ€”each bite is equally tangy, smoky, vibrant, and herbaceous. A far cry from your standard barbecue potato salad.

Side: Grilled Corn with Guajillo Crema by Jessica Vargas

grilled corn recipe

No summer grilling menu is complete without corn, and this versionโ€”served alongside a smoky-sweet guajillo cremaโ€”goes the extra mile. Itโ€™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 scaleโ€”serve a few for small backyard get-togethers, or grill up a bushel for neighborhood-wide cookouts.

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

This recipe from Chef Susana Querejazu, Executive Pastry Chef at Austinโ€™s Commodore Perry Estate, requires little more equipment than a mixing bowl, a whisk, and our Pie Dish.

The result is a fluffy and moist cake that substitutes olive oil for butter, topped with the brรปlรฉed stone fruit of your choice. We recommend whatever's in season or readily available for this light, quick, and delicious dessert that's perfect for a Memorial Day gatheringโ€”or any other time.

Tools Youโ€™ll Need

griddle on grill

This menu was designed to be cooked (and enjoyed) outsideโ€”preferably with an iced beverage in hand while surrounded by your loved onesโ€”but can be done anywhere thanks to the portability and adaptability of our cookware and serving pieces. Below, you'll find a list of tools our team used to craft this menu, perfect for these dishes and so many more.

Carbon Steel Griddle and Press

Griddle + Press
  • Carbon Steel Griddle
  • Griddle + Press
  • $199$238
    Save $39(16% off)

These grilling essentials can be enjoyed year-round, but truly shine in the summertime. Together, the Carbon Steel Griddle and Stainless Steel Grill Press maximize direct heat contact between ingredients and the surface of the Griddle, resulting in crispier, richer, and more flavorful finished products.

And at half the weight of cast iron, the Griddle can go from the stovetop to the grill with ease, ensuring you can grill up a perfect Wagyu Burger or order of Grilled Corn regardless of where you're cooking.

Carbon Steel Frying Pan

12" ยท Seasoned
  • Blue Carbon Steel Frying Pan
  • 12" ยท Seasoned
  • $129

Carbon steel frying pans can be found in restaurant kitchens across the world, and itโ€™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, itโ€™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: sautรฉed colossal shrimp seared on the stove, and a quick olive oil cake paired with grilled stone fruit.

French Bakeware

1.5 QT ยท Red Rim
  • Pie Dish
  • 1.5 QT ยท Red Rim
  • $59

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

Tableware and Serving Pieces

Complete ยท White
  • Tabletop Set
  • Complete ยท White
  • $599$753
    Save $154(20% off)

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 theyโ€™re designed to withstand the rigors of restaurant kitchensโ€”meaning they'll look just as good on their hundredth dinner party as they did for the first.

Glassware

12-Piece
  • Glassware Sets
  • 12-Piece
  • $199$257
    Save $58(23% off)

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In the same vein as tableware comes glasswareโ€”sure, you can serve your guests with disposable or cheap glasses, but if the alternative is European-fired glassware, you can guess what our pick is. From a pre-dinner cocktail to after-dinner wine, our array of Glassware makes any beverage look, taste, and feel more premium.

Ready to Cook?

Celebrate your most memorable Memorial Day yet with a menu that showcases the absolute best of outdoor cookingโ€”and the best of outdoor-compatible cookware, to boot. Whether you make every dish on the menu or pick and choose, youโ€™re sure to impress.