Mike's Macaroni Salad

This is for a dear buddy of mine on Facebook, Matt Koloski. Matt, here ya go buddy. When I get done writing this I'll put up some tunes for you also. God Bless Son !!!

Mis en place

1lb box small elbow macaroni

2 stalks celery, finely minced

1/2 green bell pepper minced

3 carrots grated and then minced

3-4 scallions, minced

salt, pepper and paprika

1 cup mayo (preferably fresh made)

1 cup greek yoghurt

3/4 cup buttermilk

2 Tbls cider vinegar (the brown stuff)

salt, pepper, cayenne, and paprika to taste

2 Tbls pickle relish

Preparation:

Bring 3 qts generously salted water to boil. Add 1 lb small elbow macaroni to the rapidly boiling water. Cook about 7 minutes until macaroni is just el dente, drain into a strainer.

While macaroni is cooking prepare vegetables and combine in a very large mixing bowl, season with salt, pepper and paprika. Once macaroni is well drained rinse ONCE with cool water briefly to stop cooking. Add cooled macaroni to mixing bowl, season macaroni with salt & pepper. Add pickle relish. NOW add dressing and combine well. Taste, re-season with salt, pepper and paprika to your taste. If a little dry add a splash of mayo and buttermilk to the whole thing and combine. Rest in fridge for at least 4 hours prior to serving. Like old spaghetti it just gets better as time passes.

brisket sandwich with mac salad and ginger ale with assorted citrus fruits.

Don't come over for a couple hours, I got the ribs out and they're resting, still want to make some buttermilk biscuits. Baked beans tomorrow with some of the meat from the brisket I cooked off the other day.

Two Dogs... Good to see you

There's iron your words of peace (as Ten Bears would say).

There's iron in your words about buttermilk, but now that I got the KFC copy cole slaw recipe I used some of the buttermilk for that, and biscuits and pancakes. it goes. We seem to have buttermilk everywhere here in Jersey. 

Got my brisket torn down, separated the flat from the tip (some call it the deckle) and put my rub on the flat, it went in a 2 gallon zippered bag with 1/2 cup of Coke and 1/2 cup of orange juice (I used a Cara Cara orange (sorta red inside like a blood orange) juice, pulp and all with the Coke, a splash of Mae Ploy sweet and hot sauce and 1 tsp cinnamon. That's marinating overnight - if the Rain God stays awake I'm smoking it first thing tomorrow. I figure out of the almost 11 pound packer I cut off a pound of fat, and the flat is about 6 pounds - so I'll start it right when the wife leaves for work at 225 with hickory wood and smoke it about 7 hours, foil it with this finishing sauce (again ketchup, brown sugar, honey and orange juice) for about 1 hour, then remove from the foil and pop it up to 250 and finish it in the smoker for another hour so the finishing sauce sets and I get a real nice bark. Foil it, wrap in a beach towel and into a cooler to rest about an hour and my wife gets home... Baked beans, slaw, mac salad, brisket, buttermilk biscuits.  Ooooohhhh Wwwhhhhheeeeeeee.........