23 4th of July recipes from the L.A. Times Test Kitchen

Grilled fig salad tossed with a sherry vinaigrette. Click here for the recipe.  (Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times)

Is this the “ultimate” strawberry shortcake? You can be the judge. Click here for the recipe.  (Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times)

How about a burger -- but not just any burger: The Stonehill Tavern Kobe burger. Click here for the recipe.  (Christine Cotter / Los Angeles Times)

Don’t you just want to dive right on in to this boysenberry-strawberry glazed pie? Click here for the recipe.  (Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times)

No sauce necessary. These are naked ribs. Click here for the recipe.  (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

Dial down the flames to a slow burn and watch pineapple luxuriously transform. Click here for the recipe.  (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

Texas hickory smoked brisket with coffee barbecue sauce. Click here for the recipe.  (Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times)

Wild blueberry buckle, before baking  (Patrick Downs / Los Angeles Times)

Grilled flank steak with peppers, onions and chimichurri sauce. Click here for the recipe.  (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

These pecan-crusted spareribs with Kentucky bourbon barbecue sauce were a huge hit with readers. Check out the recipe here.  (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

Lemon blueberry buckle  (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

Grilled pork steaks with fennel. Click here for the recipe.  (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

Tuscan chicken cooked on the grill under a brick results in crisp skin and juicy meat.  (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

This is the making of wild blueberry buckle, so named because your friends and family will go wild for it.
Recipe: Blueberry fool on a berry fruit salad buckle
  (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

Bistecca fiorentina -- Tuscan steak. Click here for the recipe.  (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

A holiday that celebrates freedom calls for classic recipes. But we’ve taken the, um, liberty of putting a twist on some of your favorites. The strawberry pie, at left, has a layer of tangy goat cheese. The blueberry pie calls for a pecan shortbread crust. Keep clicking to find out the not-so-secret ingredient in the raspberry pie at right.

Recipe: Strawberry and goat cheese pie

Recipe: Blueberry cream pie  (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)

Raspberry wine pie  (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)

You can use onions as a sauce for meat, as in this rib-eye with carmelized onion marmalade.  (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

Grilled chocolate and pecan pound cake.  (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)