5 posts tagged “side dish”
I was always one of those kids who demanded the crusts cut off her sandwich bread because I just wanted to get to the good stuff. Fast forward a few years, and I’ve hardly changed. I still eat pumpkin pies from the inside out, leave my pizza crusts behind and eat the center out of the loaves of fresh Italian bread every Sunday at my mother’s house.
Every year I love to fill my kitchen (and my mouth) with fresh homemade pies from apple to pumpkin. This year I thought I’d change things up a bit and make those same delicious desserts sans crust. The result? A predictable amount of dust collecting in my pie pans!
Nothing beats a hot dinner waiting for you when you come in from a crisp fall day. My husband and I love to dig in to a juicy pork loin seasoned with lots of garlic, fresh rosemary and fennel. And of course, what goes better with pork than a big scoop of chunky homemade applesauce fresh from the oven? This recipe for homemade applesauce is like eating the best part of apple pie. Make a big batch of this sauce and it will keep in the fridge for a few weeks. Pack it for the kids’ lunches, serve as an after school snack, side dish or dessert. The best part about eating this homemade apple sauce is that it’s cooked right at home without the addition of any artificial ingredients you find in stores. After one mouthful, you’ll never go jarred again!
Homemade Apple Sauce
Ingredients
3lbs McIntosh Apples or Winesap Apples
3lbs Granny Smith
2 oranges, zested and juiced
1 lemon, zested and juiced
½ c. brown sugar
4 Tblsp unsalted butter
2 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp allspice
Directions
Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.
Place the zest and juice of the oranges and lemon in a large bowl. Peel, quarter, and core the apples (reserving the peel of 2 of the red apples) and toss them in the juice.
Pour the apples, reserved apple peel, and juice into a non-reactive Dutch oven or enameled iron pot. Add the brown sugar, butter, cinnamon, and allspice and cover the pot.
Bake for 1 hour, or until all the apples are soft. Remove and discard the red apple peel.
Mix with a whisk until smooth, and serve warm or at room temperature.
Ok, I do have a penchant for the classics and Thanksgiving wouldn’t be Thanksgiving without pumpkin pie. I could even forgo the turkey, but I need my pumpkin pie. However, if you’re willing to try something new, take it from a traditionalist and definitely go for this pumpkin mousse. If you’re in charge of bringing dessert this year to your Aunt’s house (as I am), this dessert is a great choice to bring (as I will). It’s smooth, creamy and will be gone in minutes. Who needs the crust when you can dive into a sea of luscious pumpkin? Top with crushed ginger snaps and edge the bowl with whipped cream (using a pastry bag and star tip) or create parfaits by alternating pumpkin mousse, crushed ginger snaps and homemade whipped cream into wine glasses or tall glasses.
Pumpkin Mousse
Ingredients
Can be doubled or tripled based on quantity serving
¼ c. cold water*
1 packet unflavored gelatin powder
1 (15 oz) can pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
½ c. granulated sugar
½ brown sugar
2 extra large egg yolks
2 tsp grated orange zest
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ nutmeg
½ tsp kosher salt
1 ½ c. heavy cream
1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
Directions
Pour gelatin into a separate small bowl with the water and let sit for 10 minutes to soften.
Over a double-boiler whisk together pumpkins, sugars, orange zest, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Put eggs yolks in separate small bowl. Add a ladle full of pumpkin mixture to egg yolks to temper the eggs. Whisk well and add to the rest of pumpkin mixture over double-boiler. Add gelatin and whisk well.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fixed with the whisk attachment, whip the heavy cream and vanilla on high speed until soft peaks begin to form. Fold whipped cream into pumpkin mixture one cup at a time until all is completely blended.
Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or for at least 4 hours. Present as desired.
*instead of water, add an extra kick by substituting with dark rum!
Guacamole is one of my top five absolute favorite indulgences. I figure that since this dip consists of fresh healthy ingredients that it must be nothing but good for me. In one aspect, it is…but the avocado, while containing very healthy and nutrient-rich properties, is quite the caloric intake.
I don’t care. Give me chips and give me guacamole dip and I am in heaven. The chips merely serve as a means of transport for me but I have been known to just snack on the dip itself. Since this is not very socially acceptable and I am so madly in love with avocados, I made a salad out of it. Basically, I took all the ingredients that are used to make guacamole and didn’t bother to blend. I got the notion to add some yummy black beans from an Ina Garten recipe I found in one of my most treasured cookbooks and voila: I had a delicious guacamole salad that was everything I wanted and more.
Avocados tend to be very bland so lots of salt and spice are needed to liven up the dish. The texture of an avocado is simply mesmerizing. The outside texture is bumpy and tough but the inside is succulent and almost clay-like. The flesh is very sensitive to air exposure so when you prepare this dish or homemade guacamole, be sure to wait until the last possible moment to add in the avocado and squeeze a generous amount of fresh lime juice to keep it from discoloring. An old Mexican tradition is to keep the big, round pit in with the guacamole dip to keep it from browning. I think this looks very cool and rustic and yes, I tend to nibble on the pit. But not while anyone is watching!
Guacamole Salad
Adapted from Barefoot Contessa
Ingredients
1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
3 Hass avocados, pitted and cut into chunks
2 limes
1 garlic clove, minced
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
¼ c. olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Crushed red pepper flakes
Directions
Combine tomatoes and beans in a medium bowl. Add zest of 1 lime. In a separate bowl whisk together the juice of 2 limes, olive oil, about a teaspoon of salt and pepper, red pepper flakes (to taste) until blended well. Add in minced garlic to the dressing. Add avocados to tomatoes and beans and immediately cover with dressing and toss gently. Enjoy!
This salad was an awesome side with my steak fajita dinner! YUM!
For a fabulous “Beauty and The Feast” treatment, I have a fantastic recipe for a homemade avocado mask that moistens and nourishes the skin, leaving it soft and silky. It’s also perfect if you have sensitive skin like I do and since the avocados are full of Vitamin E it may also prevent future outbreaks! Just try to avoid dipping chips on your face!
Mask twice a week by combining 1/2 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil and 1-1/2 tsp. mashed avocado. Chill mixture briefly, then massage into skin and leave on for 5 minutes. Remove mask with a soft cotton cloth.
For every fabulous dinner, there should be an equally fabulous side dish. But some sides were not meant to sing back up. Some sides need their own spotlight, their own mic and their own blog entry. And between you and me, this side was one wicked diva. Seriously, if this dish had hands, it would've smacked the glasses off of Elton John's face. Just sayin'....
Moroccan Couscous
Ingredients
2 Tblsp olive oil
½ red onion, finely diced
¼ c. chopped almonds
¼ c. dried apricots, roughly chopped
1 c. couscous
1.5 c. chicken broth
1 scallion, chopped
A handful each of cilantro and mint, chopped
Directions
Sauté red onion in olive oil. Add almonds and apricots. Add couscous and chicken brother. Mix with a fork. Top with lid and remove from heat. After about five minutes, stir with a fork and add scallions and herbs. Mix well and enjoy!
And of course no dinner would be completely without a cool and sweet treat to end the night. A scoop each of coconut, mango and raspberry sorbet was the most perfect fit!
Not too shabby for a Thursday night dinner...
I seriously hate mayonaisse. I hate everything about it. The yucky congealed texture, the yellowy color it turns when it crusts on the lid, the very fact that it is soley eggs and oil blended just creeps me the hell out. I trult believe that the inventor of mayonaisse was, in fact, a sadist.
With that said, I hate that so many yummy treats have the misfortune of having mayo as their basis for consistency and flavor purposes. I never had coleslaw because of it's repulsive sticky drippings nor have I had the pleasure to taste potato salad which, again, is usually muddled in a sea of congealed disgust. So I wanted to make an alternative for those of us who distest this jellied egg gunk but I didn't want to compromise the texture or flavor that is so sought after. I also didn't want to use any kind of "altnerative" mayo. No "miracle crap" (which honestly, is an even more cruel joke than mayo itself) or any lowfat or--heaven forbid--fat free mayo. I shutter at the thought.
But that's when I discovered the wonderful world of Greek yogurt. Greek yogurt provides the consistency and texture (well, actually it's a MUCH better, smoother texture than mayo could ever hope to have) of many mayo-based dishes and also tastes grrrreat! So I used this in place of the devil condiment for my version of carrot salad (which is a great alternative to coleslaw, in my humble opinion)
Carrot Salad
Inspired by Barefoot Contessa
Recipe can be doubled or tripled
1lb carrots, peeled and shaved into ribbons or grated
1/4 c. sour cream
1/4 c. Greek yogurt
3 tblsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
juice of half a lemon
1/3 cup of diced pineapple
Peel carrots and shave into long, wide ribbons. Squeeze juice from half a lemon over them and toss gently. in a separate bowl, whick together sour cream, yogurt, sugar and salt. Add pineapple to carrots and pour dressing on top. Toss well and enjoy!
Italian Style Potato Salad
Another great alternative to mayo-based dish is the usage of what else but--olive oil! YAY! My family has always made potato salad like this. I'm not going to stand here and tell you that all Italians hate mayo as much as I do. All I'm going to say is that any self-respecting Italian does. That is all.
1lb small or fingerling potatoes
2 cloves garlic, minced
olive oil
handful of parsley, chopped fine
salt and pepper
Boil the potatoes until fork-tender. Once done, drain and add back to the hot empty pot. Add garlic and coat with olive oil. Toss gently. Add a generous amount of salt and pepper. Toss again. Add parsley and give one last toss before serving. Enjoy!!
So see, kiddies? You don't need mayo to have a good time! See those baked beans in the background? Soon...very soon!
This weekend we went to our friends' house for a "thanksgiving" potluck dinner. It was so great to see everyone again. It's alomost bittersweet in a sense since many of us are so consumed with our day-to-day lives that before you know it, it's been almost a year that you haven't seen one another! So I thought what better way to show my appreciation to the hostess and my love for our friends than with my super schweet potato casserole and of course, some rich and tasty Oreo truffles.
Schweet Potato Casserole
Ingredients:
2 lbs of sweet potatoes (cubed)
2 tblsp OJ
3/4 c. brownsugar
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
2 tbls butter (cut into cubes)
mini marshmallows
Instructions:
Preheat the over to 375 degrees F.
Throw the cubed potatoes into a pot of salted water and boil. When the potatoes are soft and mashable, drain into a colander. Transfer the potatoes to a mixing bowl and add the brown sugar, OJ, nutmeg and butter. Mix well with an electric mixer.
Transfer the mixture into a medium-sized casserole dish and top with a layer of mini-marshmallows. Bake for 10 minutes or until the marshmallows are a lovely golden brown.
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