Archive for the Category » Side Dishes «
30
Jun 2011
Jun 2011
If you want to add some sizzle to your summertime side dishes, serve this Bourbon Creamed Corn at your next cookout. Sure beats the canned “cream style sweet corn” we’re all too familiar with. It’s also a pleasant change from the grilled or boiled corn on the cob that frequents most backyard bashes.
This recipe is my best attempt at recreating a restaurant side I ate many years ago. I had to make it a couple of times before I got the cream-to-bourbon ratio just right. But I think I’ve finally nailed it. I also faced the challenge of balancing out [ ... ]
24
May 2011
May 2011
In New Orleans and throughout most of Louisiana, white rice rules. Even in today’s more health conscious kitchens, it continues to be the predominant starch of the region. Any attempt to sever the relationship between this shiny white grain and time-honored culinary classics such as red beans and rice, gumbo, jambalaya and etouffee, could have you looking over your shoulder and wondering, “Who put the gris gris on me?” The fear of evil spells aside, there is room in even the New Orleans diet for other–more nutritious–grains. It simply has to be on the right plate at the right time.
Quinoa [ ... ]
Category: Side Dishes
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18
May 2011
May 2011
When the portobello mushroom craze hit the food world in the late 1980s, I reluctantly embraced it. Like most New Orleanians, I wasn’t easily swayed by this trendy new ingredient. And quite honestly, that balsamic marinated grilled version that initially flooded restaurant menus was hardly appetizing–especially when compared to the delectable seafood stuffed white buttons I was accustomed to. At the same time, however, I felt compelled to like them and learn how to successfully cook with an ingredient which, up to that point, I had only read about in the food mags. Well it’s [ ... ]
30
Mar 2011
Mar 2011
The first time I cooked ratatouille was on August 20, 2005. Do you want to know how I remember that date? Well, it was my son’s and brother’s birthdays. But that’s not how. It’s not because of my sharp memory either–I lost that sometime between kid number two and kid number three. I remembered that date because it was jotted down next to the recipe’s ingredient list. I scribble all over the pages of my cookbooks and recipes. My notes helps me remember if I liked a particular dish and if I made any changes to it. It’s [ ... ]
08
Feb 2011
Feb 2011
This jalapeno-spiked vegetable medley is one of my summer essentials. But I can’t wait another four months to enjoy it, especially when Kroger’s zucchini and peppers are looking so good. So I’m sharing it with you now. I just hope you don’t forget about it when the warmer months roll around.
For this quick saute I borrowed some delicious ideas from the good old, all-American chopped salad and our local butcher shop that sells a similar side dish in its prepared foods section. The key here is uniformity. Cut all the vegetables the same size. I use the corn kernel as [ ... ]
21
Jan 2011
Jan 2011
Do you know what I love more than mashed potatoes? Baked Mashed Potatoes! That’s not our family’s official name for them. Come to think of it, we don’t have an official name. We simply call it “mom’s mashed potatoes.” Our entire clan knows what that refers to: creamed potatoes spiked with tiny bits of chopped onions, blanketed with lots of cheddar cheese and baked until irresistibly gooey. What sets this recipe apart from the rest is the fresh, chopped yellow onions we fold into the potatoes. The subtle crunch and burst of pungent flavor really makes this family favorite stand [ ... ]
24
Dec 2010
Dec 2010
Until recently, we celebrated Christmas back home in New Orleans. The upside: being with family and enjoying all the wonderful holiday traditions we grew up with. The downside: orchestrating Santa’s arrival in another city! Now, for obvious reasons, we have Christmas in Georgia. It’s bittersweet. While we love waking up in our own home on Christmas morning, we all miss sharing this special day with the rest of our family. So I’ve begun a few new holiday rituals to keep homesickness at bay. For one, we party on Christmas Eve just [ ... ]
Category: Christmas, Main Dishes, New Orleans Classics, Side Dishes, Thanksgiving, Vegetables
Tags: mirliton, Shrimp Recipes, tasso 3 Comments
10
Nov 2010
Nov 2010
In my kitchen, broccoli is the chicken of the vegetable world. It’s available year-round, relatively inexpensive, versatile and easy to prepare. So we eat a lot of it around here. Okay, that’s not a honest statement. I eat a lot of it. My husband and kids, well, they favor the simple preparation of steamed or gently boiled broccoli drizzled with olive oil and dusted with kosher salt. That’s all good, but it gets boring after a while. So I occasionally push them beyond their broccoli comfort zones with preparations like this one.
Broccoli au Gratin is about as fancy as a [ ... ]
Category: Christmas, Roux, Side Dishes, Thanksgiving, Vegetables
Tags: Bechamel Sauce, Broccoli, Home Cooking, White Roux 2 Comments
