Category: Side Dish

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Basic Pan Gravy from Drippings

  • Servings 12
  • Yield 3 2/3 cups
  • Units US

Ingredients

Directions

  1. In skillet or roasting pan, add flour to drippings; blend well.
  2. Cook over medium heat 2 to 3 minutes until smooth and light brown, stirring constantly.
  3. Add broth; cook until mixture boils and thickens, stirring constantly.
  4. Stir in salt and pepper.
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Caramelized Pearl Onions

Ingredients

  • 1 teaspoon olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon butter
  • 1 (10-ounce) package pearl onions
  • 1/3 cup water
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
  • 2 tablespoons dry white wine
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Preparation

Heat oil in a medium nonstick skillet over medium heat. Melt butter in pan. Add onions, and cook 5 minutes or until lightly browned, shaking pan frequently. Add water and sugar, and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 8 minutes. Uncover and cook 2 minutes or until liquid evaporates. Stir in thyme and remaining ingredients; cook 1 minute.

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Honey-Glazed Carrots

Ingredients

  • 1 bag (1 lb) ready-to-eat baby-cut carrots
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • 1 tablespoon butter or margarine
  • Ground nutmeg, if desired

Directions

  • 1 In 2-quart saucepan, place carrots in 1 inch of water. Heat to boiling; reduce heat to low. Cover; simmer 10 to 15 minutes or until tender. Drain well.
  • 2 Add honey and butter to carrots in saucepan. Cook, stirring frequently, until butter is melted and carrots are glazed. Sprinkle with nutmeg.
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Microwave Roasted Potatoes Recipe

Ingredients:

4 medium Russet, Yukon Gold, or 6 to 8 Red potatoes*
Seasonings of your choice (i.e., salt, pepper, parsley, rosemary, thyme, or any other seasonings)
Olive Oil

*  When shopping for potatoes, look for potatoes that are firm and smooth.  Avoid potatoes with wrinkled or wilted skins, soft dark areas, cut surfaces, and those that are green in appearance.

 

Instructions:

Scrub and rinse the potatoes thoroughly.  Cut potatoes into uniform-size cubes.  Place into microwave-safe dish.

Drizzle a small amount of olive oil over potatoes.  Sprinkle with seasonings of your choice.  Toss to evenly disperse oil and seasonings.

Tightly cover dish with a lid or plastic wrap, and place in microwave.  The hot oil browns the potatoes, while the plastic wrap creates steam to cook the insides to tender perfection.

Microwave on HIGH for 10 minutes or until potatoes are done.  Carefully remove from microwave and serve.

Makes 4 to 6 servings.

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Sweet and Sour Onions Recipe

These onions are just as tasty at room temperature as they are hot.

Ingredients

  • 1 to 1 1/2 pounds boiling or pearl onions
  • Salt
  • 3 Tbsp olive oil or butter
  • 3 Tbsp cider, malt or white wine vinegar
  • 1 Tbsp honey

Method

1 The hardest part about this recipe is peeling the onions. If you are using pearl or small cipollini onions, blanch them in boiling water for a minute or so and then plunge them into ice water to stop the cooking. Slice off the root and stem ends, and the papery skin should slip right off. If you are using the larger boiling onions, as we did here, just slice the stem end off the onion and peel as you would a normal onion.

2 Bring a pot of salty water to a boil, and boil your onions for 4-10 minutes, or until they are tender. Smaller onions will need less time. You want them al dente, not soft, because they will cook a bit more in the frying pan. Drain the onions well and set aside.

3 Get a frying pan hot over medium-high heat and add the olive oil. Let the olive oil get hot for a minute or two and add the onions. They will spit a little because they are full of moisture. Let them sizzle until you get some browning on a couple sides of the onion, about 4-5 minutes.

4 Meanwhile, mix the honey and vinegar vigorously until the honey dissolves. Add it to the frying pan. It will spit and sizzle violently. Turn the onions to coat with the mixture and turn the heat down to medium. Sprinkle salt over everything.

5 Let the vinegar-honey mixture boil down to a thick syrup. Turn the onions often to coat evenly. Serve hot or at room temperature, with a little sprinkling of a fancy salt like fleur de sel, if you have some.

Serves 4.

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Steamed Carrots with Olive Oil and Lemon

Ingredients

2 bunches of small carrots with tops
Ice
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 lemon

Directions

  1. Peel the carrots and cut off the tops, leaving just about 1/2 inch on.
  2. Place them in a steamer basket and steam over medium-high heat for about 10 to 15 minutes until they are tender enough to be pierced with a fork, but not overcooked or mushy.
  3. While the carrots are steaming, fill a large bowl with ice water.
  4. When they’re cooked, dunk the carrots in for just a few seconds to stop the cooking process.
  5. Place them on a serving plate, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and drizzle with olive oil. Squeeze the juice from the lemon over the carrots.
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Stuffed Cucumber Bites

Ingredients

  • 2 cucumbers, peeled and sliced ¾ inch thick and hollowed with a melon baller
  • 8 oz block cream cheese at room temperature
  • 2 tbsp mayonnaise
  • 2 tsp Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • Halved grape tomatoes

Instructions

  1. Peel and slice cucumbers to ¾ thick.
  2. With a melon baller, cut out center portion of the cucumber
  3. Mix the cream cheese, mayo, hidden valley ranch mix and salt in a bowl.
  4. Place in a pastry bag with a rosette pipette end
  5. Pipe cucumber slice with cream cheese to ½ inch above cucumber
  6. Stand a halved grape tomato in the cream cheese.
  7. Sprinkle with chives or parsley to garnish
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Mashed Potatoes with Prosciutto and Parmesan Cheese

Ingredients

  • 3 1/4 pounds russet potatoes, peeled, cut into 1-inch pieces
  • 4 large garlic cloves, peeled
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
  • 3 1/2 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto, finely chopped
  • 3/4 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary
  • 3/4 cup (or more) whole milk
  • 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (about 3 ounces)
  • Additional fresh rosemary

 

Preparation

Cook potatoes and garlic in large pot of boiling salted water until potatoes are very tender, about 15 minutes. Drain; return potatoes and garlic to same pot.

Meanwhile, melt 1/2 cup butter in heavy small saucepan over medium heat. Add chopped prosciutto and 3/4 teaspoon minced rosemary and sauté until fragrant, about 2 minutes.

Add prosciutto mixture and 3/4 cup milk to potatoes and garlic. Mash well, adding more milk by tablespoonfuls if potatoes are dry. Mix in 3/4 cup cheese. Season with salt and pepper. (Can be prepared 6 hours ahead. Cover and chill. Stir over low heat to rewarm, adding more milk by tablespoonfuls, if desired.) Transfer potatoes to bowl. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup cheese; garnish with fresh rosemary and serve.

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Mexican Fire Rice

Ingredients

  • 2 2/3 cups water
  • 1 1/3 cups uncooked long grain white rice
  • 1 pound ground pork breakfast sausage
  • 1 (16 ounce) jar picante sauce
  • 1 (8 ounce) container sour cream
  • 8 ounces Cheddar cheese, shredded

Directions

  1. In a medium saucepan, bring the water to a boil. Stir in the rice. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer 20 minutes.
  2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
  3. In a skillet over medium heat, cook the sausage until evenly brown.
  4. In a medium baking dish, mix the cooked rice, cooked sausage, picante sauce, and sour cream. Top with Cheddar cheese.
  5. Bake 20 minutes in the preheated oven, until cheese is bubbly.
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Mexican Street Corn Salad (Esquites)

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 6 ears fresh corn, shucked, kernels removed (about 4 cups fresh corn kernels)**
  • 1/2 c. mayonnaise
  • 1/4 c. cotija cheese or feta, plus more for garnish
  • Juice of 2 limes
  • 2 tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro, plus more for garnish
  • 1 tbsp. chili powder, plus more for garnish
  • kosher salt

 

Directions

Heat oil in a large non-stick skillet or wok over high heat until shimmering. Add corn kernels, season to taste with salt, toss once or twice, and cook without moving until charred on one side, about 2 minutes. Toss corn, stir, and repeat until charred on second side, about 2 minutes longer. Continue tossing and charring until well charred all over, about 10 minutes total. Transfer to a large bowl.

In a serving bowl, toss corn with mayo, cotija, lime juice, cilantro, and chili powder. Season generously with salt.

Top with more cotija, cilantro, and a sprinkle of chile powder.

**If you use canned corn:

Roast corn is a delicious addition to a salad, chili, chowder or spicy meat dish. The best way to roast corn is on the ear but you can get the same taste by using canned corn. Roast corn is traditionally made in the oven but canned corn will end up burning since it is already cooked. You can create the same roast corn taste by sautéing the corn in a little olive oil on the stove. Canned corn will roast faster so be sure to keep an eye on it so it doesn’t burn.

  • Add 2 to 3 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil to a sauté pan.
  • Pour in the canned corn.
  • Cook over medium heat until the corn turns a light brown color. It will take about five minutes for the corn to brown. Serve on its own or mix it in another dish.

Don’t stir the corn more than once. It can be tempting to stir but roasted corn should sit in the pan to cook. If you must stir the corn, let it sit for three minutes, stir it once, then let it sit until a light brown.