Showing posts with label side dish. Show all posts
Showing posts with label side dish. Show all posts

Wednesday, November 4, 2015

Quick Pickled Beet Salad #FoodieExtravaganza

Fresh cooked beets, lightly seasoned and covered with sliced onions can be quick pickled with vinegar to make a lovely bright salad for beet lovers. It gets better and better as it marinates in the refrigerator so don’t be afraid of making this salad a day ahead. 

Even when I was a young girl, this was one of my favorite side dishes. To the best of my recollection (and I am sure my mom will write to set me straight, if need be) my grandmother and mother always made it with canned beets. But perhaps that was just a modern convenience that came into fashion in the ’60 and ‘70s. I do not recall ever seeing a fresh beet until my husband’s stepmother showed me how she cooked them. The secret, she said, was to choose beets that are the same size so that when you cover them with cool water and boil them whole, all of the beets will cook in the same amount of time. And the peels slide right off! Perhaps I am easily impressed but that part seemed like magic.

As my own girls were growing up, we were a small family divided by the beet - two lovers, two haters - so I seldom cooked them, especially when my one fellow lover went off to university and I was sorely outnumbered by the haters. I’ve given up trying to convert the unconvertible so occasionally when my husband is traveling, I’ll make this dish and eat the whole darn thing myself. And this summer, when it was just Mom and I, we enjoyed it together. Divine.

Ingredients
5-6 medium beets (Total weight 1.4lbs or 650g, to give you an idea of size)
1/2 medium purple onion
1/2 cup or 120ml apple cider vinegar
Sea salt
Black pepper
Drizzle olive oil to serve

Note: As recommended, make sure to choose beets that are reasonably the same size so that they will be cooked through at the same time.

Method
Rinse the beets to remove any dirt and then cover them with fresh water in a medium sized pot. Cook over medium heat for 50-60 minutes or until sharp knife slides in easily. Cover with lid and leave to cool.

Drain the water and rinse the beets again. Put on an apron or otherwise protect your clothing from possible beet juice, then gently rub the peels off of the beets.


Rinse the beets again. Dry the beets on some paper towels then slice them a little thicker than 1/4 in or 6mm. Slice the onion as thinly as you can manage.

Lay the beets out in more or less one layer on a deep plate and sprinkle them with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.



Separate the sliced onion pieces and spread them over the sliced beets. Pour the vinegar over the whole plate and cover with cling film.


The salad can be served in as little as about half an hour. Or store it in refrigerator, covered tightly with cling film until the next day.

Drizzle with a little olive oil before serving, if desired.



Enjoy!


Foodie Extravaganza celebrates obscure food holidays or shares recipes  with the same ingredient or theme each month. This month our host is Camilla from Culinary Adventures with Camilla and we are celebrating National Pickle Day on November 14th early with eight tasty pickle recipes.

We hope you all enjoy our delicious pickled creations this month and come back to see what we bring for you next month.

Posting day is always the first Wednesday of each month. If you are a blogger and would like to join our group and blog along with us, come join our Facebook page Foodie Extravaganza. We would love to have you! If you're a spectator looking for delicious recipes, check out our Foodie Extravaganza Pinterest Board! Looking for our previous parties? Check them out HERE.

The Pickled Posts

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Friday, October 23, 2015

Roasted Onions with Rosemary

There is something about the application of heat on onions that sweetens them as they roast, drizzled with olive oil, sprinkled with sea salt, freshly ground black pepper and rosemary. Simple, but delicious. 

Onions are vegetables so why is it we so often use them as a flavoring for less well-endowed dishes, instead of giving them their rightful place as the star in a side dish? It’s a question I’ve been asking myself for more than 14 years, which was the first time I made this Jamie Oliver recipe for cheesy stuffed onions with bacon. The main reason that many years ago was because my young daughters, still living at home, were not fans of cooked onions, although they both enjoyed them raw in salads. Perhaps your family is the same. Their father and I, on the other hand, love onions any way you’d like to prepare them but are particularly enamored when they are roasted.

A few years ago, when we were still living in Cairo, a friend was giving a dinner party and I was roped in to help. He would handle the starters and main course and I would bring the sides and desserts. One of the things I made was a huge pan of roasted onions that had been drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with herbs. As they roast, the onion layers separate, some pieces breaking off entirely and becoming extra crispy in the heat of the oven, others softening sweetly into tenderness. I could have eaten the whole lot before it ever made it out of the kitchen.

We’ve been eulogizing those roasted onions for more than three years now. Last night I finally got around to making them again. I served them alongside some roasted chicken and they were sheer perfection. Just as good as we remembered. Which is somewhat of a relief.

Ingredients
2.2 lbs or 1kg small purple onions (Some people call them red onions but they sure look purple to me.)
3-4 sprigs fresh rosemary or your favorite fresh herb, plus extra for garnish
Olive oil
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Method
Preheat your oven to 375°F or 190°C. Peel your onions and cut the smaller ones in half. Cut larger ones in three or four pieces.

Set them cut side up on a large baking tray. Sprinkle with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Pull the leaves off of the rosemary and sprinkle them on the onions as well.



Drizzle everything generously with extra virgin olive oil.



Pop the pan in your preheated oven and set the timer for 30 minutes.

When the timer goes off, have a look at the onions. If the edges are just beginning to turn brown, leave them another 15 minutes on that side.



When that time is up, take the pan out of the oven and give the onions a gentle stir. Some of the outer layers of the onions will come loose, but that’s okay.

Put the pan back in the oven for another 15-25 minutes, checking periodically so that the onions don’t burn. You want them very dark in some places, crispy in others but still with some soft insides showing.



Remove them from the oven and taste for seasonings. Add more salt and pepper, if needed.

Sprinkle with a little more chopped rosemary, if desired.



Enjoy!

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Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Brussels Sprouts with Harissa, Honey and Lime #BloggerCLUE


Aromatic, spicy harissa, honey and tart lime juice perk up the flavor of pan-roasted Brussels sprouts for a great side dish or serve over rice for a vegetarian main course.

This month my Blogger C.L.U.E. assignment is Authentic Suburban Gourmet and our clue was Autumn flavors. I had such fun poking around in Lisa’s blog with its beautiful photographs that I was drooling a little before I even got to the descriptions! I went about my search a little differently this time. Rather than searching for “fall” or “Autumn” I used Lisa’s drop down archives list and browsed through all of her October recipes from the last few years. I was sorely tempted by the Fig & Honey Infused Goat Cheese Bites, Pear and Honey Crostini with Spicy Candied Pistachios, Fig Tarts with Honey Pistachio Brittle and her Roasted Pork with Port Infused Fig Chutney but finally, I was seduced by these divinely spicy sweet Brussels sprouts!

Lisa’s original recipe called for sriracha but after three Dubai supermarkets turned up no Vietnamese hot sauce, I decided that a regional substitution would work. Harissa, a paste made of chili peppers, garlic and other spices is common in this part of the world and I figured it was not far off from sriracha which is made from chili peppers and garlic as well, but thinned with vinegar. Like Lisa, we are fans of the much maligned Brussels sprout but this recipe might just win over some naysayers too.

Ingredients
1.1 lb or 500g Brussels sprouts
1 tablespoon harissa or to taste. Or make Lisa’s original recipe with sriracha!
3 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon lime juice or to taste (I added just a bit more to make up for the vinegar in the sriracha.)
Salt
Olive oil for frying

Method
Trim the stem end of the sprouts and cut each one in half. Keep any loose leaves.



In a large bowl, whisk together the harissa, honey and lime juice. Taste and add more harissa or honey if you like. Set aside.



Lisa said to add about a quarter cup of olive oil to a large skillet but since I was using a non-stick pan, I just gave it a good drizzle of oil.

Panfry the halved Brussels sprouts and the loose leaves until deep golden brown and season with a sprinkle of salt during the cooking process.



Transfer the sprouts to the bowl with the harissa, honey and lime sauce. Toss to coat. Taste and add a little more salt, if necessary.



Enjoy!



Here's the list of our Blogger C.L.U.E. participants this month:

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Sunday, September 13, 2015

Gram’s Cajun Rice Dressing

Rice dressing with pork, beef, chicken livers and gizzards, seasoned with onion, bell pepper and garlic, just like my grandmother used to make it, hence the title, Gram's Cajun Rice Dressing! Some Cajun cookbooks call this “dirty rice” but in my family, we just call it dressing.



Many years ago my cousin, Simone, put together a family cookbook of favorites and kindly made copies to share with the rest of us. When the Sunday Supper theme for today was announced – National Grandparents Day – I knew that would be the best place to start looking for one of my grandmother’s recipe that I haven’t already shared. I’ve posted quite a few because those are ones I still cook all the time but I needed fresh inspiration. I’ll be honest, I hadn’t thought about my grandmother’s dressing in quite a while but as soon as I turned to that page, I knew I couldn’t make anything else.

Rice dressing was always a favorite on both of my grandmother’s dinner tables, making an appearance quite regularly not just for Thanksgiving or Christmas but often also on Sundays.

In the old days, they would grind the liver and gizzards at home in a meat grinder or asked the butcher to do it, but nowadays we use a food processor. In fact, to make it even easier, folks living in Louisiana can buy the “dressing mix” pre-made in every grocery store and my mom informs me that it’s even available in Houston.

If you aren’t a liver lover, you can leave it out, but I’d like to reassure you that with only four whole livers in all that rice and ground meat, the flavor is very, very subtle. I think they are essential to get the right flavor.

Gram’s Cajun Rice Dressing


This rice dressing makes me miss my grandmothers but it also brings back wonderful memories of them. This is the taste of home.

Ingredients
For the rice:
2 cups or 400g uncooked long-grained rice
1 1/2 teaspoon fine salt

For the roux:
1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon or 42g flour
1/4 cup or 60ml canola or other light oil

For the dressing:
8 chicken gizzards (about 4 oz or 115g)
4 whole chicken livers (about 4 oz or 115g)
3/4 lb or 340g ground pork
1/2 lb or 227g ground beef
1 large onion
1 small green bell pepper (capsicum)
1 small bunch green onions (plus more to garnish, if desired)
2 cloves garlic
Salt, black pepper, cayenne to taste
Roux
8 cups cooked rice

Method
Cook your rice with the salt by your favorite method. I’m not giving water amounts or cooking times since rice varies so widely. My grandmothers would have used a local Louisiana rice that was relatively short-grained but since I can’t get that in Dubai, I’ve used long-grained Indian Basmati. Long-grained rice fluffs up more so my two cups raw made eight cups of cooked rice.

While the rice is cooking, you can make the roux. Using the amount of flour and oil in the ingredients list, follow the instructions here: How to Make Roux. Set the roux pot aside to cool in a sink filled with a little cool water. You don't want it to continue to darken once it's done. Don't get any water in the pot though!

Put your gizzards in the food processor and chop them up finely. Add in the liver and give it another few pulses to chop the liver as well.



Add the oil to a large pot or pan and then tip in the ground pork, ground beef and your chopped liver and gizzards.



Cook over a medium heat, stirring occasionally, breaking the meat into small pieces with your spoon as it cooks.



While the meat is cooking, finely chop your onion, bell pepper, green onions and garlic.

Once the meat is well browned and even a little crispy, add in the chopped vegetables. Stir well.



Cook the mixture over a medium heat, stirring often, until the vegetables are soft and just about disappear.

Add in your roux and a cup or two of water and stir well. Season the mixture with salt, fresh ground black pepper and cayenne to taste. We like ours pretty spicy.



Lower the fire and simmer for a couple of hours, adding water occasionally when the mixture gets a little too dry. You want to end up with a thick meat-filled gravy.



Gently fluff your rice with a fork to separate the grains and then mix the rice in with the meat.



Garnish with some chopped green onions or parsley.

Enjoy!



What special recipes have your grandparents handed down to you? Here’s a list of favorites from my Sunday Supper family.

Sweets that are the Sweetest
Savory Meals with Special Memories



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Wednesday, August 5, 2015

Jersey Royals with Mint #FoodieExtravaganza


Freshly dug Jersey Royal potatoes, boiled to tender perfection with mint and lavished with butter, are the perfect side dish to accompany any meal. Or just eat them alone, out of the bowl, with a spoon. 

When our Foodie Extravaganza theme of potatoes was chosen for August, I knew exactly what I was going to share: how to cook and best enjoy Jersey Royal potatoes. Now, if you can't get these where you live, you can substitute another thin-skinned new potato. But if you ever have the chance at some real Jersey Royals, don't let it get away! The official website says you can only buy them in the United Kingdom or in the Channel Islands, but my local grocery store in Dubai imported a number of kilos earlier this year.

A little history
Jersey, a small island in the English Channel, is well known, at least on the European side of the Atlantic, for growing wonderful potatoes, and they've been doing it for centuries. By 1879 many varieties of potatoes were grown on the island but that particular spring, up sprouted a plant that produced a unique kidney shaped tuber and it was duly dubbed the Jersey Royal Fluke. Ever since, Jersey Royals – the only potato with an official EU Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) status - have been planted by hand on Jersey and fertilized with the nutrient rich seaweed, called vraic, which the tides deposit with regularity on the gleaming shores. Many attribute the fresh taste of Jersey Royals to this organic fertilizer.

A little personal history
My husband Simon’s grandparents moved to the island from England back in the 1960s, choosing to retire there, I’m sure, for myriad reasons, not the least of which was its tax-free status, proximity to the UK and its incredible natural beauty and abundant fresh produce. The first time I visited, summer of 1992 it was, we were living in Paris so we sped to Rennes on the snazzy TGV bullet train, hopped a regional train to St. Malo on the Brittany coast and then rode the waves on the ferry over to Jersey, hauling luggage, a travel cot and our 18-month-old toddler. But that fraught journey is a story for another day. Arriving on the island made it all worthwhile.

One sneak peek of the beauty. This is the view from the headland two minutes walk from our home.
I can't get enough of the gorgeous purple heather and the deep blue sea.


Simon’s delightfully eccentric Uncle John met us at the port and we sped home through the tight lanes, salty wind gusting through the open windows, his rattling old Volvo narrowly missing the ancient stone walls at almost every turn. We passed St. Helier, the main city on our right, bustling with shoppers and business folks. Farther along, beautiful St. Aubin’s Bay reflected the brilliant blue sky on our left, the summer sun highlighting Elizabeth Castle and brave swimmers paddling in the chilly water while families built sandcastles on the golden beach. We took a sharp right turn up a hill then nipped in to the left into a tiny gap in the great walls I would barely have noticed if we hadn’t turned. It was the Lucas Brothers farm shop where Uncle John bought all his vegetables – crisp cabbage, just dug carrots, beets and onions, fresh picked leafy greens and French beans among other things and, of course, Jersey Royal potatoes, the protective dirt still clinging to their paper thin skins.

Last week I was in Jersey, as I have been many times over the last 23 years, turning sharply in to Lucas Brothers farm shop two times in only three days, to buy Jersey Royals, and more Jersey Royals. Because when you are on the island during Royal season – April through July generally, depending on weather – that is what you want to eat. And, as far as tradition is concerned, there is only one way to cook them that lets the gorgeous natural taste of the Royals shine through. Many thanks to our next-door neighbor and Jersey cook extraordinaire, Mary, who taught me this so many years ago.

Ingredients
Jersey Royal potatoes, at room temperature
Few sprigs fresh mint
Butter
Fine sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Method
Proper Jersey Royals still have all the dirt attached because it protects the tender skin and keeps the potatoes from getting bruised.


Rub the Royals by hand under some cool water to remove the dirt and any papery skins that are loose.



Put them in a large pot and cover with fresh water. Add in the sprigs of mint and some salt. I’ve since read on the internet that some folks advocate using seawater but I’ve never gone that far.



Bring the pot to a boil and then cook over a medium flame until a sharp knife poked in the Royals goes in easily, about 20 minutes.

Drain the Royals and add in a large chunk of fresh butter. Don't be shy here. It's Royal season, a time for generosity of spirit and extra butter.

Sprinkle with additional salt, a few good grinds of fresh black pepper and stir gently.

Garnish with more mint, if desired. Put the butter on the table for anyone who wants to add more to their Royals. If it’s fresh Jersey butter, I’m guaranteeing they will.



Enjoy!

Are you a potato fan? Check out all the lovely potato dishes my Foodie Extravaganza friends are sharing today.



Foodie Extravaganza is where we celebrate obscure food holidays or cook and bake together with the same ingredient or theme each month. Many thanks to this month's host, Kathleen from Fearlessly Creative Mammas who honored her Idaho heritage by inviting us to share our favorite potato recipes.

Posting day is always the first Wednesday of each month. If you are a blogger and would like to join our group and blog along with us, come join our Facebook page Foodie Extravaganza. We would love to have you!

If you're a reader looking for delicious recipes check out our Foodie Extravaganza Pinterest Board! Looking for our previous parties? Check them out HERE.


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Wednesday, July 8, 2015

Bourbon Baked Beans #BloggerCLUE


Tangy, spicy, rich, and loaded with bacon, these bourbon spiked baked beans are the perfect side dish for a barbecue or even to serve as the main course with a loaf of crusty bread.

I must confess that here in Dubai, we don’t grill as often during the summer as we do the rest of the year because with temperatures that soar into the 120s°F (49-50°C) the last thing we want to do is light a fire and stand over it. But an assignment is an assignment and this month’s Blogger C.L.U.E. theme is “barbecue and grilling.” So I headed over to learn more about Lisa, the talented writer, photographer and cook behind Authentic Suburban Gourmet and poke around in her blog, as instructed, to hunt for dishes that fit our theme. A search for the word “grill” turned up eight pages of recipes! Clearly this bonafide Bay Area foodie, as Lisa refers to herself, is keen on grilling everything from peaches to cauliflower to flank steak. I was just about choose one of those lovely dishes and take one for the team when that same search for “grill” revealed this flavorful baked bean recipe with barbecue sauce. Sure, I'd have to turn the oven on, but that’s why, on the eighth day, God created air conditioning for the great indoors.

The only ingredient changes I made to Lisa’s recipe were to start with dried beans instead of canned (but I’ll leave both amounts in case canned is easier for you – just rinse them well) and I added a couple of hot peppers. Because we like that kind of heat all year long. She didn’t say what sort of vessel to bake them in so I took the liberty of inaugurating my brand new bean pot (Isn't it pretty?) and sealing the loose-fitting lid with a flour-water dough.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups or 315g dried white beans = 4 1/2 cups cooked beans or 3 cans (15 oz 425g) white beans
8 slices smoked bacon
1 large onion
2 hot red chilies - optional
1 cup or 240ml ketchup
1 cup or 240ml traditional barbecue sauce (I used one labeled BOLD.)
1/4 cup or 60ml bourbon
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons molasses
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons honey
Salt and pepper to taste

Optional: dough seal for bean pot
1 cup or 125g flour
Lukewarm water to make soft dough (I used about 1/2 cup or 120ml.)

Method
If you are going to cook your own beans, pick through them carefully and remove any stones or small clumps of dirt and any beans that have holes or discolorations. Even the best quality beans might have stones since they are usually sorted by machines and the occasional non-bean gets through. Either soak them overnight in cool water or cover them amply with boiling water in a heatproof bowl and leave to soak for one hour.

After an hour covered with boiling water: All plumped up.



If you are using canned beans, pour them into a colander and rinse well.

When soaking time is over, pour off the bean water and put the beans in a pot, covered with fresh cool water. Bring to the boil then lower the flame to simmer and cook the beans until they are tender. Depending on how old (and, therefore, dried) your beans are, this could take an hour or an hour and a half.

Meanwhile, you can get on with the rest of the dish. Chop your onion finely. Do the same with the hot peppers, if using. Cut the bacon into small strips.



Fry the bacon until crispy. Remove it from the frying pan with a slotted spoon and place on some paper towels to drain. I highly recommend hiding this bacon bounty or you might find it all gone before the beans are tender if you leave it irresistibly, invitingly exposed on the kitchen counter.

Spoon or pour out all but a couple of tablespoons of the bacon fat from the frying pan (I recommend saving the fat in a jar in the refrigerator for another use.) then use that same frying pan to sauté the chopped onions and peppers until they are softened.



When your beans are tender, drain them and preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C.

Tender beans


Put your cooked or rinsed canned beans in your bean pot or another ovenproof dish. Measure out the rest of your ingredients and add them into the bean pot or dish.

Don’t forget to add in the bacon, onions and chilies.

Stir everything well. Add salt and pepper to taste.



If you are using a casserole dish, bake it in your preheated oven for about 45 minutes.

If you are using a bean pot, you might want to add a dough seal. Simply put your flour in a small bowl and add enough lukewarm water to form a soft dough. Knead it for a few short minutes.

Roll the dough into a long snake that will reach right the way around the circumference of your bean pot lid. Secure it by pressing it to the rim of the bean pot itself. Gently lay the lid on top and press ever so slightly down.




Bake in your preheated oven for about 45 minutes. Let it cool for about 10 minutes and then loosen the dough seal with a pointy knife.


Remove the lid and serve up the bourbon baked beans!





Enjoy!







Whether you are looking for great grilling recipes or dishes to make for a barbecue, our Blogger C.L.U.E. (Cook, Learn, Undertake, Eat) Society has got you covered this month.


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