Archive for Side Dish
Oven Pommes Frites
Posted by: | CommentsI’ve always liked French Fries. Plain with a little salt and pepper, or some malt vinegar. Then I went to Belgium and Holland where the preferred condiment in mayonnaise. I’ve been addicted ever since. Granted home made mayo makes a HUGE difference – but you can do some great things with the normal off the shelf mayo. Here’s one of my favorite snack preparations – and you don’t need a deep fryer. If I have a potato in the house, I’ll pass on popcorn to make this instead.
This will make a snack size portion.
For the fries:
- 2 large potatoes
- olive oil
- salt
- pepper
Cut 2 large potatoes into strips and toss with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Bake at 425 degrees F for about 30 minutes on a cookie sheet. Shake them and turn them at least once to ensure a crispy exterior on the whole fry (I like mine a golden brown).
The idea of mayo may not be your idea of a good condiment – so try this version which adds a bit of spiciness and tang.
Spicy Mayo Dip:
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon curry powder
- 1/4 teaspoon chipotle powder (or chili powder)
Combine 1/4 cup mayonnaise with 1/2 teaspoon paprika, 1 teaspoon lemon juice, 1/2 teaspoon curry powder, and 1/4 teaspoon chipotle powder. Mix until well integrated.
Got Turkey?
Posted by: | Comments
Jamaican Turkey Patty and Mashed Sweet Potato
I love Thanksgiving. I always have. One reason is the fabulous leftovers. Well in our household, leftover turkey isn’t really leftover – it’s more of an ingredient. For the second year in a row, I’ve used these ingredients to make Jamaican style patties. This year, it was a plain chicken style patty. Recipe follows (Makes about 20 5-inch pies).
Patty Filling:
3lbs turkey meat (chopped fine)
1 white onion (chopped)
1 clove garlic (minced)
3 scallions (fine chop)
1 can green chiles
1 tablespoon dried thyme
Salt and pepper to taste
4 tablespoons curry powder
2 tablespoons dried ginger
1 scotch bonnet pepper (if you want HOT – or other pepper to taste)
1 can diced tomatoes
1 cup bread crumbs
All ingredients above combined in a Dutch oven or large sauté pan. Prepare the onions and garlic first. Add spices, tomatoes, peppers and then chicken. Add bread crumbs and cook to stew consistency.
The Patty Dough:
I used rollout premade pie crusts( flakey kind, 9 inch). Each yields about 4 patties. Cut out 5 inch circles or size you like. I use a bowl to trace with a knife. Place few teaspoons of filling on round cutout, fold over and crimp edges. Cut steam vents. Brush with an egg wash and bake at 400 for 20 min.
A eggwash is made by beating one egg with a tablespoon of water.
A Canvas Named Orzo
Posted by: | CommentsOne of my favorite ingredients to use is Orzo. You know, that rice shaped pasta. It’s versatile and quick cooking. Need a meal and only have canned or frozen veggies? Need that summer picnic or party dish? Need a side dish to make those leftovers seem new? Your friend is Orzo.
Rather than start listing a bunch of Orzo recipes, I’m just going to list my basic Orzo salad recipe as well as some other suggestions for augmentation. There are multiple reasons for this:
- You will discover Orzo is a very flexible ingredient if you experiment on your own;
- I usually never make the same Orzo dish twice – they are similar, but rarely the same;
- If I listed every recipe I use Orzo for, we would be reliving that scene in Forrest Gump where Bubba lists everything you can use shrimp for. And yes, Bubba forgot to mention Orzo/shrimp salad.
Here’s the salad I made the other evening for a wine tasting dinner. The main course was lamb, so I wanted complementary flavors and some acidity. This recipe will make a big party sized portion – so halve or quarter these suggestions.
1 package dry orzo (16 oz)
½ cup of good olive oil (I use homemade garlic infused)
¼ cup lemon juice
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
¼ cup fresh chopped Italian Parsley
¼ cup fresh chopped Cilantro
¼ cup fresh chopped Mint
½ cup red onion (finely chopped)
½ tablespoon of garlic paste or minced garlic
1 pint cherry tomatoes (halved)
2 cups frozen peas
3 good pinches of kosher or sea salt
3 good pinches of black pepper
1 pinch chili powder
Start to cook the orzo according to the package instructions. You will want to cook and then cool the pasta as you chop all your fresh ingredients (Do not use dried herbs if you plan on serving this salad in the same day you make it).
Once the orzo is cool enough to work with, start mixing it into a bow; or container with the olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice, garlic, salt, pepper, chili powder, red onion and the herbs. Once that is all mixed together, mix in the halve tomatoes and frozen peas.
Let it sit for about 4 hours before serving. It will be even better over the next few days.
Some alterations you may want to try are…
- Add in some chopped black or green olives
- Use orange segments instead of tomatoes
- Use edamame instead of the frozen peas
- Add dill as an herb and then mix in some cooked shrimp or crab
Gnocchi (the real kind)
Posted by: | CommentsI’ve had some people ask me how much work making gnocchi really is based upon a previous recipe I posted. (See: No Potato Spinach and Goat Cheese Gnocchi) Well, here’s my recipe for from scratch, made with potato gnocchi. Notice it makes a large number of servings – that’s on purpose! Maybe if I was Italian, I wouldn’t mind the amount of time required to make these things. They sure are good though.
Gnocchi (12 servings)
3 pounds baking potatoes, like russets
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 extra large egg
Pinch salt
1/2 cup canola oil
Boil the whole potatoes until they are soft (about 45 minutes). While still warm, peel and pass through vegetable mill onto clean pasta board.
Boil 6 quarts of water in a large stock pot.
Make well in center of potatoes and sprinkle with the salt and all the flour. Crack the egg into the center of well and using a fork, incorporate the potatoes, salt, flour and egg. Once egg is mixed in, bring dough together, kneading gently until a ball is formed. Knead gently another 4 minutes until ball is dry to touch. (This is known as the well method).
Roll baseball-sized balls of dough into 3/4-inch diameter rods. With a knife, cut the rods into 1-inch long pieces. Lightly roll pieces off of the back end of a fork, or the concave side of cheese grater, until all the pieces are finished. Drop these finished pieces into boiling water and cook until they float (about 1 minute). Meanwhile, continue with remaining dough, forming rods, cutting into 1-inch pieces and flicking off of fork. As gnocchi float to top of boiling water, remove them with a spider or skimmer and place them in a bowl with a 1/2-cup of canola, tossing to coat so they don’t stick together.
Gnocchi can be made up to 48 hours ahead. Before cooking the gnocchi, set up ice bath with 6 cups ice and 6 cups water. As the gnocchi cook and are floating in the boiling water, remove them with a spider or skimmer and place them into the to ice bath. Let sit several minutes in bath and drain from ice and water. Toss with 1/2-cup canola oil and store covered in refrigerator up to 48 hours until ready to serve.
Serve with this Sauce
5 thin slices prosciutto di Parma, roughly sliced into 1/4-inch ribbons
4 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano4 tablespoons butter
Gnocchi, recipe follows
5 thin slices prosciutto di Parma, roughly sliced into 1/4-inch ribbons
In a large saute pan heat the butter, add the cooked gnocchi tossing gently in the butter. Add the Parmigiano-Reggiano tossing to combine, once the gnocchi are coated with the butter and cheese remove the pan from the heat and add the prosciutto tossing to combine. Finish the dish with a small dusting of freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano and serve immediately.
