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Category: Side Dish
I just had to try this dish! It is based on a recipe from Suzy’s The Mediterranean Dish blog, which always contains amazing recipes and information. In doing some research, this dish is popular in Middle Eastern cuisine and was first noted in a cookbook from 1226! It comes in various forms from a version with meat served at celebrations to this simple dish commonly associated with the poor (attributed to Wikipedia). Regardless of variation or connotation, I loved the simple ingredient list and figured this meal would be a hit like the Koshari I made last year. For my take on this dish, I decided to prepare it sous vide since I recently cooked rice and lentils successfully this way. The results? Well, this simple…
Let’s add to the variety of side dish recipes with another sous vide prepared vegetable. I found this recipe on the All Recipes website and immediately knew I had to try it. While I was intrigued by the simple, Asian inspired sauce it was cooked in, I opted to move slightly west for my inspiration India. Wanting to keep it simple, I cleaned and cut up the cauliflower, added two heavy soup spoons to the bottom of my recloseable bag for additional weight, added the cauliflower, ghee and garam masala. Once closed, I used my pump vacuum on the bag and dropped it into the water bath. 50 minutes later, I emptied the bag into a bowl and gave it a taste. The cauliflower was perfectly…
Tonight’s post is another of my attempts to foolproof a single serving dish. Previously, I have made single servings of rice, mashed potato, and farro. This time I want to tackle another of those tough to cook ingredients – lentils. On the stove top, lentils have a reputation for either being under or over cooked. Under cooked lentils are crunchy and when over cooked, they blow out and become mushy. Couple that challenge with also cooking a small amount and the effort becomes frustrating. Sous vide cooking is once again coming to the rescue so we never have under or over cooked lentils. As a bonus, we can flavor them while they cook to get consistent and enhanced results instead of the unpredictable results everyone dreads…
Once I decided to make the Stuffed Pork Loin roast, I knew exactly what to pair with it – this sauce. And I knew exactly how I wanted to prepare this sauce – using sous vide. Like the Balsamic Fig Jam I made last year, cranberries would benefit from the steady temperature of sous vide cooking. This robust savory sauce pairs perfectly with any succulent pork dish, especially this stuffed pork loin roast. Make it and I bet you will find many other dishes to use it on! The possibilities are exciting! Save Print Balsamic Rosemary Cranberry Sauce Prep time: 10 mins Cook time: 2 hours 15 mins Total time: 2 hours 25 mins Serves: 6 Ingredients 12 oz fresh or frozen cranberries…
How about a new side dish that brings plenty of flavor to the table while being easy to prepare? This tasty side dish pairs with many main dishes and uses that much maligned vegetable nearly everyone hates from childhood, but enjoys as an adult and is available just about year round. The quick preparation is a bonus and is versatile with key substitutions. Don’t have diced prosciutto? Use bacon. No shallots? Substitute white, red or yellow onions or even scallions. You can use bacon drippings instead of butter to increase the smoky bacon flavor. Heck, you can drizzle the final results with balsamic glaze or honey to add a sweet slant to the dish. If there is one tough aspect of the dish, that would be…
Lately I have been cooking several different side dish staples using sous vide and I thought it was time to start sharing them with you. I know it may seem boring and a bit redundant to write about cooking rice, but trust me this is great information for cooking small amounts of rice perfectly while helping you minimize waste or to help you from over indulging! The first of these posts (except for the Mashed Potato for One post I wrote at this time last year) is cooking white rice for one. I’ll admit, rice is common ingredient in many of my recipes, but it is difficult to cook the optimal serving size for just one person. I’ve tried stove top in my smallest…
Last night I made an experimental macaroni and cheese that I just have to share with you. This recipe’s creation was based on what I had available. The adage ‘necessity is the mother of invention’ seems to apply here and I believe this scenario happens to everyone that cooks at some point. The key element here is the cheese sauce. I substituted sour cream and water for the milk and used creamy havarti and fontina cheeses. For seasonings, I added herbs de provence along with ground mustard and white pepper. This combination produced a creamy, slightly sour, slightly nutty and subtly herbal cheese sauce – unique and delicious. Topped with browned panko crumbs and baked until bubbly, this is a macaroni and cheese you…
Tonight I made a simple asparagus salad to accompany the Sweet Chili Grilled Prawns. With the dog days of summer here, this dish keeps you out of the kitchen and away from the stove, but delivers loads of flavor. This dish is great with the grilled prawns, but would also be wonderful with beef or chicken. This recipe is a tweak on this recipe from the AllRecipes website – a great resource for creative dishes. I added shallots and substituted Chinese mustard for the dijon mustard; it just seemed like the better choice in my humble opinion. The results are flavorful, so make this dish and eat your vegetables! Save Print Sesame Asparagus Salad Prep time: 10 mins Cook time: 5 mins Total time: 15…
Have you ever wondered what I do with the remaining portions of raw ingredients that do not show up in a following post? I think solving that dilemma was critical to success when cooking for one – menu planning. It is easy enough to know that even moderate amounts (like one pound of ground beef) needs to be split into two or three (preferable) portions for different meals. But what about vegetables like bundles of asparagus, half peppers and half onions, half cans of diced tomatoes, etc? Typically I create a weekly menu and shop for the ingredients needed for those meals. I construct the menu so that I can make dishes that use partial amounts to reduce waste, but avoid stagnation in dishes. Well, this post should…
Tonight I am sharing with you another side dish perfect for summer grilling. I tested this dish for the first time last year and really enjoyed it. It is simple to prepare and uniquely robust in flavor, definitely a change from your usual cauliflower dishes. I prepared this dish with just smoke, but you can also enhance it any way you like – season the cauliflower with dukkah, berbere, garam masala, curry, coriander, etc or drizzle with a sauce like balsamic glaze, sriracha mayo, apple cider vinegar, etc or any combination of the above! Of course, the wood chips will impact the final flavor, so don’t forget that aspect. I opted to use applewood chips as I wanted a fruitier flavor over a more resinous flavor…