Side dish – Page 4 – Rosemary and the Goat

Pickled Yellow Squash

Take advantage of your summer harvest.

I’ve been doing a lot of pickling lately; first my roasted yellow pickled beets and now this pickled yellow squash.

Even if you don’t have a garden you can take advantage of finding great deals on produce and then canning some to enjoy in the winter. I didn’t find a great deal at the farmer’s market; their yellow squash was $3.00/lb. I bought one pound of their squash and then went to my HEB and bought 6 lbs. at $.99/lb. Now that’s a deal.

My mother and dad both use to can things. It seemed like it was more my mother canning tomatoes and pickles from my dad’s garden and then after my dad retired they both tried their hand(s) at pickled okra, beets. When they moved over to Reelfoot Lake he even canned some fish he had caught then they would make fish cakes out of the canned fish. Now, I wasn’t too keen on trying that recipe but I’m sure if he made it, it was good.

I’ve canned some marmalade before and some fig jam and even some cognac raisins to serve with cheese. Oh, I forgot, one of my sister’s (Terry) best canned items is her chow chow. It is better than any chow chow you will ever find in a grocery store and when I can get tomatoes for 50 cents a lb. I make some. I have to go to Missouri to get tomatoes at that price.

August 11, 2016 By Sherry

Salads/ Side dish

Pickled Roasted Golden Beets

Love these golden beets!

My husband has always said he doesn’t like beets because they are red and he doesn’t like red food. Now that doesn’t make sense since he does eat catsup, tomatoes, etc. So I decided to make golden beets to use in a salad similar to one I had at Luke’s Restaurant in New Orleans. That recipe will come in a couple of days.

Usually the beets I eat are pickled. For years, that was the only thing I knew to do with a beet. And, of course, they were red beets that I pickled and they bled all over everything and if I wasn’t careful I would end up with a blood-splattered looking top.

After I started this blog I became more adventurous in trying new recipes. I’ve always liked cooking but never really went out on a limb to try different things. Then I tried fried beets once at East Side Kings in Austin and I made them almost immediately after returning home. My French Fried Beets with Japanese Mayonnaise is one of my favorite appetizers; I now cut them in slices and not chunks like ESK make their’s. Then my next adventure in beets was with my Roasted Beet Napoleon; stacks of deliciousness. And, who could pass up my Pink Heart Egg Finger Sandwiches where I used the beet juice to dye my hard-boiled eggs then cut tiny beet hearts as a garnish for the egg sandwich.

July 12, 2016 By Sherry

Appetizers/ HotApp/ Salads/ Side dish

BLT Stacked Tomatoes

One of my favorite foods from Savannah.

Do you find it hard to pass up a fried green tomato? Well I do and while visiting in Savannah back in April I saw them on every menu I looked at along with shrimp and grits and pimento cheese .

I grew up eating fried green tomatoes. My dad had the best garden ever and “organic” before most people even though of growing anything without a lot of pesticides. He made his own garlic spray that he would spray on his plants for bugs and he even hooked up a pump in the lake they lived on (after retirement) and use that water to water his garden.

Over the years of our gardening we would grow all types of tomatoes and I could not wait to see the first green tomatoes get big enough to pick and fry and believe me it was hard to pick them knowing in just a few days we would have beautiful vine ripen tomatoes. But, that was never a hard decision for me to make — pick or not pick.

Have you ever had fried green tomatoes with pimento cheese on top? I haven’t either but saw it on some menus in Savannah. I have posted a Fried Green Tomato with Black Eyed Pea Vinaigrette and a Fried Green Tomato with Ravigote Sauce.

July 7, 2016 By Sherry

Morning Foods/ Side dish

Bacon and Tomato Cheese Grits

Kiss my grits! (As Flo would say)

In case you don’t know who Flo is she was a waitress in the sitcom “Alice” many, many years ago. Can’t say that was a favorite show of mine but I can’t forget her telling people to “kiss my grits”.

Back in April I took a trip to Savannah with my twin sister and two friends from high school, Pauletta and Judy. We had such a great time and can’t wait to get together again. Funny, one of Pauletta’s walking friends asked her what she was going to talk to friends about that she had not seen for 40 years. Well, we never quit talking. It was fun reliving the past, hearing about everyone’s grandkids, and what the future holds for all of us.

Did we ever eat some good food while there! What is it about a “Southern” menu that you will always find shrimp and grits, fried green tomatoes and some good pimento cheese in with all your menu items making it even harder to decide what to order. I can’t pass up grits, I can’t pass up pimento cheese and I certainly can’t pass up trying someone’s fried green tomatoes. I had a great stack of tomatoes on our last day there that I can’t wait to try to recreate.

When we toured the Mercer House we heard stories about when Jim Williams lived there (remember the movie Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil and he was accused of murder) and the parties he would give and one of his favorite things his caterer Lucille Wright (the most sought after caterer in Savannah) would make was shrimp and grits and pumpkin cornbread. I may be giving that pumpkin cornbread a try in the Fall so keep a lookout for it.

June 6, 2016 By Sherry

Side dish

Tipsy Beans

You may know these as “drunken” beans.

These beans were a fitting side dish for a going away party that we did for our neighbors, Maria and Ricky, one weekend in April and a perfect day for using our outdoor kitchen. Pulled pork sandwiches with cabbage topping, truffled parmesan fries, tipsy beans, coleslaw, and some appetizers

People have been doing drunken beans for years I guess. We grew up eating those baked beans that are loaded with bacon and brown sugar, mustard, ketchup and baked a long time in the oven.

Most recipes for drunken beans just call for pintos but I’ve started using a mixture of beans even in my chili. For these beans I used kidney, black and pinto beans combined. I used a dark beer but any kind of beer will work. The one thing I did wrong in this recipe was to not brown my bacon. Don’t ask me why I didn’t do it. I have always browned the bacon in baked beans or any kind of dish that calls for bacon. I got in a hurry and just threw it in the pan with the onions and it never browned.

May 9, 2016 By Sherry

Appetizers/ Side dish

Caramelized Mushrooms

I love these little fungi.

How many ways can you love a mushroom. Well, I love them in mushroom soup, love them fried, raw in a salad, on pizza, from a can, fresh from the market and of course, who doesn’t love stuffed mushrooms. I actually won a contest with my Italian Stuffed Mushrooms back in the 70’s when we lived in Jeffersontown, Kentucky.

I would love to go foraging for mushrooms but it would be my luck I would pick the wrong kind and end up in a deep sleep or worst. What fun it would be hunting these little things; kind of like an Easter egg hunt but much tastier.

So, when I saw this recipe for Caramelized mushrooms and the instructions said “walk away” I knew I was going to have to try these. So many times, when I walk away from something I’m cooking, I end up burning the thing I was so looking forwarding to eating; but this night I did not. We were enjoying the outdoor kitchen before another one of our “cold spells” came through Texas and I decided to whip us up a little appetizer while we cooked outside. These were gone in a few minutes so make plenty if you plan on sharing them or just make a batch for yourself.

These mushrooms would be delicious as a side dish to a good grilled steak, chicken or how about a big platter of them for no particular reason.

March 20, 2016 By Sherry

Side dish

Stir-fried Asparagus and Shitake Mushrooms

Don’t wait for Spring asparagus to make this!

The holidays are behind us (that was fast) and if you are looking for some healthy recipes to try beginning the new year, this should be one of them.

My son, Paul, made the best prime rib roast for Christmas dinner. He made a pesto of parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme plus some garlic and he put that all over the roast before cooking. Normally I would use just the fresh herbs and place below and on top of the roast or tenderloin but now I see how making the pesto gets the flavor more into the meat and I will continue using this method when cooking steaks, tenderloins or prime rib roast. This asparagus shiitake dish was perfect with the beef.

We all learn by making mistakes; I’ve made my share for sure and I usually don’t make the mistake twice. America’s Test Kitchen helps with solving some of our cooking problems. I love American Test Kitchen on PBS; and I have to say, even at my age I always learn something new. The show usually starts with Christopher Kimball who is the editor-in-chief for Cook’s Illustrated magazine showing a few different recipes and the problem in making them. ATK does all the testing of the recipes and finally the recipe they present to you is one they feel solves the problem people may have with cooking certain items.

December 31, 2015 By Sherry

Side dish

Cream Spinach with Glazed Mushrooms

Very tasty spinach dish!

Thanksgiving is over but this dish would be perfect anytime of the year and I think it would be great served with prime rib for Christmas dinner.

Every Thanksgiving I tend to do the same foods — turkey, dressing, gravies (two kinds), cranberry relish, two kinds of potatoes and something green. Years ago for holidays I would do green bean or asparagus casseroles but my kids would never touch those dishes. This year I decided to do something with spinach. I’m probably the only person out there that likes canned spinach. Of course, I would choose fresh or frozen over canned for serving to anyone other than me and my husband; and this dish is made from frozen for two reasons; one is that I would have to cook 4 containers of fresh spinach and wash and stem it to get the same size dish I got with two large packages of frozen spinach.

Who does love mushrooms and browning them and topping the spinach with them makes the dish so mouth-watering good. If you want to add a fried bacon to the dish or some baked prosciutto, crumbled I think that would be delicious.

November 30, 2015 By Sherry

Entree/ Side dish/ Vegetables

Spinach Dal (Dhal, Dhall)

I think this might actually be my first Indian dish to make (other than naan).

Halloween is gone but this is kind of a trick or treat recipe. Kind of looks like corn in above picture (trick) but the treat is if you like Indian flavors you will enjoy this dish of yellow lentils and spinach.

I can actually remember the first time I ever had Indian food and it was at an Austin restaurant, the Clay Pit and it was one Christmas and my daughter-in-law, Brooke was pregnant with our first grandson, Milo. Our kids have always encouraged us to try different types of food and Indian food was always one we resisted.

I think that day started with my daughter and daughter-in-law Missy massaging Brooke’s feet because they had read that was suppose to start labor. Everyone decided we should eat Indian and when we stepped inside the restaurant I knew what we would be eating was going to be delicious because of the spicy aromas that smacked us in the face when we walked through the doors.

When we have eaten Indian in Chicago, we usually rely on son and daughter-in-law there to help us in ordering. Of course the naan is always a favorite; how could any kind of bread be bad and after having naan for the first time I did made it with great success.

I really want to try some other Indian recipes so if you have any favorites, please leave a comment below.

November 5, 2015 By Sherry

Appetizers/ HotApp/ Side dish

Grilled Shishito Peppers with Garlic Aioli

These are very tasty little peppers.

Several years ago we stopped in Vigo, Spain on a cruise. It was a very rainy day. How do I remember that? Well, I write down everything from trips we have taken, especially the food and restaurants. So, when we had the day to kill in Vigo, we walked, with our umbrellas and ponchos up and down the streets where all the restaurants and food vendors were located. I remember stopping at this particular place and we ordered frites and these fried green peppers. I never found out what peppers they were but I’m sure it was these shishito peppers. (Found out they are Padron peppers). The Shishito pepper is a Japanese pepper and a close relation to padrone.

Right before the 4th of July I saw were our “Veggie Lady” had some of these peppers, so I scooted up there to buy a bunch to do for the 4th. What would the 4th of July be without something hot and spicy. The Veggie Lady sold these for $12.00 a pound then I found at Whole Foods for $3.99 a pound. (So, I know where I will be buying these from now on.)

August 2, 2015 By Sherry

Pasta/ Side dish

Pesto Pasta with Peas

A day in the garden.

Does this pasta look like it was born in a garden. Fresh basil and parsley from my garden, fresh spinach and English peas.

This year I was co-chair (with my friend, Linda) for arranging programs for our garden club. We had been told about this garden up in Conroe, Texas, Hope Farms Gardens and knew we just had to see it. Barbara Lopez opens her home gardens for one month in April/May for people to tour and buy her plants. Her gardens are a fun place to shop because you know exactly where the plants belong. If the plants for sale are placed in her shady parts of her yard that means they belong in the shade. Same for the sunny parts of her yard and that will be where she has the plants needing sun during the day.

So, we decided to see if our Hospitality Chairperson would like to take a look at her gardens to see if she thought our members would like to have our end-of-year lunch there instead of a restaurant or country club. Everyone agreed so for all of last year I had been thinking about what I wanted to do for lunch.

After a trip to the dollar store, I came away with 45 $1 rectangle baskets perfect for our French inspired luncheon. I have literally hundreds (not really) French looking cloths (I do have about 175 cloth napkins though that I accumulated while working at Williams Sonoma). The menu started taking shape about a year in advance with the baskets to hold all the goodies. Nancy’s Chopped Salad from Smitten Kitchen caught my eye early on and I knew I wanted to put this in a wide mouth pint jar. I also knew I wanted to do a fruit crumble dessert in the wide mouth 8 oz. jars. This Pesto Pasta with Peas is a recipe I have been thinking about for a while because I knew I wanted to use these tinsey tiny bow tie pasta noodles. Homemade focaccia bread and some baby bell cheese rounded out the basket.

May 12, 2015 By Sherry

Side dish

Candy Striped Beet Greens

Treasure from the farmer’s market in January.

A day at the farmer’s market back in January rewarded me with these beautiful candy striped beets. They had been promising me all fall that once it got cold they would have beets. The first time this winter I bought the candy striped beets from them I roasted them but was disappointed they didn’t keep the red and white rings.

If you didn’t know this; the beet greens are just as good as the beets. Most grocery stores are going to just have the beets without the greens because, I guess, they take up too much room in shipping. My beets and greens were about 2′ long.

I knew I was going to be cooking the beet greens; how could I throw away greens that beautiful and only keep the root end of this vegetable and had planned on just slicing up the candy striped beets and eating them raw in salads. But, at the last minute, I decided to throw in a few slices at the end of cooking the greens to see if they would retain their unique coloring and they did. They could probably take a quick saute in a little olive oil and not fade too much.

April 6, 2015 By Sherry

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