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Archive for the ‘Side dish’ Category

Italian Style Greens

Posted in Food, Italian, Side dish, tagged , , , , on 11 October 2011| Leave a Comment »

A very useful recipe, especially as you can use whatever greens you happen to have e.g. baby cabbage leaves, Swiss chard, salad leaves like cos or gem or a bag of spinach, watercress and rocket. The rules of play are to blanch the more robust leaves first and then wilt them down in a pan with salad leaves, herbs and garlic until soft. We used a big bag of spinach and some herbs and it was a really good accompaniment for the leg of lamb below.

Ricetta tipica per verdure verdi (Italian style greens) – to serve 4 as a side dish

  • 6 big handfuls of mixed greens, leaves and herbs (see above)
  • olive oil
  • 2 cloves of garlic, sliced
  • juice of 1 lemon
Blanch the cabbage leaves and chard in salted boiling water for a couple of minutes, then drain and leave to cool for a bit. Heat a few glugs of olive oil in a large frying pan and add the sliced garlic. As soon as it starts to colour; add the salad leaves then the cabbage and chard. Cook on a medium heat for 4-5 minutes, moving around the pan with tongs, then add herbs and cook for another minute. Take off the heat and season carefully with salt and pepper, some olive oil and enough lemon juice to give it a kick.
(Original recipe from Jamie’s Italy by Jamie Oliver, Penguin Group, 2005).

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Hot Buttered Beetroot

Posted in Food, Side dish, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , on 7 October 2011| 2 Comments »

Here’s a really lovely side dish. Good with roasts or grilled meat.

Hot buttered beetroot – to serve 6

  • 3 medium beetroot, trimmed but not peeled
  • 25g butter
  • 1 tbsp chopped thyme leaves.
Cook the beetroot in a large pan of boiling salted water for 20-25 minutes or until tender. Allow to cool slightly, then peel off the skins – gloves are advisable! Chop the beetroot.

Melt the butter in a frying pan. Add the thyme and cook for a minute before adding the beetroot and tossing to coat in the butter.

(Original recipe by Tom Kerridge in BBC Good Food Magazine, October 2011)

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Easy raita for your curry

Posted in Asian, Food, Indian, Side dish, tagged , , , , , on 24 September 2011| 1 Comment »

So fresh and vibrant in flavour, much better than the raita you can buy in the supermarket and takes only a few minutes to make. We recommend you serve this with a curry (we cooked this one), a dahl, some rice and naan breads. An Indian feast!

Tomato, onion and cucumber raita – to serve 4

  • 1 small vine tomato, chopped into 1cm dice
  • 90g cucumber, peeled and chopped into 1cm dice
  • half a small red onion, finely chopped
  • large handful of chopped fresh coriander
  • 3/4 tsp roasted cumin powder (see below)
  • 1/3 tsp chilli powder
  • 400g plain yogurt, whisked until smooth
  • salt
To make the roasted cumin powder roast cumin seeds in a small dry pan, stirring constantly, until they have darkened quite a bit. Be careful as they can go from brown to black very quickly! Grind to a fine powder.

Stir all the ingredients together and season to taste.

(Original recipe from I ♥ Curry by Anjum Anand, Quadrille, 2010)

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Chargrilled Cauliflower salad

Posted in Food, Side dish, Uncategorized, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , on 30 August 2011| 4 Comments »

This salad from ‘Ottolenghi: the cookbook’ has just a few fresh ingredients and tastes fantastic! Really good with some grilled meat off the barbecue.

Chargrilled cauliflower with tomatoes, dill and capers – to serve 2-4

  • 2 tbsp capers, drained and roughly chopped
  • 1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
  • 2 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 2 tbsp cider vinegar
  • 120ml olive oil
  • 1 small cauliflower, divided into florets
  • 1 tbsp chopped dill
  • 50g baby spinach leaves
  • 20 cherry tomatoes, halved

You can make the dressing in a food processor or by hand (we used the processor). Mix together the capers, mustard, garlic, vinegar and some salt and pepper. Whisk vigorously or run the machine while adding half the oil in a slow trickle. You should get a thick, creamy dressing. Taste and adjust seasoning.

Add the cauliflower to a large pan of boiling salted water and simmer for just 3 minutes. Drain and run under a cold tap to stop it cooking further. Leave in the colander to dry well, then put it in a mixing bowl with the rest of the olive oil and some seasoning. Toss well.

Heat a ridged griddle pan over the highest possible heat and leave it for 5 minutes or until it is really hot. Grill the cauliflower in batches – don’t over-crowd the pan. Keep turning until they are nicely charred all over and transfer to a bowl. While the cauliflower is still hot, add the dressing, dill, spinach and tomatoes. Stir together, taste and adjust seasoning again.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

(Original recipe from Ottolenghi The Cookbook published by The Random House Group).

 

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Roasted Garlic Toasts

Posted in Brunch, Food, Italian, Side dish, Uncategorized, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , on 28 August 2011| 4 Comments »

We love garlic bread but often the garlic is too raw and over-powering and it doesn’t love us back. For these toasts we roasted the garlic first before making the butter which gives a more subtle flavour.

You can make the garlic butter in advance.

Garlic Toasts (serves 4, easily multiplied for larger quantities)

  • 3 fat Garlic Cloves, peeled
  • 1 tablespoon Olive Oil
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1/2 tablespoon Flat-leaf Parsley, chopped
  • 4 slices of Crostini, or a demi-baguette, sliced diagonally
Preheat oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.
Put garlic and olive oil in a small roasting tin and season with salt and ground black pepper. Cover with foil and roast for 20 minutes.
When cooked and golden, remove from oven, cool slightly and then mash the garlic cloves in a small bowl with a fork. Add the butter and parsley and mix thoroughly.
Put bread on baking tray, spread with the garlic butter and bake until crisp (roughly 5-10 minutes).
We served this with Jamie Oliver’s Pasta Bake to great effect.
Original recipe: Bill Granger’s “Every Day”, Murdoch Books

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Melanzane alla Parmigiana (Aubergine Parmigiana)

Posted in Barbecue, Food, Italian, Side dish, Uncategorized, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , on 22 August 2011| 6 Comments »

I think Jamie’s Italy might be our favourite Jamie book – it’s without a doubt the one we’ve cooked the most out of. This is a super way to use up aubergines which are bang in season at the moment. Jamie says this is a side dish but we served it as a main with some garlic bread and next time we’ll serve a green salad too. The revelation for us was to barbecue (or grill) the aubergines to avoid the oiliness you so often get with this dish.

Jamie’s Aubergine Parmigiana – to serve 6 as a side dish or 4 as a main

  • 3 large firm aubergines
  • olive oil
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 1 clove of garlic, finely sliced
  • 1 heaped tsp dried oregano
  • 2 x 400g tins of good-quality plum tomatoes
  • a little wine vinegar
  • a large handful of basil
  • 4 large handfuls of freshly grated Parmesan
  • 2 handfuls of dried breadcrumbs (we used Panko)
  • a little fresh oregano, leaves chopped
  • 1 x 150g ball of buffalo mozzarella
Slice the aubergine into 1cm thick slices and set aside. Get the barbecue (or griddle pan) really hot. Meanwhile put some olive oil into a large pan and put onto a medium heat. Add the onion, garlic and dried oregano and cook for 10 minutes, until the onion is soft and the garlic has started to colour. Break up the tomatoes and add to the onion, garlic and oregano. Give it all a stir and cover and simmer slowly for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, barbecue the aubergines until lightly charred, in batches. When the tomato sauce is reduced, season it carefully with salt, pepper and a tiny bit of wine vinegar, and add the basil.

Put a small layer of tomato sauce is an earthenware dish, then a thin scattering of Parmesan, followed by a single layer of aubergines. Repeat until the ingredients are used, finishing with a little sauce and a good sprinkle of Parmesan. Tear the mozzarella over the top and scatter over the breadcrumbs. Bake the dish at 190°C/375°F/gas 5 for half an hour until golden and bubbling.

Nice!

(Original recipe from Jamie’s Italy published by Penguin Group, 2005)

Wine suggestion: a great way to match food and wine is to look at where the food comes from … in this case Northern Italy so a nice Barbera d’Asti would work a treat.

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A Lighter Potato Salad

Posted in Food, Side dish, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on 4 August 2011| Leave a Comment »

Potato salad is one of those recipes that needs a friend. We’ve paired this really well: some barbequed sausages and a bean salad with some hazelnuts – it worked superbly. This is a light version – not too heavy on the mayo.

Potato salad with yogurt dijon dressing  – serves 8

  • 1 kg small new potatoes
  • 2 tbsp natural yogurt
  • 1 tbsp mayo
  • 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
  • some finely chopped parsley

Cook the potatoes in boiling water until cooked but still firm and not falling apart – around 10 minutes. Drain and leave to cool.

Mix together the yogurt, mayo, mustard and parsley (reserving a little parsley to serve).

Toss the cooled potatoes with the yogurt mixture and some seasoning, sprinkle over the rest of the parsley.

(Original recipe from BBC Good Food)

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Fancy Barbecue Fare

Posted in Barbecue, Food, Pork, Side dish, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on 31 July 2011| 2 Comments »

Something a little different for the barbecue (and if it rains it can be cooked in the oven). The bean and olive salad is also delicious. We like this because it can serve up to eight people  but can also be easily adapted for two (or as many as you like). You can also assemble the pork up to a day in advance and keep it in the fridge.  A few new spuds on the side are the perfect accompaniment.

Stuffed pork medallions – to serve 8 (we successfully quartered to serve 2)

  • 16 boneless pork loin steaks
  • large bunch sage, leaves picked (about 32 leaves)
  • 125g ball mozzarella, sliced into 16 pieces
  • 2 lemons, halved
  • cocktail sticks.
Put the pork on a board and make a deep pocket in the side using the tip of a knife, without cutting all the way through. Wiggle the knife around so the pocket is bigger than the opening. Stuff the pockets with a bit of cheese and a sage leaf. Close the opening by threading a cocktail stick through. Press another sage leaf on top of each medallion. Squeeze over juice from one of the lemon halves. You can make these up to a day ahead and keep them in the fridge.

Drizzle the medallions with a little bit of oil and barbecue for 4 minutes on each side (starting with the sage-leaf side down). While they are cooking, barbecue the lemon halves, cut side down, until charred, for squeezing over at the end. Season and serve.

If all else fails you can griddle the medallions in batches on a griddle pan, then transfer to a hot baking tray in the oven to finish cooking (160C/140C fan/gas 3).

(Original recipe from BBC Good Food)

Bean & olive salad – also to serve 8 but make less if you’re not that many!

  • 2 yellow peppers
  • 2 red peppers
  • 300g green beans
  • 300g cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 1 tbsp small capers
  • 2 handfuls of black olives, stoned (or not if you can’t be bothered)
  • 4 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
  • large bunch basil, leaves picked, large ones shredded, small ones left whole
Blacken the peppers using a gas flame, barbecue or hot grill. Put them in a bowl and cover with cling film. When they are cool, peel, deseed and cut them into strips, keeping any juices.

Cook the beans in boiling salted water until crunch but not squeaky, then drain and put in ice water to stop them cooking further. Toss everything together, adding the shredded basil at the last minute and scatter over the small leaves to finish.

(Original recipe from BBC Good Food)

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Super sides for last night’s stew

Posted in Food, Side dish, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , on 23 May 2011| 1 Comment »

We like leftovers and at the same time we don’t cause it means we don’t get to cook anything new for dinner. Our way around this is to cook some tasty side dishes which we often neglect in favour of the main event.

We picked up some new season ‘blue danube’ potatoes, carrot, chard (or Silverbeet as Jono would say), and onions at the market on Sunday and made two tasty treats to brighten up the leftover peposo (see post below).

New potatoes and onions – to serve 2

  • 15g butter
  • 2 onions, halved and sliced fine
  • a big sprig of thyme
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 tbsp olive ol
  • 3oog cooked new potatoes, cooled and sliced thick
  • a large handful of flat-leaf parsley, chopped fine
Heat the butter in a shallow pan and cook the onions on low, with the thyme and bay leaves, for 20 minutes or until very soft.
Turn the heat up to medium and cook for another 5 minutes or so to make the onions golden and sticky.
Add olive oil and add the sliced potatoes. Fry for 10 minutes until golden (they won’t crisp up much because of the onions but they’ll taste good).
Just before serving toss in parsley and season.
(Original recipe from BBC Good Food)
Jono’s Silverbeet and Carrots
  • Swiss chard (silverbeet)
  • Carrots
  • Butter
Rinse the chard and remove the stalks. Chop the stalks coarsely and cut the chard into ribbons, as you would cabbage.
Simmer some chopped carrots in a small amount of water and a good knob of butter for about 10 minutes. Add the chard stalks and cook for another 7 minutes. Add the ribbons of chard for the last 3-4 minutes. Season well and drain off any excess liquid.
(Original recipe Jono)

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Speedy Gaucamole

Posted in Food, Side dish, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , on 10 April 2011| 2 Comments »

This guacamole takes minutes to make and is delish! Avocados are in season now too so you should have no bother picking up some nice ripe ones. Another side that we pulled from one of Jamie’s 30 minute meals. It’s so good we’ve made it twice in 48 hours!

  • 4 scallions
  • bunch of fresh coriander
  • 1 red chilli
  • 1 clove of garlic, peeled
  • 1 lime
  • 2-3 small ripe avocados
  • a handful of cherry tomatoes

Put the scallions into your food processor with the coriander, whole chilli (remove the stalk), garlic,  the juice from the lime and a good drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

Whizz while you stone the avocados and quarter the tomatoes.

Stop whizzing and put the avocado flesh into the processor. Add the tomatoes and pulse until chunky (don’t start whizzing again or it will go smooth which you don’t want here).

Scrape it out into a bowl, season and add a bit more lime juice if you want.

Serve with tortilla chips, chilli or whatever you like.

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Herby Couscous with Citrus & Pomegranate Dressing

Posted in Barbecue, Food, Side dish, tagged , , , , , on 28 March 2011| 2 Comments »

We got some cheap lamb chops at the weekend and so looked for something fresh to accompany them. This looked good and went really well with the chops, which we barbecued. Dress the couscous when it is still warm to get the flavour in.

Herby couscous with citrus & pomegranate dressing – to serve 4

  • 200g couscous
  • 150 pomegranate seeds (you can buy a packet  of seeds in the supermarket or just buy one pomegranate)
  • handful of chopped mint and coriander
  • juice of 1 orange
  • 2 tbsp each of white wine vinegar and olive oil

Put the couscous in a shallow dish and pour over 200ml boiling water. Cover with cling film and leave for 5 minutes. Rough it up with a fork to separate the grains and stir through the pomegranate seeds and herbs.

Mix the orange juice, vinegar and olive oil and stir into the couscous. Season well with salt.

Tip: If you buy a whole pomegranate cut it in half and bang it with a wooden spoon to get the seeds out. It’s very easy so we don’t really get why the seeds come in packets.

(Original recipe from BBC Good Food – http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/9841/herby-couscous-with-citrus-and-pomegranate-dressin)

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Steak with Cheesy Mushrooms & Chips

Posted in Barbecue, Beef, Food, Side dish, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , on 11 March 2011| 1 Comment »

A really big thanks to our neighbour Nigel for giving us these lovely steaks; we hope the BBQ smells were good for you too!

So the other bits we did were cheesy mushrooms from Jamie’s 30 minute meals and some home-made oven chips which are way better than the ones you buy in a bag.

Jamie’s Cheesy Mushrooms – for 4

  • 4 large flat Portobello mushrooms (about 250g in total)
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1/2 a red chilli
  • 2 sprigs flat-leaf parsley
  • 1/2 a lemon
  • 70g mature Cheddar cheese

Trim the mushroom stalks and put them in a small earthenware dish so they fit pretty snug.

Crush 1/2 a garlic clove over each mushroom.

Finely chop the chilli and parsley and divide between the mushrooms.

Grate over the zest of half a lemon and drizzle well with olive oil and season.

Cut the cheese into 4 chunks and put 1 on each mushroom.

Grill on the top shelf for 9-10 minutes or until golden.

N.B. We couldn’t find Portobello mushrooms today so we used field mushrooms instead. They were nowhere near cooked in this time so we stuck them on the BBQ for 5 minutes to finish them off. If you can only find field mushrooms it might be best to cook the bottoms of them on the BBQ or griddle pan or even a frying pan first before finishing with the other ingredients under the grill.

Oven chips

Heat your oven to as hot as it goes.

Cut your potatoes into 1 cm thick slices and then cut the slices into chips about 1cm thick.

Cook the chips in boiling water for 3 minutes and drain really well.

Spread the chips out on a baking tray and drizzle with vegetable or groundnut oil and season.  Make sure all the chips are coated with oil but you don’t need to use very much.

Cook in the oven for 15-20 minutes.

Wine Suggestion: We had an Argentinian Malbec – perfect with steak!

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Chinese side dish: Broccoli with Cashews & Oyster Sauce

Posted in Asian, Food, Healthy, Side dish, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , on 15 February 2011| 4 Comments »

Stir-fried broccoli with cashews & oyster sauce – serves 6

  • 1 tbsp sunflower oil
  • 100g unsalted cashews
  • 2 heads broccoli, cut into small florets (we cut up the stalks too)
  • 3 tbsp oyster sauce, or more if you like

Heat a little bit of the oil in a wok and toast the cashew nuts until they start to turn golden. Tip them out of the pan, then add the rest of the oil.

Stir-fry the broccoli for a couple of minutes until it turns bright green. Add a splash of water, then cover with a lid and steam for about 4 minutes or until the stems are tender – watch that it doesn’t dry out!

Push the broccoli to the side of the pan and pour the oyster sauce into the other side. Bring to the boil and stir into the broccoli. Toss in the cashews and serve with Chinese food (we had spring rolls and prawn toast).

Original recipe from BBC Good Food.

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Sunday steak with two good sides and a nice Italian red

Posted in Food, Italy, Side dish, Vegetarian, Wine, tagged , , , , , , , on 13 February 2011| 1 Comment »

BBQ Steak

We don’t need to tell you how to do this, but we used sirloins which tend to be tastier than fillets and our trusty barbeque – I don’t know how we could live without it!

Root Vegetable Mash (serves 4)

This is really tasty and a nice change from the usual mash. We’re using the leftovers for bangers and mash tomorrow night.

 

  • 2 large baking potatoes, cut into chunks
  • half a turnip, cut into chunks
  • 3 carrots, diced
  • 25g butter

 

 

 

Put the potatoes, turnip and carrots in a large pan of salted water and bring to the boil.

Cook for 20 to 25 minutes, then drain and mash.

Add butter and plenty of salt and pepper.

 

Roast field mushrooms (serves 2)

  • 8 field mushrooms
  • 1 small clove garlic, crushed
  • a few sprigs of thyme
  • a few drops of Worcestershire sauce
  • olive oil
  • a squeeze of lemon juice
  • 2 tbsp chopped parsley

Heat the oven to 180C/fan 160C.

Put the mushrooms in a small roasting tin and top with garlic and thyme.

Sprinkle over the Worcestershire sauce and a little oil.

Cover with foil and roast for 15 minutes.

Discard the foil and toss the mushrooms around in their juice. Return to oven for another 20 minutes.

Season and add lemon juice and parsley.

Wine Suggestion: This worked great with this Barbera from Italy: Tenuta Olim Bauda Barbera d’Asti Superiore, Nizza, 2007.

From what is regarded as the best vineyard area for Barbera in Piedmont, Italy (the home of the grape) this wine has good depth and really nice personality.

Aromas and flavours of dark cherries, chocolate, menthol, nuttiness, pencil shavings and tobacco. The medium body works well with the depth of flavours and the lovely freshness of acidity, which is common in Italian wines. A wine of charm and thoroughly enjoyed by us.

Available from The Lighthouse in Whiteabbey Village, Newtownabbey for just over 20 pounds and well worth it.

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Creamy baked Brussels sprouts with stilton

Posted in Food, Side dish, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , , on 23 January 2011| 5 Comments »

Each time we see this recipe in Nigel Slater’s Tender Vol. 1 we salivate. We had almost forgotten about Brussels sprouts after having so many over Christmas. Just as well we caught them while still in season cause we definitely weren’t prepared to wait another year to try this. Stick a dish of these down in front of someone who doesn’t like sprouts and we defy them not to like them.

These were perfect with our barbecued striploin steaks (as ever from Tom in O’Toole’s in Glasthule village) though Nigel suggests they could also be served as a main with pasta – Jono has already swiped the leftovers to try with pasta for his lunch tomorrow!

A rich dish of sprouts and cheese for a very cold night (serves 4 as a side dish)

  • 750g Brussels sprouts
  • butter
  • 180g blue cheese – we used Colston Bassett Stilton
  • 1 tbsp grainy mustard
  • 400ml cream
  • 100ml milk
  • a handful of finely grated Parmesan

Prep your sprouts and cut them in half. Bring a large pot of water to a fast boil, salt lightly, and drop in the sprouts. Bring back to the boil and time for 3 minutes. Drain well and place them in a lightly buttered, shallow, ovenproof dish.

Crumble the blue cheese over the sprouts.

Put the mustard in a bowl and stir in cream, milk and a good twist of black pepper. Stir and then pour over your sprouts. Scatter the Parmesan over the top and bake at 180C/gas 4 until lightly coloured and bubbling (about 15-20 minutes).

Yum!!!!

 

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Chops with Celeriac Remoulade

Posted in Food, Pork, Side dish, tagged , , , , on 12 December 2010| 2 Comments »

We barbecue all year round like eejits and when our butcher Tom (O’Toole’s in Glasthule) produced these fabulous pork chops we were powerless to resist – complete with crackling and everything!

Jono mixed together some coarse chopped rosemary from our balcony, a big fat garlic clove and plenty of salt and pepper. He pounded and ground this for a few minutes and then added enough olive oil to make a paste to smear on the chops – you want the mixture to stick on the chops so go easy on the oil.

While Jono barbecued the chops outside I made this tasty remoulade. Celeriac remoulade is in lots of my Mum’s old cookbooks from the seventies and it looks a bit like creamy coleslaw – this is Nigel Slater’s much lighter and fresher take on the whole thing (Tender Vol 1). Makes heaps for a side dish which means you can take some to work for lunch too.

Celeriac Remoulade

  • juice of half a lemon
  • about 500g of celeriac
  • a raw beetroot – medium size
  • 4 heaped tbsp creme fraiche
  • 2 tsp grainy mustard
  • olive or walnut oil
  • a small handful of parsley leaves
  • enough walnut halves to sprinkle over the top
  1. Put the lemon juice in a big mixing bowl.
  2. Peel the celeriac and grate it coarsely – we used the Magimix which grated it quite fine and it worked well.
  3. Toss the grated celeriac with the lemon juice in the bowl to stop it from turning brown.
  4. Grate the beetroot (also best done in the processor to avoid purple hands) and to the celeriac but don’t mix it in yet.
  5. Mix the creme fraiche, mustard and some seasoning in a bowl. Gently mix in enough oil to make a coating consistency (2-3 tbsps).
  6. Roughly chop the parsley and add to the sauce before folding it gently into the vegetables, don’t mix too hard or it will all turn very pink.
  7. Toast the walnuts lightly in a non-stick pan and scatter them over the salad.

Tip: Don’t make this on a first date as you’ll have mucky hands and faces by the time you’ve finished sucking the bones – delicious!

Julie

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Roasted beetroot with watercress & horseradish apple sauce

Posted in Healthy, Side dish, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , on 5 December 2010| Leave a Comment »

This is the first of three side dishes which we served with a delicious baked ham (scroll down to see the other dishes and final result).

If you are having guests between now and Christmas we highly recommend this tasty menu (much of which can be prepared in advance). We served this up on a Friday night after work, as part of the Irish Foodies Christmas Cookalong,  and it was entirely hassle free.

We boiled the ham and roasted the beetroot the night before.

Menu to serve 8:

  • Ginger beer & tangerine glazed ham
  • Roasted beetroot with watercress & horseradish apple sauce
  • Chilli & tangerine braised lentils
  • Roasted cauliflower with garlic, bay & lemon

Roasted beetroot with watercress & horseradish apple sauce (to feed 8 as a side dish)

1kg raw unpeeled beetroot

2 apples, peeled and chopped

1 tbsp sugar

2 tbsp cider or red wine vinegar

6 tbsp freshly grated horseradish

4 tbsp soured cream

watercress

  • Heat oven to 180C (gas 6). Leave the beetroot whole – wash and pat dry.
  • Wrap individually in foil and roast until tender (1-2 hours depending on how big they are). Cool in the foil before peeling.
  • Heat a small frying pan and toss in the apples with the sugar and a tbsp of water. Cover and cook until mushy. Remove from the heat, add the vinegar and whizz in a food processor (or use a hand blender).
  • Stir the horseradish and sour cream into the sauce and season with salt.
  • To serve, cut the beetroot into wedges, put in a bowl and mix with the sauce. Serve on a bed of watercress.

Click here for original recipe from BBC Good Food.

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Chilli & tangerine braised lentils

Posted in Side dish, tagged , , , on 5 December 2010| Leave a Comment »


Chilli & tangerine braised lentils (to serve 8 as a side dish)

4 tbsp olive oil

1 carrot, finely chopped

1 onion, finely chopped

1 celery stick, finely chopped

2 red chillies, deseeded, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

450g dried Puy lentils, rinsed

1.2 litres hot ham cooking liquor (see recipe below)

zest and juice of 3 tangerine, plus juice of 3 reserved from ham recipe below

2 tbsp creme fraiche

bunch flat-leaf parsley, chopped

  • Heat the oil in a big saucepan and add the carrot, onion, celery, chilies and garlic. Cook for 5-10 minutes or until starting to soften.
  • Add the rinsed lentils, pour on the hot cooking liquor and two-thirds of the tangerine juice, then bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 20-25 minutes or until the lentils are tender and most of the liquid is absorbed. Add more liquor if the lentils look dry.
  • Remove from the heat and stir in the tangerine zest and remaining juice. Season and allow to cool a bit before stirring in creme fraiche and parsley. Serve warm or at room temperature (we preferred them warm).

Click here for the original recipe from BBC Good Food.

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Roasted cauliflower with garlic, bay & lemon

Posted in Food, Healthy, Side dish, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , on 5 December 2010| Leave a Comment »

To serve 8 people as a side dish.

2 heads cauliflower, cut into bite-size pieces

1 garlic bulb, split into cloves, unpeeled

6 bay leaves, stalks removed, finely chopped

4 tbsp olive oil

zest and juice of 1 lemon

  • Heat oven to 180C (gas 6). Toss the cauliflower, garlic, bay leaves, lemon and olive oil together in a big bowl and season generously.
  • Spread between a couple of baking trays and roast for 20 minutes, turning halfway, until al dente and caramelised.

Click here for the original recipe on BBC Good Food.

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Festive Sides: No. 2 & 3

Posted in Food, Side dish, tagged , , , , on 1 December 2010| Leave a Comment »

Stuffed chicken legs with roasted Jerusalem artichokes and Parmesan broccoli

Confession: we didn’t actually bone and stuff the chicken legs. Our lovely butcher Tom, in O’Toole’s (Glasthule), did the hard work for us tonight! But we did make another couple of seasonal side dishes and we plan to make many more in December when there is so much entertaining to be done.

Jerusalem artichokes are bang in season at the moment and if you roast them with their skins on you will get lovely creamy insides with a chewy exterior that really tastes like nothing else on earth. Give your artichokes a good scrub, cut in half lengthways and toss in some olive oil and a little salt and pepper. Stick them in a tin and roast at 170C (gas 5) for 40-50 minutes until very tender and looking lovely.

To perk up your broccoli, cook it in some salted water until tender, then drain. Melt a slice of butter in a big frying pan and add the broccoli when the butter sizzles. Season with salt and pepper and sprinkle in some Parmesan. Stir to cover the broccoli in the butter and cheese and serve with a bit more grated Parmesan over the top.

Enjoy.

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