Side dishes…veggies, potatoes, grains – Page 4

Burger Bar

Beef, Side dishes...veggies, potatoes, grains

Evening all! Tonight I had a brilliant idea. Well, I remembered an idea I had a while back. It was the taco bar. Except now, I decided to change it up and have a burger bar. Cool right? Tomato, lettuce, bacon, different cheeses, different condiments (ketchup, BBQ sauce, mayo, mustard, horseradish etc.), worcestershire mushrooms and onions (recipe included)… you get the drift…add what you know everyone likes and go with it!

Burgers-
I took a pound of meat and let it come to room temperature. Do this with all meats; it provides a better way for your meat to cook evenly. To the meat 1/2 of a minced or grated onion or 1 teaspoon of onion powder, 1 clove of minced garlic or 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce, and salt and pepper, at least 1 teaspoon if not more of each. Take off your rings, and just get in there… mix it all together, but DO NOT OVERMIX! Your meat can become tough. Portion out 4 burgers. I just take the meat and cut it into 4 equal pieces. You could use a knife, vegetable chopper, or pizza cutter. Form your patties to fit your buns. Press your thumb in the middle of the burger. Why? Well, this creates a uniform and level burger that cooks more evenly. If you don’t, your burger will be fat in the middle and flat on the outsides. No bueno.

Now on to the pan. Grills are fine. Cast iron grills are better. Cast iron pans are the best. I love how the burgers get that yummy crust and picks up all the flavoring of the cast iron pan, not to mention adds to the pan’s flavoring. Make sure your pan is SCREAMING hot so they don’t stick. Add the burgers and leave them. DO NOT PRESS ON THE BURGER! Resist the urge to turn them over until they are ready… I can tell they are ready when a see a tiny crust forming and about half of the burger seems to be turning from pink to brown. I say about 6 minutes or so. Turn it; behold it’s glory….

Worcestershire Mushrooms and Onions

1 small onion, thinly sliced
1 container of mushrooms, sliced
3 tablespoons of Worcestershire Sauce
3 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Heat pan with enough olive oil to coat the pan, about 2 tablespoons
Add onions and mushrooms.
cook down for about 10 minutes.
Add worcestershire sauce. Salt and pepper to taste. Mix well. Let cook as long as possible on low heat.

Life Cycle of a Steak, Part 2— with Bacon Wrapped Asparagus

Beef, Side dishes...veggies, potatoes, grains

Bacon Wrapped Asparagus- Wrap 3 stalks of asparagus in one piece of bacon. Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper. Cook at 400 until crispy, about 20 minutes or so. I flipped halfway through. SO GOOD!

https://funfoodiefamily.com/2013/08/24/life-cycle-of-a-steak/

https://funfoodiefamily.com/2013/06/27/living-a-dream/

Persian Meat and Rice- Kubideh and Lemon Dill Rice

Beef, Dips, Dressings, and Spreads, Side dishes...veggies, potatoes, grains

My family has a favorite Middle Eastern place we go to. You can’t really call it “Greek.” The family is actually Persian. They pretty much know out order- The girls get spaghetti and meatballs or a cheeseburger and my husband usually gets a combo meat plate (chicken-souvlaki, lamb, beef-kubideh). As for me, they don’t know. I always choose something different. I think I have had almost everything in some form on their menu. Moussaka, fish, lamb, chicken, beef, roasted veggies, falafel, spanakopita, soup, etc.But that is just me…I rarely ever get the same thing twice. There is this one dish, though. It is the best version of a meatloaf that I have ever tasted. It is called Kubideh, and it is mouthwatering. Seriously, ya’ll. Try this. It can never compare to their family recipe, but it is pretty darn close. I also made some yummy lemon dill rice and roasted Naan.

Kubideh

Ingredients- Mix together and let set from 2 hours to overnight

1 pound ground beef
1 onion grated and strained- seriously, lots of excess water here
2 cloves garlic, crushed and finely minced
1 egg beaten
1 tablespoon turmeric
salt and pepper to taste- Please be heavy handed, ok, ya’ll?

Take the meat and form into patties. It is not pretty. Looks inappropriate, if you know what I mean. Not really photogenic, so sorry for the following photos. Grill on all sides. Depending on your grill’s heat, should take about 5 minutes or so per side.

Rice with Dill and Lemon

Ingredients

3 cups rice
4 quarts chicken stock
1/2 cup dill
2 cloves garlic
1 shallot, minced
1 lemon- juice and zest
salt and pepper to taste

In a medium pot- Heat olive oil, enough to cover the bottom of the pot, slowly cook shallots on med heat for about 5 minutes. Add garlic, lemon juice and zest, and dill. Cook for another 5 minutes.

Add in rice. Stir frequently and toast for about 5 minutes.
Heat chicken stock in another pot. Add in a few ladles at a time. Babysit your rice. Sip a glass of wine or your favorite cocktail. You could cook your rice like the package, but you would end up with burnt rice and gross tasting dill. Don’t follow the directions on the package. Follow mine and have your drink, too. Win, win.

Cucumber Mint Yogurt Sauce- mix the following together- you can mix them in a processor for a finer texture.
1 cucumber, peeled and seeded (cut in half and take the seed out with a spoon)
1 1/2 cups plain greek yogurt
1/2 cup chopped fresh mint leaves (from my garden…SQUEEEEE!!!)
2 tbsp.extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
salt and pepper to taste.

Kale Blinis

Side dishes...veggies, potatoes, grains, Vegetarian

I bought myself a couple of cookbooks for Mother’s Day. They have recently come in the mail, and I have perusing them for new ideas. Last night I started reading a french cookbook called, My Little French Kitchen, by Rachel Koo. Rachel is a Brit in France. She went to cooking school in Paris and is a pastry chef, and she has written a few cookbooks. She has traveled and eaten her way all over the diverse countryside to test out fabulous French cuisine in her tiny flat in Paris. I live vicariously through her. Lots of the recipes and ingredients are foreign to Americans, but not impossible to find or make. I came at this cookbook with the idea of, “Hey, I want to try to adapt this to ‘My Relatively Small American kitchen.'” Does that sound like a cookbook title?

Blinis. Really just a synonym for pancake. I recently bought a bunch of kale at the farmer’s market. I read this recipe with an open mind and thought it would be awesome if I interchanged the chard with the kale. Then I got to the end when she said we could substitute chard for spinach or kale. I felt that my instincts were validated as a home cook. My girls actually helped me with this recipe. They all tried the kale blinis. Rebecca and Katie had 2 bites and decided they were done. Lizzie ate 2 whole pancakes. Even Brutus the dog got a taste when Katie “accidently” dropped the rest of hers on the floor. He wanted more.

I LOVED them. LOVED. If you love your greens, pancakes, and sour cream or creme fraiche, then you will love these as well. Give them a try. Pretend you are in Provence sipping Rose and scarfing these down as an amuse bouche.

The original recipe is called “Farcous aux blettes et citron confit” or Chard and preserved Lemon Blinis. I am changing the title to “Le chou frisee aux blettes et citron” or Kale and Lemon Blinis. The ingredients in the book are in metric, but I did the conversions for you. You’re welcome. =)

Ingredients

1 cup white flour
1 tsp baking powder
a pinch of salt
1 shallot, peeled and finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, peeled and finely minced
1 lemon- juice and 1/2 of rind grated
6 curly kale leaves, finely chopped (or 3 chard leaves or about a cup of spinach leaves)
1 cup milk
2 eggs, beaten
optional; 4 tablespoons of creme fraiche, or sour cream- I used a combo of sour cream and marscapone- don’t tell the French

Directions

Mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the shallot, garlic, lemon, and chard. Mix together, and then stir in the milk and eggs.

Heat the butter in a large non-stick pan over medium heat. I used my trusty cast iron skillet.
When the butter melts, use a spoon or small ladle to drop some batter into the pan and quickly flatten it down. Fry it in batches so as not to overcrowd the pan. Fry on each side about 3-4 minutes until golden brown. Serve warm with your creme fresh or sour creme/marscapone combo. They can also be enjoyed cold. Especially by the light of the fridge when your tummy won’t quit rumbling at 1:30 am…

Batter

Frying in Butter

Perfect Brown

Summer Veggie Pasta

Pasta, Side dishes...veggies, potatoes, grains, Vegetarian

So yesterday I went to the farmer’s market. I bought an iced coffee, which has inspired me to make my own at home, and just meandered around the market to see what looked good. Everything looked good. I ended up buying kale (planning on making some kale chips tomorrow), squash, asparagus, broccoli, a sweet onion, and some radishes. I will be snacking on radish and butter sandwiches for a few days. Delicious.

I spied some rotini pasta in the cabinet and decided to make this pasta, which I made up along the way. Of course, you can add any veggies you have on hand in this. This pasta is showcasing the veggies, so the sauce has to be light and refreshing.

Summer Veggie Pasta

Ingredients

1/2 sweet onion
2 yellow squash
small bunch of asparagus
small bunch of broccoli
1/3 box of rotini pasta (or whatever you have on hand)
1 lemon
splash of white wine
chopped fresh herbs ( I used oregano, thyme, marjoram, and basil)
olive oil- I would say use sparingly a bit at a time)
salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Heat up a couple tablespoons of oil in a large pot on med. high heat- I used my large dutch oven.
Bring water to a boil for your pasta. Make sure you heavily salt the water.
While the water is coming to a boil, cut up your veggies and put in the heated pan. Salt and pepper liberally.
Add the pasta and cook you veggies about the same time. When the veggies are browning, add in a splash of white wine (I used Chardonnay) and the juice from the whole lemon. I also grated some lemon peel (make sure you wash the lemon skin very well; I like organic lemons when I know I am going to use the peel).
Add your fresh herbs.
When the pasta is al dente, add it to the veggies and sauce. Add a bit of the starchy pasta water to the mix. Stir and cook together for a few more minutes. Add in some parmesan cheese.

So good!

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: