Cooking with Alison

Archive for the ‘Sides and Sauces’ Category

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Miniature BBQ Menu and Recipes (and a review of PC’s summer 2011 products)

In Appetizers, Hors D'oeuvres, Snacks, Main Course, Other Dishes, Reviews, Sides and Sauces on July 21, 2011 at am

A few of Ed’s friends stopped by in Kingston for lunch one day.  We only had two hours notice, but that was enough time to put a menu together, run out and get groceries, and host a miniature BBQ.  Luckily, I had some miniature frozen strawberry pies in the freezer.  (See the menu and recipes below.)  I love miniature food (see my miniature food display here) and I think it’s a great way to entertain, especially if you’re serving a light meal or throwing a baby shower.  I love that this was all finger food and cutlery was only required for the dessert.  A review of some of President’s Choice’s new summer 2011 products is also provided below.

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Southern Picnic Menu and Recipes

In Main Course, Other Dishes, Sides and Sauces, Soups and Salads on July 5, 2011 at pm

I made up a Southern style picnic basket for Ed and I last weekend.  The weather didn’t cooperate so we had to enjoy it indoors, but Ed loved it nonetheless.  I’ve shared our menu and some recipes, as well as some other Southern picnic menu ideas below.  Feel free to add more suggestions in a comment!  (See here for French picnic (pique-nique) menus!)

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Cheese Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms

In Sides and Sauces on June 24, 2011 at am

These cheese stuffed portobello mushrooms are delicious, versatile, and ridiculously quick and easy to make.  Choose a melty cheese and make it as casual (as I did using marble cheese) or as fancy as you’d like.  In terms of the toppings, you can use leftovers, vegetables and/or protein.  I had a tomato on hand and it added lovely acidity and freshness to the hearty mushroom and heavy cheese.  Serve this as an appetizer, as a side, or as the main.

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Stuffed Peppers Recipe (For Using Turkey and Stuffing Leftovers)

In Sides and Sauces on April 21, 2011 at am

Whenever I make turkey and stuffing, I deliberately reserve some so that I can make these stuffed peppers.  They are simple, easy to make, relatively healthy, and delicious.  This is an excellent way to use up left overs because the turkey and stuffing get transformed into something completely different.  When my housemate introduced me to this dish, I couldn’t even tell that it had stuffing in it.  Ed and my whole family loved them when I made them over the Christmas holidays, 2010.  The original recipe also suggests using tomatoes or zucchini.  In my opinion, tomatoes are too soft for this dish (the stuffed tomato is in the middle of the photos above).

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Teriyaki Chicken with Bean Sprout Medley (and a teriyaki sauce recipe)

In Meat and Eggs, Sides and Sauces on March 6, 2011 at am

Teriyaki sauce ranges from thick to thin and salty to sweet depending on where you’re getting it from.  This is my favourite teriyaki sauce recipe.  Adjust the consistency and flavouring to your taste.  Serve this with miso soup (recipe here) and Japanese restaurant style salad with miso dressing (recipe here).

Photos above:  Teriyaki sauce used as a marinade (left) and used as a sauce poured over cooked chicken (right).

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Miso Salad Dressing

In Sides and Sauces, Soups and Salads on February 28, 2011 at am

I had a lot of miso paste leftover from making miso soup (recipe here), so I made a miso salad dressing for a Japanese restaurant style salad.  Note that you could omit the carrot and use the rest of the ingredients (adjusted to your taste) to make a simpler miso salad dressing.  I served this with miso soup and chicken teriyaki with a stir fried bean sprout medley (recipe here).

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Apple Cranberry Cake Served with Hot Cream Sauce

In Cakes, Sides and Sauces on February 25, 2011 at am


After a successful [first time] use of fresh cranberries in a cranberry sauce, I became obsessed with them.  I  baked cranberry bran muffins, two cranberry almond cakes, and a cranberry walnut tart.  By the time the grocery stores stopped carrying fresh cranberries, I only had 1 cup left.  I was hesitant to use my last cranberries on just any recipe, so I was very excited when I discovered this German apple cranberry cake from Thomas Keller’s The French Laundry Cookbook.  The cake is simple, moist, and nicely dense.  Although the cake is good on its own, I just love the comfort and indulgence of the warm sauce.

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Aioli (Garlic Mayonnaise) Recipe

In Sides and Sauces on February 11, 2011 at am

Julia Child’s aioli recipe from Mastering the Art of French Cooking calls for white bread and a mortar and pestle.  One day, I will try making aioli the traditional (proper) way (post to follow), but for now, I’m happy using my food processor to make a garlic flavoured mayonnaise.  You can serve aioli as a dip (perfect for deep fried sweet potato fries) or use it in any way that you would use mayonnaise.

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Cranberry Sauce Recipe (it’s not just for turkey)

In Sides and Sauces on January 17, 2011 at am

I love cranberry sauce with turkey, so I’m not sure why I waited so long to make it from scratch.  I will never buy canned cranberry sauce again.  It is very easy to make and can be made a few days ahead of time.  I made it for Christmas, 2010 and Ed – who doesn’t like cranberry sauce – surprisingly really liked it.  Now he understands why people pair cranberries with turkey.  🙂

The great thing about this cranberry sauce is that it’s not just for turkey.  You could add it to baked brie crostini or baked brie on crackers, use it as an accompaniment for pâté de canard (duck pâté), spread this on top of cheesecake (garnish with almond slices), or use it as a filling for layer cake or trifle.  You could even use this like jam on french toast, plain toast, pancakes, scones, muffins, or sandwiches.

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Gourmet Mushroom Risotto Recipe

In Appetizers, Hors D'oeuvres, Snacks, Pasta, Rice, and Doughs, Sides and Sauces on January 6, 2011 at am

I’ve made butternut squash risotto and pea and prosciutto risotto before, but mushroom risotto is my family’s favourite – so far (I haven’t made them seafood risotto yet).  Since this dish is so simple, the selection of mushrooms is critical to the success of it.  The secret to my mushroom risotto is the use of dried black trumpet mushrooms.  The texture of these mushrooms is thin and leathery, but they lend the most amazing flavour and aroma.  When my mother tasted this, she was so impressed with the mushroom flavour that she thought I had added some processed or artificial flavouring.  For texture and aesthetic appeal, I also used dried porcini and fresh oyster mushrooms.  (I love the dried mushrooms from Marx Foods (review here).  You can taste the quality of their mushrooms from the soaking liquid, which in this case, added tremendous flavour to the rice.)

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Dulse

In Appetizers, Hors D'oeuvres, Snacks, How-To, Sides and Sauces, Soups and Salads on January 2, 2011 at am

Update:  This photo was published in TAPS The Beer Magazine in the November/December 2012 issue!

I had never heard of dulse until I started making travel plans to the east coast of Canada.  So when we were in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Krystal and I went looking for this and were lucky enough to find it at the City Market.  We purchased a bag of hand picked, sun dried dulse and brought it back to Ontario.  I wanted to share what I’ve learned as this might be of interest [in particular] to vegetarians, vegans, gardening enthusiasts and people who have anemia or hypothyroidism.  Note:  If you have hyperthyroidism, however, it may not be appropriate for you to consume dulse.

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Roasted Mini Potatoes

In Sides and Sauces on December 26, 2010 at am

I like using the leftovers for one skillet breakfasts (recipe here).

Roasted Mini Potatoes Recipe

makes 4 side servings

1 1/2 pounds mini potatoes, scrubbed clean and dried

1/2 cup chicken broth (or vegetable broth or water)

juice of 1 lemon (optional)

4 cloves garlic, minced

optional: 1 to 2 tsp dried or fresh herbs (I like using dried parsley, rosemary or oregano, but you could use any herbs in any combination that you like)

3 to 4 tbsp olive oil

coarse sea salt

ground black pepper

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