Crisp Baby Yukon Gold Potatoes

I don’t know about you, but sometimes I have a hard time coming up with side dishes to accompany an entree, particularly when it comes to starches, even more particularly when it comes to something new or different. As a main dish is usually a good bit of work, I don’t want my side dishes to be trouble. I like to avoid trouble as often as I can.

Here is a super easy, tasty, and versatile way to prepare potatoes. It can be a tiny bit tedious putting them all face-down on your baking pan, but if you develop a rhythm, you can get that done pretty quickly, and that is the hardest part. These work well as a snack, particularly if you melt cheese on top before serving them. (Yum!) They work well with a hot sandwich with a side of ranch dip or ketchup, or, as you can see here, with an elegant chicken dinner. (The recipe for the chicken can be found here.)

Add this to your repertoire of potato recipes. It’s perfect for those last-minute meals.

Crisp Baby Yukon Gold Potatoes
Slightly adapted from Epicurious.com

1 1.5-lb. pkg. Melissa’s Baby Dutch Yellow Potatoes, halved
1 T. canola oil
½ t. dried thyme leaves
½ t. kosher salt
¼ t. freshly ground black pepper
Few gratings fresh nutmeg

Preheat oven to 450° F.

In a medium mixing bowl, toss potatoes with oil, thyme, salt, pepper, and nutmeg until coated. Arrange on a foil-lined baking sheet, cut side down. Roast potatoes until crisp and golden brown on the bottom, 25-30 minutes. Serve with ranch dressing, or your favorite dipper.

This post contains affiliate links.

Mediterranean Pilaf

Despite its well-worn, splattered, and tattered appearance, one of my favorite cookbooks is Marlene Sorosky’s Cookery for Entertaining, first published in 1979, and one that I purchased shortly thereafter. What I didn’t know until I married Jim, in 1995, was that he did the same thing. Both of our copies were equally annotated, and we liked many of the same recipes. One of those recipes is this one for Mediterranean Pilaf, as flavorful as it is versatile. It’s featured in the cookbook with shish kebab, and it goes very well with that, but it is also a tasty and colorful side with ribs, chicken, pork chops, and ham. It takes well to being turned into a salad; chicken and vegetables stirred in turn this into a wonderful main dish meal.

This is a recipe that you are going to want to keep close at hand in your permanent repertoire. I can’t tell you how many times I have turned to this when I was looking for something a little extra special by way of a side dish. I have adapted it slightly from the original, for ease of preparation.

Mediterranean Pilaf
Adapted from Cookery for Entertaining

3 cups chicken broth
1½ cups uncooked basmati rice
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons butter
 ½ cup seedless golden raisins
½ teaspoon turmeric
½ teaspoon curry powder
1½ tablespoons soy sauce

Place all ingredients into a 1-quart sauce pan. Bring mixture to a boil, cover and cook over low heat 20 minutes or until all liquid is absorbed and rice is tender. Makes 8 servings.

PRINT RECIPE

Cilantro Rice is another of my favorites, and equally versatile.

This post contains affiliate links.

The Versatility of Shallots

I like vegetables, I always have. I remember eating broccoli, brussels sprouts, and asparagus when I was a little kid. I still like those today and many more, but some vegetables are more versatile than others, and I tend to use those the most. You would probably be surprised to learn that one of my favorite vegetables as far as versatility, is the shallot. My shallot of choice being those of wonderful freshness and perfection from Melissa’s Produce. Today’s blog post is a salute to that humble allium (essentially a type of onion, only milder, and growing in clusters like garlic), and all of the ways in which it can be used. The only thing I have yet to try is to pickle them, but that’s ahead!

To get to each recipe, click on the name of the dish below each picture. Every one of them is delicious. You cannot go wrong with shallots.

Spinach Soufflé with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

Flounder with Champagne Grapes

Warm New Potato Salad with Vinegar and Mustard

Italian Goddess Pasta Salad

Wild Mushroom Sauce

Fresh Green Beans with Bacon and Shallots

Pork Tenderloin with Sautéed Korean Pears & Brandy Cream Sauce

Cosmo Salad

Baked Eggs in Ham Cups

Ham with Parsley Sauce

Mrs. Plagemann’s Savory Pickled Grapes

Mustard Seed-Crusted Salmon with Mustard Cream Sauce

Mustard-Roasted Salmon with Lingonberry Sauce

Jim's Steak Diane

Beef Gravy

Petit Basque with Roasted Garlic, Shallots, and Gemelli

The Best of Both Worlds Creamy Bacon Coleslaw

This post contains affiliate links.

Red Pepper and Artichoke Tapenade

I have to be honest with you, I gave this the name Red Pepper & Artichoke Tapenade, because I thought it sounded a lot better than “Leftovers from the Fridge Tapenade.” I’m sure you agree. Essentially, I rummaged through the fridge with reckless abandon, pulled out half jars of things, put them all into the food processor, and pressed “on.” The result was phenomenal! This is a delicious tapenade, and it's so easy. Let me encourage you to do the same thing. Let me also encourage you to always have things on hand to allow you to do this, namely Melissa's Fire Roasted Sweet Red Bell Peppers, Melissa’s Hearts of Palm, capers, black olives, and a jar of marinated artichokes. You would be amazed at what these three things can do. I made a wonderful relish for wrap sandwiches using a combination of these ingredients that I will be telling you about later in the week

If making tapenade scares you because you don't know what you would do with it, let me tell you, there are endless ways in which to use it. Personally, I could just scoop it right of the bowl and into my mouth, but a wonderful way to use it that will really impress your guests (although we're not trying to impress people here, at least not so that it's obvious) is to scoop it into two ramekins, place one on either end of the dining table, and, as your centerpiece, have a big bowl of different Artisan breads. Suggest the tapenade be spread onto the bread in place of butter, and your guests will go crazy! This stuff is so good! You could also use it as a dip for crackers or crudités, dollop it onto an English muffin, top with shredded cheese, and run it under the broiler for a wonderful appetizer, use it as a topping for grilled fish, or mix it into egg salad or the filling for deviled eggs. You will enjoy it no matter what you do.

I'm going to try to write out the recipe as well as I can, but please know I was literally dumping jars of various items from my fridge into a sieve to let them drain, and then emptying the sieve directly into the food processor. Essentially, it's important to have grated Parmesan, olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, and salt and pepper. From there you can just use what you like. Personally, I love this combination, but feel free to experiment.

Red Pepper and Artichoke Tapenade

½ 7-ounce jar Melissa's Fire Roasted Sweet Red Bell Peppers, drained and chopped
½ 12-ounce jar Marinated Artichoke Hearts, drained and coarsely chopped
1 small can of pitted black olives, drained
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
¼ cup olive oil
1 heaping tablespoon drained capers

1 large clove garlic, as fresh as possible
1-1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice (I used a Meyer lemon because that's what I had)

Toss everything into the food processor and pulse until it's finely chopped. Taste it, and season it with more salt or pepper as you see fit.

PRINT RECIPE

This post is linked to:

Wow Us Wednesday

Wine’d Down Wednesday

Full Plate Thursday

Home and Garden Thursday
Grace at Home

Coffee and Conversation

Friday at the Fire Station
Foodie Friday & Everything Else

Create, Bake, Grow and Gather
Share Your Style

Simple Saturday Blog Hop

Paula's No Rules Weekend Blog Party