Side dishes

[delcecchi]

A couple more, but in a new thread

CHESTNUT, WILD RICE,
and Pistachio Dressing

SERVES 8

For those who have never eaten freshly roasted chestnuts: Buy some, pour a glass of wine, etch an X into each chestnut, roast them in a 400°F oven until the skin curls backward from the X, and eat them one by one so as to fully appreciate their unusual texture, which seems to blend the dense, sweet cakiness of a kabocha squash with the scent of hazelnuts. Their stubbornness, clinging inside a tight casing and then a tough shell, makes eating chestnuts especially rewarding.

Between the rich chestnuts, the buttery grains of wild and basmati rices, and the crushed pistachios, this dish has the chops to be a main course, although I tend to serve it as a Thanksgiving side dish or alongside roasted pork.

½ cup natural wild rice

Fine sea salt

1 cup basmati rice

6 tablespoons (¾ stick) salted butter

2 cups diced celery (from 5 stalks)

2 cups diced yellow onion (from 1 large)

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme

½ cup shelled salted pistachios, crushed

8 ounces cooked chestnuts, roughly chopped

2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

Put the wild rice in a fine-mesh sieve and rinse it under cold running water, swishing the rice with your hand until the water runs clear. Transfer the rice to a medium bowl and add water to cover. Pour off any black bits or floating kernels, and then pour the rice back into the sieve to drain.

Cook the rices separately: Combine the wild rice with ¼ teaspoon salt and 1 cup water in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer, cover tightly, reduce the heat to low, and steam until the rice is tender and curling into a C shape, 20 to 25 minutes.

At the same time, combine the basmati rice, ½ teaspoon salt, and 1¾ cups water in another small saucepan. Bring to a simmer, cover tightly, reduce the heat to low, and steam until the rice is tender, 25 minutes.

Combine the rices in a large bowl and cover it tightly.

Cook the vegetable base: Heat the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the celery and onion and cook, stirring often, until the vegetables are limp but still bright, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and thyme, and cook for 5 minutes.

Pour the celery and onion over the rices, scraping the pan for the juices, and stir to combine. Add the pistachios, chestnuts, and parsley, and mix thoroughly. Serve hot.

NOTE: If you’re peeling any volume of chestnuts, I’d recommend another, less romantic method: Cut the X into the flat side of the chestnuts and then boil them until the skins soften and begin to peel back, about 5 minutes. Drain them, cover with a heavy towel, and peel them one by one. The boiling softens their skins, so it’s more like shucking than peeling. In season, you can peel chestnuts, pile the sweet meat into plastic bags, and freeze for up to six months.

 

RUTABAGA BAKE

SERVES 6 TO 8

Ask anyone in this area who lived through the Depression what they think about rutabagas, if you dare. During times of hardship the stalwart roots did the heavy lifting, and many people of that generation were greatly overserved their rutabagas, parsnips, turnips, and beets.

Fodder vegetable or not, rutabagas have a sweet, buttery flavor, and they clean up well in this rutabaga soufflé, a traditional recipe popular among the Finnish immigrants in the Midwest. The deeply toasted nuts, grated nutmeg, and the wrinkled, billowy soufflé top do a lot to make a case for rutabaga’s decadence. A perfect vegetarian main course, it’s also a winning side that nestles up nicely next to just about everything.

2¼ pounds (1 extra-large or 2 medium) rutabaga

1 medium russet potato, peeled and cut into 2-inch cubes

Pinch plus 1 tablespoon sugar

3 tablespoons salted butter, melted, plus more at room temperature for the baking dish

1½ cups fresh rye bread crumbs (from 5 slices rye bread)

½ cup lightly toasted hazelnuts, skins rubbed off

3 large eggs

1 cup half-and-half or heavy cream

2 tablespoons Madeira wine

½ teaspoon grated nutmeg

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Fine sea salt

Combine the rutabagas and potatoes in a 2-quart pot, add water to cover, and add the pinch of sugar. Bring the water to a simmer, cover the pot, and cook until the rutabaga and potato are both very soft when pierced with a fork, about 25 minutes. Drain and transfer to a large bowl.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375°F. Butter just the bottom of a medium (2- to 2½-quart) baking dish.

Divide the rye bread crumbs evenly between two medium bowls. Roughly chop the hazelnuts and add them, along with the melted butter, to one of the bowls. Toss to combine.

Separate the eggs, and put the whites into a third bowl. Add the yolks to the bowl of plain crumbs along with the half-and-half, Madeira, nutmeg, pepper, and ¾ teaspoon salt. Mix to combine.

In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the whisk (or using a hand mixer), whip the egg whites and remaining 1 tablespoon sugar until soft peaks form; set aside. Separately, whip the rutabaga mixture until pureed.

Add the egg yolk mixture to the rutabaga mixture, and mix well. Gently fold in the whipped egg whites with a rubber spatula, mixing until just wisps of egg white remain. Pour the mixture into the buttered dish and top with the reserved hazelnut bread crumbs.

Bake until golden brown on top and set in the middle, 50 to 55 minutes.

Creamed Rutabagas

My mother makes a mean dish of creamed rutabagas to serve next to roasted pork, and the recipe is simple: Trim, boil, drain, and mash the rutabagas as directed above, making sure not to whip them too smoothly. Add heavy cream and a lump of butter, season with salt and pepper, and mix. The volumes of butter and cream are a matter of personal taste, but knowing my mother, neither of them should be timid.

[lovebigbluegills]

Has anybody tried smoking stuffing?

[reinhard1]

I've put stuffing in my smoker but did not add any smoke.  My smoker is well aged so it has flavors of it's own which makes everything tastes better.

 

SWEET  POTATO  SALAD

 

4 large sweet potatoes [about 3 1/4 pounds], peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes

salt

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt

1/4 cup diced scallions [about 6]

1 red bell pepper, finely diced

2 T minced fresh chives

1 to 2 tsp orange zest

2 tsp apple cider vinegar

1/2 tsp hot sauce, such as Tabasco

fresh ground black pepper

 

Place the potatoes in a large saucepan over high heat and cover with water.  Add 2 tsp. salt and bring to a boil.  Boil until just tender, about 5 minutes.  Drain and set aside to cool, 15 to 20 minutes.  Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, mix the mayonnaise, yogurt, scallions, bell pepper, chives, orange zest, vinegar and hot sauce.  Add the cooled potatoes to the mixture and toss gently until fully coated.  Season with salt and pepper.  Refrigerate and serve chilled.  good luck.

[RebelSS]

Say, that sounds good!!!!!!!!!!

[Boar]

Maybe stuff a chicken then smoke it, that would be good I bet.

[RebelSS]

Rutabaga Bake??!?!  C'mon Del!!!!   

[delcecchi]

Rutabaga Bake??!?!  C'mon Del!!!!   

What can I say?  I like rutabagas, and when I saw that recipe I had to post it.

 

[RebelSS]

What can I say?  I like rutabagas, and when I saw that recipe I had to post it.

 

Well, at least ya didn't include a green bean recipe. Thank god. 

[smurfy]

I always thought the beer before hand was the side dish????????

[delcecchi]

I always thought the beer before hand was the side dish????????

That is an appetizer.

[RebelSS]

That is an appetizer.

No,it's liquid and alcoholic, that would make it an Aperitif, my good man. 

 

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/aperitif

[Mid-Lake Rock]

I might make this.  I will let the children fight over baby Jesus.  I want the bacon roof on the manger.  

Edited December 23, 2015 by Mid-Lake Rock

[LindellProStaf]

What the???  

[Mike89]

What the???  

2nd that!

[Mid-Lake Rock]

 

[delcecchi]

The moon shown brightly on the sauerkraut....

[RebelSS]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[KEN W]

delceccehi.....I just watched The Heartland Table with Amy Theiland make that  Chestnut,wild rice, and pistachio pilaf. Looks awesome.

[LindellProStaf]

OH I see it is on a bed of kraut.  Well that changes everything.  Game on that looks great!!!!

[delcecchi]

delceccehi.....I just watched The Heartland Table with Amy Theiland make that  Chestnut,wild rice, and pistachio pilaf. Looks awesome.

I have the ebook version of her cookbook.  bedtime reading on my kindle.  PM me with an email....

[leech~~]

I might make this.  I will let the children fight over baby Jesus.  I want the bacon roof on the manger.

And people say mericans aren't innovative anymore! Hogwash!

[RebelSS]

And people say mericans aren't innovative anymore! Hogwash!

I'd say they've never seen this thread. 

[KEN W]

I have the ebook version of her cookbook.  bedtime reading on my kindle.  PM me with an email....

I can't get the PM system to work on here.

[delcecchi]

email me delcecchi at gmail.com   whoever....

The New Midwestern Table: 200 Heartland Recipes Kindle Edition

“The Midwest is rising,” writes Minnesota native Amy Thielen—and her engaging, keenly American debut cookbook, with 200 recipes that herald a revival in heartland cuisine, is delicious proof.
Amy Thielen grew up in rural northern Minnesota, waiting in lines for potluck buffets amid loops of smoked sausages from her uncle’s meat market and in the company of women who could put up jelly without a recipe. She spent years cooking in some of New York City’s best restaurants, but it took moving home in 2008 for her to rediscover the wealth and diversity of the Midwestern table, and to witness its reinvention.

The New Midwestern Table reveals all that she’s come to love—and learn—about the foods of her native Midwest, through updated classic recipes and numerous encounters with spirited home cooks and some of the region’s most passionate food producers. With 150 color photographs capturing these fresh-from-the-land dishes and the striking beauty of the terrain, this cookbook will cause any home cook to fall in love with the captivating flavors of the American heartland.

 

(I see the kindle edition sells for 1.99, amazing price. )

 

Edited December 24, 2015 by delcecchi