It's About Liberty: A Conservative Forum
Topics => Food & Cooking => Topic started by: RickZ on April 16, 2011, 05:48:01 AM
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One of my big pet peeves is side vegetables. They tend to be rather bland, even in restaurants, almost an afterthought. I like a tasty vegetable that doesn't have to be the unhealthy kind served at Thanksgiving.
So on this thread, I'll be adding some of my favorite vegetable recipes, maybe even some soups; I've gotten pretty good at homemade soups. Classics like beef barley and Yankee bean as well as throw togethers like lentil and bean soups. Soups are where I use a lot of homemade stocks, any leftover stock freezes well. But I find the best soups are what you have leftover in the fridge and throw in to the pot, like that last bit of celery before it goes limp, that little bit of pasta left in the box, that knob of garlic that's been whittled down to a couple of cloves, etc. Soup is free wheeling, which I like. Plus, like stock, most freeze well (except for clam chowdah/cream soups).
But for now, I'll stick with vegetables. One of my favorite vegetables is Brussels sprouts, hated by kids into adulthood everywhere. I now know why. Brussels sprouts is one of those vegetables that simply cannot be good any other way than fresh. Some veggies are fine to great frozen, like corn, peas and chopped spinach. But some, as in my dear Brussels sprouts, are simply inedible frozen. And forget about canned. We're not going there. (Except for canned beans in a pinch, properly rinsed.)
So, the first veggie recipe is a side dish I stole from a Methodist church cookbook. It has booze in it, so go figure. 4 ingredients, and it is a very elegant side dish for those special dinners; it looks pretty on the plate, too, with great color. It's quick to cook, with all the work in the prep, like Chinese stir-fry.
Carrot & Celery Sticks
1 cup carrot sticks
1 cup celery sticks
1 TBS butter
1 TBS Grand Marnier
To prepare carrot and celery sticks, peel carrots and trim celery. Measure a 2-inch long piece of celery to use as a guide. Cut celery and carrots into 2 inch long pieces. Cut pieces into approximately 1/4 inch “matchsticks.” (Can be done ahead of time to this point and stored, covered, in fridge.)
Heat a non-stick skillet. Once hot, add butter. Swirl to melt. Then add carrot and celery sticks. Add Grand Marnier. Stirring constantly over high heat, cook about 2 to 3 minutes, until the liquid is pretty much evaporated. The carrots and celery should still be very al dente, but with the raw edge taken off, coupled with a hint of orange. (You can cook them a little longer, but be careful as they are so thin, they cook quicker than you think; they should not be a soft mush.)
Serve immediately as a side dish.
Serves 4.
Like I said, simple, quick and elegant, both in looks and taste. Always a hit when I've served it. And it's funny, but I've never added salt or pepper to this. Goes great with roasted meats like chicken, beef roasts, stuffed veal, etc. I also use the Grand Marnier in cheesecake, so it does serve a purpose other than just imbibing.
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You hit on the only thing I don't like Celery I like it raw but for some reason I just don't cooked. But the basic idea is good all I'll do is use something else.Turnips are out too and so are rutabagas yuck.
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John, I can understand not liking certain things. As a kid, I was the pickiest eater on earth, and it drove my Mom crazy. I only ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the first I don't know how many years of my life; now I eat just about anything animal or vegetable. But when it comes to the celery in that recipe, Grand Marnier covers up a lot of taste bud issues.
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John, I can understand not liking certain things. As a kid, I was the pickiest eater on earth, and it drove my Mom crazy. I only ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the first I don't know how many years of my life; now I eat just about anything animal or vegetable. But when it comes to the celery in that recipe, Grand Marnier covers up a lot of taste bud issues.
And I don't do lamb chops the wife loves them.
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And I don't do lamb chops the wife loves them.
You sound deprived, my friend. Remember, man is an omnivore. It's one of our jobs to eat that cute little lamby-poo. And Thumper. And Bambi. And Porky. And . . .
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And I don't do lamb chops the wife loves them.
You sound deprived, my friend. Remember, man is an omnivore. It's one of our jobs to eat that cute little lamby-poo. And Thumper. And Bambi. And Porky. And . . .
I'll eat thumper is a second bambi in a N.Y.minute pork and how!! I'll se you those and raise you veal all day all night and toss in goat meat(kid) just for hahas. Lamb has a funny smell to me.I also had horse a couple of times,in a pinch i'll eat it but I felt bad for that and I don'r know why it's not like I knew him or anything.
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Lambs got da stank.
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Lambs got da stank.
Dats what I'm sayin.
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Grilling (BBQ) take care o' da stank.
I don't know why, I can't explain it, but you th'ow them lambies on the grill, it's an entirely different taste from broiling or frying. We marinate in Cross & Blackwell Mint Sauce; mebbe that's it.
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I make a lot of soups. Easy and fills the kids up. Make my own stock and throw in whatever.
I also make crepes--stuff them with whatever vegetable sounds good (asparagus, spinach, mushrooms, etc) and spoon over a white sauce and the kids can't get enough.
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I like how this started with veggies and then the carnivores took over! ;D
We got some aggressive DNA here! ::thumbsup::
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I like how this started with veggies and then the carnivores took over! ;D
We got some aggressive DNA here! ::thumbsup::
I noticed the same thing. That's why I had to mention my crepe-making!
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I like how this started with veggies and then the carnivores took over! ;D
We got some aggressive DNA here! ::thumbsup::
I noticed the same thing. That's why I had to mention my crepe-making!
Haven't you heard??? Veggies are a promise of food to come.
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Haven't you heard??? Veggies are a promise of food to come.
What does that mean? Or do I not want to know?
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Haven't you heard??? Veggies are a promise of food to come.
What does that mean? Or do I not want to know?
Veggies only mean that there has to be a steak coming to the table real soon.
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Haven't you heard??? Veggies are a promise of food to come.
What does that mean? Or do I not want to know?
Veggies only mean that there has to be a steak coming to the table real soon.
::whoohoo::
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Haven't you heard??? Veggies are a promise of food to come.
What does that mean? Or do I not want to know?
Veggies only mean that there has to be a steak coming to the table real soon.
::whoohoo::
need I say more?
How to grill a perfect ribeye steak - Cook a ribeye steak (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kBWKX8_674#ws)
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Veggies only mean that there has to be a steak coming to the table real soon.
hahahaha
My husband skips the veg part altogether most of the time! He eats plain lettuce as a salad and plain corn. Which to me explains why he doesn't like vegetables. Boring. ( He doesn't consider a potato to be a vegetable ;))
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Veggies only mean that there has to be a steak coming to the table real soon.
hahahaha
My husband skips the veg part altogether most of the time! He eats plain lettuce as a salad and plain corn. Which to me explains why he doesn't like vegetables. Boring. ( He doesn't consider a potato to be a vegetable ;))
Heh. I'm the same way, especially if the tater is smothered in cheese and bacon!
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Growing up, and in our house, too, salad comes last.
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Veggies only mean that there has to be a steak coming to the table real soon.
hahahaha
My husband skips the veg part altogether most of the time! He eats plain lettuce as a salad and plain corn. Which to me explains why he doesn't like vegetables. Boring. ( He doesn't consider a potato to be a vegetable ;))
I was going to have chicken cutlets tonight but with all the talk of steaks that wen't out the window. So tonight it's T Bones with a side of home roasted red peppers Wich can be a meal all bt themselves the way I prep them and Baked tater and sour cream.
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Growing up, and in our house, too, salad comes last.
What do you mean there's another way??
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Restaurants.
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Yes, they like to serve first! Thus I nibble at it so as to save room for the good stuff! ;D
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Yes, they like to serve first! Thus I nibble at it so as to save room for the good stuff! ;D
I ask them to bring it last and there's never a problem.They use it to kill time so it doesn't seem that long to the main event.So I have an extra drink.
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Yes, they like to serve first! Thus I nibble at it so as to save room for the good stuff! ;D
Me too, but sometimes I can't help m'self; I'm usually starving at that point.
"First we bring out food; then you order." (John Pinnette routine.)
We went to Olive Garden on Friday night, before the movie. (No scoffing, JF! There were reasons.) Never having been, I was unfamiliar with the "unlimited salad and breadsticks" dealio. They serve a giant bowl of salad for the table and will refill on request; "unlimited", right? Took home the leftovers, because I like leftover salad, and over half of it was croutons. I don't like croutons. No wonder the salad is "unlimited".
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Yes, they like to serve first! Thus I nibble at it so as to save room for the good stuff! ;D
Me too, but sometimes I can't help m'self; I'm usually starving at that point.
"First we bring out food; then you order." (John Pinnette routine.)
We went to Olive Garden on Friday night, before the movie. (No scoffing, JF! There were reasons.) Never having been, I was unfamiliar with the "unlimited salad and breadsticks" dealio. They serve a giant bowl of salad for the table and will refill on request; "unlimited", right? Took home the leftovers, because I like leftover salad, and over half of it was croutons. I don't like croutons. No wonder the salad is "unlimited".
Yeah, and dirt cheap for them to push and get big margins off of!
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Yes, they like to serve first! Thus I nibble at it so as to save room for the good stuff! ;D
Me too, but sometimes I can't help m'self; I'm usually starving at that point.
"First we bring out food; then you order." (John Pinnette routine.)
We went to Olive Garden on Friday night, before the movie. (No scoffing, JF! There were reasons.) Never having been, I was unfamiliar with the "unlimited salad and breadsticks" dealio. They serve a giant bowl of salad for the table and will refill on request; "unlimited", right? Took home the leftovers, because I like leftover salad, and over half of it was croutons. I don't like croutons. No wonder the salad is "unlimited".
Did you notice that over half the Menu is something Alfredo?? Iswear they bring it in in 50 gal drums. Yuk!!!Only been twice once by mistake and te other because I wanted to make sure I never went again.
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I like Alfredo; had the Seafood. It wasn't bad at all, considering.
I prefer creamy over acidic or vinegary.
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I prefer creamy over acidic or vinegary.
I'm tellin' ya, oven roasted Brussels sprouts and pecans topped with a roasted garlic/parmeggiano cream sauce. That'll take the boring right out of vegetables.
That sauce also works well on pork chops/pork loin/mashed potatoes/rice/etc.
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Not a big fan of Olive Garden. First of all I dislike their false family ads. When you're here you're family. Ah, yeah, right. I don't leave 20% at my mom's.
I saw a commercial last night and all of it was white--melted cheese with white sauces. I think there was chicken or shrimp under it. Who knows. I guess I just cook differently--I like to use spices and taste the foods not cover it up with cheese and cream sauces. Though they have their place for some things.
Back to salads. In my family we always ate the salad with the meal as another veg (my mom gets aggravated when the waiter tries to take her salad away when the entree is served). My husband always eats it last which for someone who doesn't like vegs I thought was odd. (I'd eat the least favorite and work my way to the fav). But personally I'm not a big fan of salad as a side. When I eat salad I put lots of stuff in it to make it a meal. Much more interesting. Homemade dressing. Yum.
And no store bought croutons. Too hard. If I ever do include them (for my husband) I make my own. Much better.
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I prefer creamy over acidic or vinegary.
I'm tellin' ya, oven roasted Brussels sprouts and pecans topped with a roasted garlic/parmeggiano cream sauce. That'll take the boring right out of vegetables.
That sauce also works well on pork chops/pork loin/mashed potatoe/rice/etc.
I've heard from other cooks that roasting the sprouts is the way to go. I have a cream sauce I use a lot so I'll remember that in the fall when the sprouts are available fresh.
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LadyVirginia,
I also like my sprout recipe I created many moons ago: Braised Brussels sprouts in butter/lemon juice/soy sauce, topped with lemon zest. Again, not boring.
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LadyVirginia,
I also like my sprout recipe I created many moons ago: Braised Brussels sprouts in butter/lemon juice/soy sauce, topped with lemon zest. Again, not boring.
Sounds good. I will try that too. I like recipes where I can still taste the vegetable.
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I love corn right out of the can - room temperature. It's not boring to me, most veggies aren't. Broccoli with just lemon juice on it is good; just as good with garlic, salt, lemon pepper, lemon juice and olive oil. Brussel's sprouts with either just lemon, or a little butter are good.
Green beans with slivered almonds and mushrooms and .... just a little butter and S&P.
I guess I'm a boring eater; with a few exceptions, I like much of my food without too much other food in it.
And I don't eat either lima beans (blech!) or cooked carrots.
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These sprouts look really pretty topped with that dusting of lemon zest at the end.
Elegant Brussels Sprouts (For People Who Hate Brussels Sprouts)
1 lb fresh Brussels sprouts (frozen will not work), firm to the touch
2 lemons
3 TBS unsalted butter
2 TBS soy sauce
Zest the lemons, cover and reserve.
Peel, by hand, the tough outer leaves on the sprouts. Trim bottoms.
Heat covered saucepan. Place into saucepan butter, soy sauce and juice of one lemon.
Add Brussels sprouts. Stir to coat with sauce, bringing sauce to a bubble. Cover, reduce heat to low simmer and cook gently, swirling the pot occasionally. After 25 minutes, add juice of second lemon. Cover, and continue cooking for another 10-15 minutes, or until tender (gently press with spoon; they should give a little, but not be mushy).
(Optional: At this point, you can remove the Brussels sprouts to a bowl. Heat the liquid until it comes to a hard boil. Stirring often, reduce until thick, adding a little butter as needed. Once reduced to a syrupy consistency, Add sprouts back to pan and toss to coat and rewarm.) Remove from saucepan with a slotted spoon. Place into serving bowl or directly onto serving plates. Drizzle with reduced sauce and dust with reserved lemon zest. Serve immediately.
Serves 4 as a side dish.
Variation 1:
1/2 lb baby bella mushrooms, washed, stems trimmed
After 25 minutes, add whole mushrooms along with the second lemon. Finish cooking and serve as above.
Variation 2:
1 tsp course grainy mustard
Add mustard at the beginning, with the butter, soy sauce, and lemon juice. Cook and serve as above.
Variation 3:
2 TBS sliced almonds, lightly toasted in dry saute pan/skillet
Top the cooked Brussels sprouts with lightly toasted almond slices, then lemon zest.
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Elegant Brussels Sprouts (For People Who Hate Brussels Sprouts)
Thanks! Just printed it out and in it goes to my recipe binder.
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My thanks as well, Rick. That sounds good, not too much stuff, and now I'm hungry.
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And to think all I do is slap butter on my sprouts! I'm such a cretin!
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And to think all I do is slap butter on my sprouts! I'm such a cretin!
That's what we're here for -- to lift you out of your hole.
You're welcome.
::rolllaughing::
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And to think all I do is slap butter on my sprouts! I'm such a cretin!
That's what we're here for -- to lift you out of your hole.
You're welcome.
::rolllaughing::
I am not the best cook in my family, for good reason. I am more of a basic guy in the kitchen, and I tend to be better at grilling, frying and broiling...baking not so much...and cream sauces and gravy and the like I have no knack for, almost completely useless in that regard. I'm much better with seasoning. If I want a top notch culinary experience with more challenging dishes I'll head over to my brothers house to dine!
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And to think all I do is slap butter on my sprouts! I'm such a cretin!
I haven't tried making a version of it yet, but I saw on tv a pancetta, Brussels sprouts, chestnuts recipe cooked in a saute pan. That also sounds good. That sprout/soy/lemon/butter recipe I created back in the '80's. All recipes call for sprouts to be cooked in salted water. So I thought to myself, what is soy sauce but salted water (of sorts)? I figured butter wouldn't hurt (when does it ever?), and it came out decent; then added the lemon juice for bite and it was perfect. It's now a recipe firmly ensconced in my repertoire. (I saw on a Triple D show one recipe for sprouts baked in the oven with chicken stock and lemon. The host, Guy, had never seen sprouts cooked with lemon before. I could only smile at the tv.) I cooked this recipe one Thanksgiving at the family get together, though prepping that volume of sprouts was time consuming; the kids were useful for that. But even they loved 'em. Like yourself, so many shortchange the little critters. But whatever you do, do not ever buy frozen ones -- they truly suck. With sprouts, it's fresh or not at all, and try to buy them hard like little rocks (give 'em a squeeze, there should be little to no 'give'). In the spring, you can sometimes find small marble sized sprouts, and they take no time to cook. But when you do find sprouts later in the season, try to pick ones all the same size as it helps in cooking consistency. With the liquid recipe, I do not cut them in half -- I like them whole, so if I have larger and smaller ones, I'll give the bigger ones a 5 to 10 minute head start, then add the rest. If at the end, some are cooked while others are still a little underdone (it happens), just remove the cooked ones until the others are finished, then add back the removed ones to coat and rewarm. Getting different sized sprouts all done at the same time is the trick, and takes only a little effort.
Needless to say, I love sprouts. Oh, and I always use unsalted butter in all my recipes. For health reasons, I like to control the salt, plus unsalted butter is what's used in desserts. So unsalted butter is one stop shopping.
I do hope some of you try this and let me know how they went over. I always like to know how my creations taste to other people as I have no guinea pigs around. But everyone I've ever made this for liked it, so I know this creation of mine is a solid recipe.
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I'm part of a CSA and I get anywhere from 5 to 10 stalks of sprouts every year so I'm glad to have something to try this year.