Salads and Side Dishes

Salads

• Chinese Chicken Salad
• Holmes Family Taco Salad

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Chinese Chicken Salad (Serves 3 - 4)

• 1 5oz package chow mein noodles (chaku soba)
• 8 - 10 snow peas, deveined and sliced lengthwise
• 1 chicken breast, cut in half and sliced into thin chunks
• 2 Tbs soy sauce
• 1 Tbs sherry
• 2 green onions, chopped
• 1 tsp cilantro, minced
• 2 Tbs soy sauce
• 1 Tbs creamy peanut butter
• 1 Tbs rice vinegar
• 1 Tbs sesame oil
• 1 tsp sugar
• Napa Cabbage leaves

1. Cook the noodles according to package directions (boil 'em for a couple minutes). Drain noodles and rinse in cold water. Drain well and turn into LARGE bowl.
2. Drop the snow peas in a large pot of salted, boiling water and cook until tender-crisp, about 2 minutes. Rinse in cold water and add to bowl with noodles. Add minced cilantro and onions.
3. Mix the 2 Tbs soy sauce and 1 Tbs sherry and marinate the chicken in the sauce for 15 minutes. Remove from mix and drain. Heat wok over highest heat and when smoking, add 1 Tbs vegetable oil. Stir fry the chicken until cooked, about 3 minutes depending on thickness of the pieces. Remove from wok and add to noodle bowl.
4. Mix the last five ingredients and whisk until well blended. Pour over the salad and toss to mix.
5. Wash and pat dry two cabbage leaves per plate. Tear off the white base of the leaves and arrange them on the plates, bases together at one side of the plate. Pile salad over the cabbage and serve. Garnish with a bit of cilantro if you like.

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Holmes Family Taco Salad

In any case, this isn't too hot/spicy of a dish, so it would range very well with quite a few beverages. Beer is perfect, but a nicely chilled rosé, riesling, gewurtz or even Beaujolais would be great too.

• 2 Tbs olive oil
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Lb ground beef or turkey
• 1 Tbs chili powder
• ground black pepper
• 1 Tbs Worchestershire sauce
• 1/2 c. water
• 1 15oz. can kidney beans (or 1/2 bag dry kidney beans, soaked overnight and boiled for 1 hour)
• 1 head iceberg lettuce, shredded
• 4 medium tomatoes, chopped
• 2 green onions, chopped
• 4 - 8 oz cheddar cheese, grated
• small bag Taco flavored Doritos, crushed
• French salad dressing

1. In a skillet over medium-high heat, sautee the onion in the oil until just wilted. Add the garlic and sautee for another minute. Add the beef, chili powder and black pepper and cook until the beef is browned. Drain off excess fat, then add the worchestershire sauce and water. Simmer for 3 - 5 minutes.
2. In a LARGE bowl, mix the meat, lettuce, beans tomatoes, green onions, cheese and Doritos. Pour the French dressing over, stir to mix and spoon onto plates. Garnish with some minced parsley if you want to be fancy. We don't 'cause we're usually in too much of a hurry to eat the stuff!

Side Dishes

• Two Potato Tart
• Herbed Spätzle
• Squash and Turnips in Clam Sauce
• Alsatian Potato Munster Casserole
• Wild Rice with Prosciutto and Mushrooms
• Potato Puree Coins

Two Potato Tart

Two Potato Tart

•   2 Tbs butter
•   2 Tbs olive oil
•   1 sweet potato
•   ~ 2 Russet potatoes or 3 Yukon golds
•   1 c. shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
•   salt
•   pepper
•   ground nutmeg

Peel and thinly slice the sweet potato, then the russets/yukons.  Melt the butter and oil together in a small pan.  Pour 1/2 into a 9" oven-proof skillet, or a shallow casserole over a medium heat burner.  Place 1/3 of the white potato slices in a layer in the bottom, then season with salt, pepper and a bit of nutmeg.  Sprinkle with 1/5 of the cheese.  Make another layer of the sweet potato, seasoning with salt and pepper (no nutmeg) and sprinkling with cheese.  Continue layering potato slices and cheese, finishing off finally with sweet potatoes.  Season the last layer with salt, pepper and a bit more nutmeg, then the last of the cheese.  Pour over the last of the oil/butter mix.

Cover tightly with aluminum foil and bake 25 minutes.  Remove foil and bake another 25 minutes.  Remove from oven, slice into wedges and devour.

The sweet potatoes come out with a remarkable flavor.  The oven roasting really brings out their sweetness into an almost caramelized flavor.  YUM!

Herbed Spätzle

This variation is based on a recipe we saw in Gourmet magazine and is a very nice side dish. We had this batch of Game Hen in Riesling sauce but I don't think I'd serve it with that again. The wonderful but fruity riesling sauce wasn't the best match for the herby flavors of the spaetzle. I'm thinking a tangy goat cheese sauce would be a better sauce for this dish.

• 1 c. plus 2 Tbs flour
• dash nutmeg
• pinch salt (That's salt, not pinch your wife, though you can if you want)
• 1 Tbs fresh rosemary, minced
• 1 Tbs fresh parsley, minced
• 1 large egg (or 1/4 c. egg substitute)
• 6 Tbs milk

1. Mix the flour, nutmeg, salt and herbs together in a bowl. Make a well in the middle. Whisk the egg and milk together, then pour into the flour mix. Stir well with a fork, beating as much air into the mix as possible. This is really thick stuff and you may need to drizzle in just a tiny bit of additional milk.
2. Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil, then force the mix through a spaetzle maker or collander. Cook for about 3 - 5 minutes, then drain VERY well and serve immediately.

Squash and Turnips in Clam Sauce

• 1 small can chopped clams, drained and liquid reserved
• 1 Tbs olive oil
• 1/2 small onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 butternut squash, peeled and cut into 3/4" cubes
• 1/2 zucchini, sliced thin
• 1 medium turnip, peeled and cut into julienne strips
• ground pepper
• 1 Tbs margarine
• 1 Tbs flour
• 1 c. skim milk
• dash salt
• 1/4 c. fresh-grated Parmesan cheese

1. Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Sautee the onion for 3 minutes until wilted and translucent. Add the butternut squash chunks, a bit of pepper and the clam liquid. Cover, lower heat to a simmer and cook for about 10 minutes until the squash is just beginning to get tender. Add the zucchini and turnip, recover and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove cover, raise heat to high until excess liquid cooks off.
2. When you add the zucchini and turnip, make a white sauce by melting the margarine in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the flour and cook for a minute or two. Pour in the milk and stir until the sauce thickens. Lower heat to low and season with a bit of salt. I find that white sauces really do need a bit of salt -- it's one of the few things I add salt to. Stir in the parmesan cheese and chopped clams and cook just for a minute or two until the clams are warmed.

Alsatian Potato Munster Casserole

Last night I made a variation of a typical Alsatian dish: potato casserole with Munster cheese and ham. Instead of the usual ham, I used a bit of bacon, plus I added in some shallots and onion. We drank a couple glasses of Savennieres with this casserole and it worked out fairly well: the Munster's strong flavors and aromas were tamed by the potatoes and sauce. A hearty red wine would work very well here, too.

While we had this as a main dish, it would work wonderfully as a side dish for many meals.

• 3 slices bacon, chopped
• 1/2 medium onion, chopped
• 1 shallot, chopped
• 6 medium potatoes, peeled and sliced thin
• 2 Tbs butter or margarine
• 2 Tbs flour
• 1.5 c. milk (I used a bit of leftover evaporated skim milk with regular skim milk)
• 1 c. chopped Munster cheese

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. In a large skillet, cook the bacon over medium heat for 5 minutes. Drain out all but 1 Tbs of the bacon grease, then add the onion and shallot and sautee for 5 minutes until the onion is wilted. Add the potatoes and cook for another 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
2. As you start the bacon cooking, begin the cheese sauce. Melt the butter or margarine in a medium, heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour and cook for 3 - 5 minutes. Pour in the milk and raise the heat. Cook, stirring very frequently, until thickened. Lower heat to medium-low and stir in the chopped Munster. Continue to cook, stirring very frequently, until the cheese is melted. Turn heat all the way down until ready to assemble the casserole.
3. Spray a medium casserole dish with cooking spray, then spoon in half the potato mix. Cover with half the cheese sauce and repeat with the remaining potatoes and cheese sauce. Cover and cook in the oven for 45 minutes, removing cover for the last 15 minutes.

Wild Rice with Mushrooms and Proscuitto (serves 4 - 6)

• 1 Tbs butter
• 1/2 c. proscuitto ham, minced
• 6 - 8 cremini mushrooms, chopped
• 1 1/2 c. wild rice
• 11/2 c. boiling water
• 1 1/2 c. boiling chicken broth

• In a large skillet over medium high heat, sautee the ham in the butter for 3 - 5 minutes, then add the mushrooms. Cook for another 3 minutes, then add the rice. Stir to coat and add the water and broth. Bring to a boil, lower heat to a very low simmer, cover TIGHTLY and cook for 55 - 60 minutes.

Potato Puree Coins (for 4)

• 3 medium potatoes, skinned and washed
• 1 Tbs butter
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1 tsp minced parsley
• ground white pepper
• salt
• 1 Tbs butter

1. Boil the potatoes until just barely done -- they should still be pretty firm. Add the potatoes, 1 Tbs butter, garlic, parsley and pepper to a food processor. Process until smooth, scraping the sides down. You should have a very thick paste. Add more pepper and salt if needed.
2. Transfer the potato mix to a sheet of waxed paper, moulding it into a log roughly 1" in diameter. Wrap up the waxed paper around the mix and gently roll back and forth on the counter to round the 'log' out. Set in the freezer for 10 - 15 minutes to cool and firm up.
3. Heat a metal skillet over medium heat. Lightly flour a cutting board and carefully remove the potato mix from the waxed paper. Lightly roll the 'log', then cut into 3/4" thick coins using a sharp knife. Lay flat and reshape the coins as needed to round them up.
4. Melt the butter in the skillet, then carefully transfer the potato coins in. Cook for ~5 minutes per side until lightly browned.
5. Serve alongside your main dish -- very tasty with a bit of gravy!