Madhu Knits and Cooks

Recipe, knitting, and sewing project notes

Tag: Cooking — Side Dishes

  • Treat Yourself! Salted Rosemary Garlic Butter

    Leftover rosemary and dinner rolls – what to do?  Impromptu salted rosemary garlic butter!

    Rosemary Garlic Butter

    I cannot emphasize how simple and easy it was to make this butter, which made a huge difference to both our leftover takeout dinner rolls and my mood the day I put it together.   It was really flavorful and light with the salt and fresh diced herbs, and felt amazingly indulgent while eating.  Definitely a great way to make a weeknight dinner or brunch feel special!

    Rosemary Garlic Butter on Bread

    Salted Rosemary Garlic Butter

    Ingredients:

    • 2 tbsp. butter, room temperature
    • 1 small clove garlic, minced
    • Approx. 1/2 tsp. fresh rosemary, diced
    • a few pinches of sea salt (to taste)

    Directions:

    • Mix ingredients together.  Either form into your preferred mold or shape, wrap in wax paper, and place in fridge to firm up; or just place in a small container and refrigerate.

     

  • Four Cheese Pasta Two Ways – Hearty (or maybe just Unhealthy) Winter Dish

    For a recent holiday gathering, I wanted to make a baked pasta dish to serve as a simple anchor to the otherwise appetizer and dessert-heavy offerings.  Unlike past holiday parties, I wanted to try something different from macaroni and cheese, and found Cook's Illustrated Creamy Baked Four Cheese Pasta recipe.

    CI Four Cheese Pasta

    And given that I had almost equal parts leftover cheese and cream, the following week I decided to make the Baked Four-Cheese Pasta with Tomatoes and Basil varient of the original recipe.

    Both recipes were very pretty easy to construct, particularly for CI recipes, but definitely used a number of large dishes (pot for pasta, saucepan for bechamel, bowl for melting cheese, baking dish) which made clean up somewhat onerous.  That being said, the result was pretty tasty though each bite definitely felt heavy and rich, even with the second version which had more lightness from the tomatoes (I omitted the fresh basil for a bit of dried basil).  I am not sure if this will be a repeat dish in the future, but I do think it's a good hearty winter main course or side.

    CI Four Cheese Pasta with Tomatoes

    (with Tomatoes)

    CI Four Cheese Tomatoes Close Up

  • Fall Apple Gorgonzola Salad – Great Brunch Accompaniment or Simple Lunch

    For a recent post-Thanksgiving brunch, we had to figure out what kind of side salad to bring.  Should we do a fall roasted vegetable salad, a simple green salad, or something else that would be light and yet tasty?  

    While driving to the grocery store, I was struck by inspiration that I should make a salad with crisp red apples to fit the tremendous apple growing season in NY this time of year.  A salad with apples quickly led me to think about adding in some blue cheese, a bit of shallots or red onion, and maybe some sort of hard crunch (I am allergic to walnuts and pecans, so maybe something else?).  Below is the final salad I assembled, which I later prepared a few more times later in the week for fantastic work lunches.  

    The great thing about this salad (actually with all salads) is that you can customize the ingredient ratios to meet your needs, and it can still be a great seasonal salad that works as a main lunch dish or a side for a large brunch.  And the preparation time is all of five minutes, so even better for a large event or a weekday lunch.

    Apple Gorgonzola Salad

    Apple Gorgonzola Salad

    Salad Ingredients:

     

    • 4 cups spring lettuce mix
    • 1 apple, cored and chopped into 1/2 inch chunks
    • 2 tbsp. crumbled gorgonzola
    • 2 tbsp. chopped red onion

    Vinagrette Ingredients:

    • 1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
    • 2 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil
    • 1/2 – 3/4 tsp. Dijon mustard
    • 1 tsp. finely chopped red onion
    • 1 garlic clove, minced
    • salt (to taste)
    • pepper (to taste)

    Directions:

    • Toss the salad ingredients together in a large serving bowl.  If you would like, you can also just layer the ingredients for presentation, with the lettuce on the bottom of the bowl and then apple, gorgonzola, and red onion on top.
    • Blend the vinagrette in a small bowl with a fork or whisk, and toss with salad immediately before serving.

     

  • Standard Cornbread Two Ways – All-Purpose and Serrano-Spiced

    For Thanksgiving, I was charged with making cornbread in addition to a macaroni and cheese and side green dish.  I decided on a simple Cook's Illustrated recipe because unlike most CI recipes, it seemed easy to construct and somehow seemed even less onerous than other online cornbread recipes.  In picking the simple All-Purpose Cornbread recipe, I also hoped to avoid the disappointing result of the CI Jalapeno-Cheddar Cornbread recipe.

    Cooks Illustrated All Purpose Cornbread

    (All-Purpose Cornbread)

    Unfortunately, while the cornbread turned out fine (one cornbread was made to the recipe as is, and another with one diced serrano), it wasn't really the best or even one of the top cornbreads I have ever consumed.  It was slightly too dry (and I don't think it was due to potential over-baking) and didn't have that strong of a corn flavor.  Although cornbread is not necessarily the most exciting food, and even less exciting than corn muffins, hopefully I will find a better recipe moving forward.

    Cooks Illustrated Cornbread with Jalapenos

    (Serrano-Spiced Cornbread)