On the side..

Loire

Hi all,

I tend to serve the following with a lot of my meat dishes (and a lot of fish dishes too come to think of it):

Baby potatoes - par-boiled, cut in half and then fried in butter
Green Beans - par-boiled, then fried in butter

We like butter in our house and the above are really nice.

Would anyone like to post their favourite veg recipes that are good with general meat & fish dishes?

Thanks,
Loire.

beertons

As a treat sometimes, we would fry up lardons, garlic and shallots and put either par boiled green beans or brussel sprouts in with a nice nob of butter.

amdublin

Sweet potato fries nyom

Oven roast veg - peppers, onions, parsnips, carrots etc

hardCopy

Carrot and parsnip mash is always good. I don't have any particular recipe, I just add butter, milk, salt and pepper until it tastes right.

Digs

Baby potatoes par boiled and then into the oven with sea salt, garlic and rosemary. Absolutely delicious.

Carrot and parsnip mash with some butter is another favourite.

I love broccoli but roasted in the oven with some garlic it takes the flavour to another level!

Dizzyblonde

I love ratatouille with marinated chicken or pork. I don't put aubergine in though - but sometimes I add mushrooms. I let it simmer for a couple of hours until it really stews.
I love roasted crushed baby potatoes, roasted veg, green beans tossed in a nice vinaigrette.
I don't mind vegetables being slightly al dente but I hate hard, undercooked root veg.

Stheno

Savoy cabbage stir fried with lardons and sesame seeds

Sweet potato mash

Roast veg

Minder

Wilted spinach. Chopped wilted spinach with grating of nutmeg, a tbsp of double cream and a little grated gruyere cheese, then bake in a small cocotte or ramekin until the cheese is bubbling and golden. Great with steak and chips.

Braised little gem lettuce with peas as a side for lamb.

Pickled mushrooms and mushroom ketchup with steak.

Braised red cabbage with Turkey.

April O Neill

If I'm feeling a tad decadent, I love roasted cumin carrots. Halve the carrots then cut into biggish chunks. Heat the oven to 200c, lower if gas. Melt butter in a dish in the oven. Add the carrots, season with salt and pepper and with a pinch of cumin seeds sprinkled over. Cook for ~ 30 minutes. Give them a stir halfway through. Fúckin' om nom nom nom!

Loire

Some excellent sides there! Keep 'em comin' !

artvandelay48

lightly smashed baby potatoes with a bit of butter and fresh dill. Lovely with fish (especially if you have a dill sauce with the fish)

Dizzyblonde

I love tons of sautéed mushrooms and onions and roasted tomatoes with steak or sticky chicken thighs.

Mick F

Sauté some mushrooms and shallots, leave to drain, and then back into a red hot pan with seasoning and balsamic vinegar for about 1 minute. Fantastic with steak.

beertons

Red cabbage, shredded, and stewed in orange cordial. It was a closely guarded secret in a restaurant I worked in a few years ago.

nicol

Is that undiluted cordial?? What is the ratio of cordial to cabbage??

beertons wrote: »

Red cabbage, shredded, and stewed in orange cordial. It was a closely guarded secret in a restaurant I worked in a few years ago.

beertons

What ever suits your taste. Chef did a 50/50 mix with the water. And he cooked a pot full. Lets say dinner party for 4/6, half a head of ccabbage, depending on what would cover it, maybe half a bottle of orange and half water. Obviously if you want it sweeter, less water.

nicol

That sounds so wrong it must be right!! Might do a dummy run before I unleash it at christmas just in case.

beertons wrote: »

What ever suits your taste. Chef did a 50/50 mix with the water. And he cooked a pot full. Lets say dinner party for 4/6, half a head of ccabbage, depending on what would cover it, maybe half a bottle of orange and half water. Obviously if you want it sweeter, less water.

Alun

nicol wrote: »

That sounds so wrong it must be right!! Might do a dummy run before I unleash it at christmas just in case.

I seem to vaguely remember cooking red cabbage with orange juice before so maybe it's not that crazy, and other sweet things go well with it like apple or sultanas. Actually when I make it I usually chuck in a handful of cranberries if I have them which I think is nice.

EDIT: Actually thinking about it again, it might have been apple juice ...

Loire

Hi all,

Made a really nice turnip side dish at the weekend. Can't remember where I got the recipe from but basically:

chop turnip into slices and put in a baking tray / dish
Sprinkle a thumb of finely chopped ginger over the turnip
Drizzle with honey
Roast at 180 for 20-30 mins

Looked & tasted really good..

Loire.

beertons

nicol wrote: »

That sounds so wrong it must be right!! Might do a dummy run before I unleash it at christmas just in case.

Just checking up here. Did you do the dish?

irish_goat

beertons wrote: »

Just checking up here. Did you do the dish?

Curious about this one myself.

kenco

Roast butternut squash - quite partial to this with a roast dinner. Lightly oiled, lemon juice and a small amount of salt and pepper

Sauteed mushrooms, leeks (sometime together) - in the pan little white wine, seasoning, little cream (not my gig but adds color)

Roast Carrots & Parsnips - can make them too!

As for the humble spud apart from the usual and aforementioned here I do like;

Boulange - thinly sliced, mixed with our without sliced onions, stock and sitting under roast lamb for the last hour or so
Garlic - thinly sliced, milk, creme fraiche, seasoning, garlic and nutmeg

ping pong

Lazy roast potatoes-my pal gave me this recipe and it is fantastic.
Get a bunch of baby potatoes and cut them in half. For 3 minutes boil or steam them or put them in the microwave for a couple of minutes.
Dry them off a bit and put in a bowl. Add a glug of olive oil or similar and mix around with a spoon to coat the spuds. Then add a glug of soy sauce and mix again. I add some pepper but no salt as the soy sauce is salty enough. No precise measurements needed.
Tip the potatoes onto a baking tray. The oven temperature depends on whatever else you are cooking, say 200 degrees for a longer time or 220 for a shorter time.
No peeling involved, the soy sauce gives the potatoes a lovely colour and if you have people eating at different times they are lovely reheated, unlike chips or proper roast potatoes.
Enjoy!

AntrimGlens

Asparagus pan fried in butter

wilted spinach, goats cheese and nutmeg (sometimes in a roasted pepper)

Red cabbage and marmalade

courgette thinly sliced lengthways, pan fried and then a light coating of basil pesto on one side before rolling up

Oranage2

I'm loving roasted cherry tomatoes lately, very hard to get any main course to go with it, so I either have them with eggs for breakfast or else a little starter.

beertons

irish_goat wrote: »

Curious about this one myself.

I'm very impatient, so I went out and got a cabbage myself. Shredded or and divided it up into 2 pots. 1 pot had 50/50 water to cordial, the other 75/25 water to cordial. I preferred the second one, a hint of sweet.

Loire

Oranage2 wrote: »

I'm loving roasted cherry tomatoes lately, very hard to get any main course to go with it, so I either have them with eggs for breakfast or else a little starter.

I like them with roasted cod / salmon with some green beans

Loire

djerk

learned this method for cooking mushrooms recently while trying to emulate a dish i ate in spain.. i could eat this as a main course such is my love of mushrooms. i've only tried with the garden button/closed cup variety so far but i imagine it should work well with anything.

ingredients needed (feel free to adjust however you please)

mushrooms, obviously
olive oil
crushed / finely chopped garlic
chopped parsley (preferably italian flat leaf)
coarse sea salt / cracked black pepper

soak the mushrooms in a bowl of water for about 10mins, this will also help to rinse off any dirt or grit present.

drain them off and put into a pan on a medium heat and cover with a lid.. cook for about 15-20mins until the mushrooms have released their liquid.

remove the lid and stir.. raise the heat a bit and continue to cook until all the liquid evaporates. i usually taste one at this stage, they should have a firm texture, if they taste a bit dry/raw for want of words, they're probably still a little under cooked.. so just cook for another minute or two until they're done.

lower the heat a tad.. add your ingredients and season to taste (a good dose of salt works well for this recipe imo).. cook for a further 3-4mins and you're ready to serve.

* you could use thyme or oregano instead of parsley.. or a combination of any of those, they should all work well.. also a knob of butter thrown in at the very end probably wouldnt go amiss.

Spanish Eyes

Lazy me... easiest "prepare ahead" veg dish ever.

It's a take on cauli cheese. Par cook any combo really, I use cauli, broccolli, halved and quartered carrotts, and sliced leeks. I just steam the lot for a few minutes to get them from hard as a brick stage. Even the leeks, yikes!

Then I make a simple white sauce using roux, and cover the veg. This can be put in the fridge, or even frozen at this point.

Reheat in the oven sprinkled with a mix of parmesan/cheddar/pinch of nutmeg on top.

Delish. And an all in one dish!