Recipes & Food-Related Ramblings
I mentioned last week that my partner and I combine forces to make an at-home steakhouse menu every Valentine’s Day. Welcome to the sides portion of this year’s feast. These Loaded Baked Potato Croquettes are a riff on the classic jacket potato. These jumbo croquettes house a filling of baked potato flesh and a rich mornay sauce packed with cheddar cheese, scallions, garlic, shallots, and sour cream. This is everything you love and expect from a loaded baked potato in a golden, crisp format.
To call today’s side dish rich would be an understatement. It may look like it won’t feed a ton of people, but trust me, one scoop of this will go a long way. Does that necessarily mean you’ll stop after one sensible serving? Probably not. The holidays have no rules anyway. So what makes this Double Gloucester Cauliflower Gratin so rich? Well, unsurprisingly it’s the sheer amount of cheese, the smoked almond pretzel crumble, and did I mention the cheese? There’s a whole lot to love about this dish, so let’s get started.
The holidays are here and the Internet is a buzz with turkeys, prime ribs, and sides of salmon. Grand large format proteins dressed to the nines and fit for a queen. But while I love a good slice of glistening ham, I am truly here for the sides. I’m the type of person who needs to be talked out of a third helping of potato salad at a summer BBQ, reminded of a turkey leg’s existence at Thanksgiving, and yes, at Christmas I have been known to focus a little too intently on mashed potatoes. So it makes perfect sense that I would kick off my holiday content with a side dish. And what a side dish it is! These Smashed Brussels Sprouts with Tonnato sauce are poised to steal the whole damn show.
Potato salad can be a difficult dish to get excited about. It always plays second fiddle. Always a side, never a main. But if there was ever a rendition that deserved the spotlight, it’s this Sour Cream and Onion Potato Salad. This over-the-top crowd-pleaser features creamy baby Yukon gold potatoes tossed with thinly sliced scallions and celery dressed in a caramelized shallot and sour cream dressing. The salad is topped with quartered hard-boiled eggs, celery leaves, and of course, crushed sour cream and onion chips. They are crinkle-cut chips and yes, I do think that makes a difference. I don’t know about you, but I think this salad is far from a sidekick. So let’s make it!