Just plain yummy side dish casserole. The Gruyere cheese is what makes it, so don’t skimp by using something else. Use the imported cheese, the real stuff. You can substitute other cheeses, but I think the Gruyere is perfect.

Need a casserole to go with just about any kind of protein? It would be great with steak, pork chops, chicken, even a sturdy, full-flavored fish. Or, you could even eat this as a vegetarian entrée. It’s just SO delicious. As I mentioned above, the Gruyere cheese (it’s a very unique Swiss cheese) is, to me, what makes this dish over the top. It’s not low in calorie, however, since it contains heavy cream and full-fat milk. The potatoes bring enough starch to the dish that it all sticks together beautifully.

The potatoes, sliced just perfectly at 1/4 inch thick (it helps if you have a slicer to do this) are simmered in the cream and milk until they’re nearly done. Meanwhile you make the corn and spinach mixture which gets layered in between 2 layers of the potatoes. See photo below at left with just one layer of potatoes and the layer of spinach and corn.

Another layer of potatoes goes on top, see photo at right, then you add lots of cheese on top, bake for 25 minutes covered with foil, then 10-15 more without the foil and you’re ready to go. You can also make this the day before, bring to room temp and bake in a low oven to reheat. This recipe is a keeper. From the cooking class recently with Diane Phillips.

My cousin Gary just about made this whole thing for me – we took this to a Christmas Eve dinner at my son’s home. Every last bite – and I mean ever bite, was slicked clean. Had many, many compliments on the dish.

What’s GOOD: every morsel – the cheese, the potatoes, the spinach. Everything.
What’s NOT: it does take a bit of time to put it together – make a big batch so you can have left overs.

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These were actually the orange-fleshed type of sweet potato, some call yams (but they’re not, they’re just a different variety of sweet potato). They made a great side for our Thanksgiving dinner. Even though it says maple sauce, it wasn’t all that sweet, so don’t compare it to similar dishes that are loaded with brown sugar and/or marshmallows. NOT!

I can’t take credit for making this – my daughter-in-law, Karen, did, but the recipe is online. She said they were fairly easy to make. The sauce can be made ahead and just reheated before drizzling it on top. In the original recipe the sweet potatoes were left in big chunks, but Karen mashed them (probably because the little kids would eat more of them, and they did).

Note in the picture how there are the little niches/lines across the top – I’ve often seen Karen spoon pureed things into a casserole dish (potatoes, zucchini, yellow squash, carrots) and make those crevices – such a more attractive top than the way I might do them – plop them in the dish and smooth the top. She uses a big, flattish kind of spoon and makes thick rows with the crevice between each. So when she drizzled the maple sauce on top, that sauce was quite visible in those crevices. Pretty, huh? I thought so. Clever girl, my daughter-in-law!

If you’re taking this to someone else’s home, just bake and wrap it up tight, reheat the sauce at the last minute and drizzle on the sauce.

What’s GOOD: loved the flavor – not only the maple sauce (which isn’t all that sweet, surprisingly enough) but the pecans added crunch, yet there weren’t enough of them to distract from the potatoes themselves. Altogether delicious and very pretty too, if you do it with the crevices you see in the photo.

What’s NOT: I can’t think of anything. I wouldn’t use canned yams for this, but then, I’m partial to freshly baked things anyway.
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Kale Salad with butternut squash and a warm cider vinaigrette. Delicious!

Has kale salad reached its zenith? Perhaps. And waning? Or not? I really don’t know. We realize, because it’s shouted from the magazine rooftops, that it’s one of those super foods, so very good for us. And there are recipes by the gazillion on the internet for it. So, here’s one more!

There are 4 couples of us – oh, see, there I go – I still think of myself as part of a couple – probably always will – so there are 3 couples and me, the widow, who meet for a gourmet dinner, lunch or brunch every few months. We have plenty of good laughter, conversation about food, travel, sports, etc. You know, the usual, when any group gathers. Except that this group says a prayer before every dinner, which is really nice. And we have wonderful food. So I’m sharing the recipes for a couple of the dishes from that last gathering. It was a brunch. This salad is served cold, not hot. Hence it’s a salad, of course, not a hot side dish. Silly me! Anyway, Dianne made this salad and we all loved it. It’s a slight riff on an Ina Garten recipe. Ina’s called for arugula, and her version is tossed with the dressing just before serving.

This riff on Ina’s salad is made with baby kale (if you can find it – it’s a bit softer and not quite so chewy) and Dianne allowed the dressing to sit on the greens for awhile (so technically it’s no longer a “warm” salad dressing) to help soften up the kale, then she added in the other ingredients and garnished with shaved Parm.

What’s GOOD: loved the color, for sure. The slightly bitter, from the kale, and sweet, from the squash, made a lovely taste in the mouth. A different side dish. Very nice. I liked it.

What’s NOT: nothing really – finding baby kale can sometimes be a challenge (I’d  use arugula if you can’t find the baby kale, but if you really like the regular kale, go for it).

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Previously, I’ve posted a recipe for Mexican Street Corn, but oh gosh, this version is so much better. I really didn’t know how to make it prior to my other attempt at it – just got suggestions from the waitress at a restaurant and glanced at a few recipes online. But this, oh, I’ll be making it several times this summer. Just be sure to have Cotija cheese on hand, cilantro and limes.

Making this dish is actually very simple. You can make up the spice/herb mixture ahead of time (except for adding the cilantro). You can crumble up the Cotija ahead of time and have it chilling in the refrigerator in the pan you’ll use to roll the corn on it. Husk the corn and have that all ready to go too. Fire up the grill and slow-grill the corn. You DO want grill marks (see the photo) but you don’t want to burn it. Don’t put anything on the corn – just grill it, rotating it several times over the course of 15-20 minutes or so. Do watch it carefully.

If you search recipes on the internet for Mexican Street Corn, you’ll find several, but none that do all of the things Phillis Carey did with it in the corn-themed cooking class I went to recently. And Phillis absolutely NAILED it with flavor. Not only the spice mixture (cumin, oregano, garlic) but doing it in the order she did – grill first, lightly film the corn with mayo (so everything after that will stick to it), sprinkle on the spices and cilantro, then roll the corn in Cotija cheese. Serve and pause as you listen for all the “mmmm’s.” Fabulous. Of all the recipes in this particular cooking class, I think this one was the best, by far.

What’s GOOD: all the flavors in combo with the corn. The cheese, the spices, and of course, the delicious sweet corn. This recipe is a winner. Make it, okay?

What’s NOT: not a single thing except that if you’re making this with a dinner and having to do it all, you’ll want to have everything else about your dinner all ready, because you do need to stand over the corn and watch it and turn it, but then, you’ll need to assemble it while it’s still pretty hot.

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Risotto goes really well with grilled meat, and even in the heat of summer. When you make it in the Breville risotto cooker, it’s pretty seamless and easy, and if you barbecue outside, the kitchen stays cool. If you have an outdoor plug somewhere and a way to cook it there, you could even make the risotto on your patio! Then you’d have zero heat in the kitchen!

Recently my friend Cherrie and I combined our efforts and did dinner in their backyard. Our friend Joe was here too, so the 4 of us had a lovely meal on their cool Eucalyptus-shaded back deck. Part of the plan was that I was going to teach Bud how to do boneless, skinless chicken breasts on the barbecue without cooking them to dry leather. Bud has been a master barbecuer for decades, and he was very, very skeptical, but he was willing to try. Cherrie basically doesn’t buy chicken breasts to grill because she was convinced you can’t grill them and have them moist. I showed them how!

I do have to laugh – you’ve read it here before in recent weeks – I really don’t know how to do the actual act of barbecuing. Dave always barbecued. I did tell him HOW to do it, but I’d never done it myself. I did grill a steak a few weeks ago with success, but for the last month my barbecue has been out of commission  until my outdoor kitchen countertop is completed. So I still have some lessons to learn about the heating-up and temperature controlling of the barbecue. The cooking technique, though, I know, because I  used to tell Dave how to do it. So with Bud to control the barbecue temp, I felt pretty sure we could do it.

I defrosted 2 packages of Costco’s plump boneless, skinless chicken breasts and made the same recipe I posted a week or so ago – the Cha Cha Cha Jerk Chicken. I had the spice mix already prepared (I’d made double when I did it before), so I just marinated them in the pineapple juice and orange juice mixture with the spices added. They marinated for 24 hours. I drained the breasts, patted  them dry with paper towels and Bud grilled them for a couple of minutes on each side (to get pretty grill marks) then I had him bring them back into the kitchen. He was a bit perplexed about this part. I said “trust me.” I sliced each breast into wide strips, put them back into the marinade briefly, then put them back on the platter and out to the barbecue they went. I told Bud to just grill them for about 1-2 minutes on the cut sides (where you you certainly see that on the inside the chicken wasn’t done). He wasn’t so sure, but he did as I asked, and sure enough, they were perfect. The only different thing we did was to pour the marinade into a small saucepan and simmer it until it reduced down and we served that on the side. It was pretty hot (spicy heat) so it didn’t take much on each portion. And yes, the chicken was almost dripping in juices. Cherrie couldn’t believe it. A week later they had a big 5th of July party and used boneless, skinless thighs, and Bud was so proud of himself – he used the same technique and the chicken was SO moist. A different recipe/marinade, but grilling for grill marks, back in the marinade, then cut into a couple of long strips and back on the grill for 2-3 minutes, maybe a few more for thighs and they were done. Delicious.

So, now, back to risotto. Cherrie had yet to try to adapt her Breville BRC600XL The Risotto Plus Sauteing Slow Rice Cooker and Steamer to one of her own, existing risotto recipes. There are numerous recipes in the cook-booklet that comes with the cooker, but she wanted to branch out. So I showed her how to do it. The recipe below is made (and written up) in the traditional way, but it was quite simple to adapt it. Everything was cooked in the risotto cooker. I sautéed the shallot in oil and butter, then added the rice to harden it a bit before we moved to the next steps. I added in the mushrooms and let them cook for maybe 2-3 minutes. We used a LOT more mushrooms than the original recipe called for. Then I just poured in 3-4 cups of the broth. I left a little bit out, and did end up adding more at the end, and even a bit of water to get it loose enough to suit both Cherrie and me. Cognac and cream gets added in, plus some Parm and Italian parsley.

The recipe comes from the 1987 risotto bible – Risotto: More than 100 Recipes for the Classic Rice Dish of Northern Italy. I guess it’s still in print – probably because it’s just so classic and filled with great recipes. My poor old, spine-cracked copy has seen a lot of use over the years, and this recipe is one I’ve made many times over the years. Just not recently.

What’s GOOD: I don’t think I’ve ever met a risotto I haven’t liked, unless it’s been overcooked (like they often are in mediocre restaurants who don’t understand how it’s supposed to be). This one is a winner. The cognac adds a lovely undertone, a rich flavor. The mushrooms (ample) provided some veggie with our dinner (although the photo doesn’t show many of them). Altogether wonderful recipe. This makes a beautiful company side dish.
What’s NOT: nothing except the making of it if you use the traditional stir-stir-stir method. That part’s a bit tedious. Enlist help from your family or guests. Children might not like this with the cognac – the alcohol surely cooks out – but it does add a flavor that kids might not like. If so, leave it out, but substitute more broth or water.

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We don’t seem to make egg noodles all that much anymore. Yet they are still a regular in almost every grocery store. Am I the only one who doesn’t think to use them regularly?  For whatever reason this old-old recipe of mine popped into my head when I was making the Japanese Burgers the other night. I wouldn’t have made them just for myself, but I had a dinner guest and I knew he liked pasta.

This recipe has been in my 5×8 ring binder for years – and since it was typed onto the 3-hole punched page, I knew that meant it was one of the earliest recipes I put into that book that I started creating in about 1965. I looked online and found nothing similar. My typed recipe doesn’t say where the recipe came from. And truth to tell, this dish isn’t going to make waves. You’re not going to be raving about it to all your friends. It’s just a simple, homey kind of comfort noodle dish. This type of noodle preparation appears to be German or Austrian (sometimes made with a type of potato noodle). But my typed recipe clearly indicated it’s French. Maybe from the sour cream added in.  Who knows.

One of the nice things about this is it can be made a few hours ahead and reheated. The pasta is cooked – undercooked actually – and combined with sour cream, a bit of milk, seasonings, poppy seeds and I add green onions. It’s all mixed up, placed in a casserole dish, dotted with butter and more poppy seeds and green onions. And with a bit of lemon juice squeezed over the top if desired. It gets covered. Then it’s baked for 20-30 minutes. There’s no cheese  – but you could add it if you want. If so, I’d use Gruyere or Fontina. Not cheddar or mozzie, or even Jack cheese. No. It would need to be a little more flavorful European cheese, but not Parm. But I liked it just fine without cheese.

This dish is meant to be a subtle carb side that’s just an addition to a flavorful protein. Let your protein be the star of the show, in other words. Your kids will like the noodles – they’re relatively plain as long as they like sour cream.

What’s GOOD: its simplicity. It’s comfort food, but not ooey, gooey kind. It rounds out a dinner, or a plate alongside a flavorful protein like a burger, a steak, a pork chop, a chicken breast.

What’s NOT: this isn’t a “wow” recipe. Just simple, plain food. Tasty, easy.

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If you’re a convert to the joys of Brussels sprouts (I’ve always been a fan) that are pan sautéed, then you’ll like this recipe a lot. It uses halved Brussels, a whole-grain mustard vinaigrette and some chopped up dried cranberries and almonds for crunch and flavor. Really delish.

With a package of Brussels sprouts in the refrigerator and a dinner to prepare, I hunted through my to-try recipes and came across this one. I adapted it some (didn’t have dried blueberries; opted to pan sauté them rather than cook them in water first; didn’t have Manchego so I subbed Parm). The mustard vinaigrette was first on the list to do – an easy mixture. It was a bit too oily for me, so I added in a little more lemon juice than called for. I also used more garlic. The original recipe comes from a restaurant in Pasadena called La Grande Orange, located adjacent to the main-stop train station there. It’s a great restaurant (have eaten there and enjoyed their signature sangria and salads). Anyway, this is a veggie dish, but can also be dubbed a salad too. I served it hot, but you know Brussels sprouts – they cool quickly, so they were at room temp within a couple of minutes.

In the original recipe the Brussels were simmered in water. I like pan roasted ones, so I added a tablespoon or oil to a huge nonstick frying pan and got them nice and brown-blackened. Meanwhile I made the vinaigrette, chopped up the dried cranberries (very few) and the almonds (raw, only a little bit) and shredded Parm. I did add a bit of water to the Brussels to get them just cooked through, then dumped them out into a serving bowl and drizzled on the tiny bit of dressing and added the garnishes. Done. Easy. Definitely a make again veggie!

What’s GOOD: Well, I love Brussels sprouts almost any way they come. My DH’s good friend Joe was here for dinner and he said he wasn’t much of a fan of Brussels sprouts anytime, but he really, really liked these. He had 3 servings if that tells you anything. I gave myself a very small serving at first, but I dug in for a few more myself. And I’ll be having the last few for tonight’s dinner.

What’s NOT: nothing, unless you don’t like Brussels sprouts!

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With my relatively new risotto cooker, making this dish was a cinch for a recent dinner party. I added corn for color and texture. The fontina cheese combined with the traditional parmesan was a good mix. The cheese flavors were more subtle, but you did know it was there.

Since I know most of you don’t have the Breville BRC600XL The Risotto Plus Sauteing Slow Rice Cooker and Steamer , the instructions below are for making risotto the traditional way – stirring and stirring. If you’re fortunate enough to have the risotto cooker, then you’ll already know how to make this. I truly cheated this time – after sautéing the onion I just poured everything into the cooker – I didn’t even do the step of allowing the wine to soak into the rice first – all of it went into the cooker, I turned it on, and 20+ minutes later it was done perfectly and ready to serve. I poured in a little bit of chicken broth at the end and it probably could have used a bit more, as you can see from the photo – it should have been just slightly more soupy. But the flavor was wonderful.

The original recipe for this came from the Food Network, but I changed it around a bunch, so it’s not really the same anymore. It was an entrée type risotto with chicken. If you want that one, just search for Fontina Risotto with Chicken and you’ll find it.

What’s GOOD: what’s there not to like about risotto? It makes a really nice company side dish (get one of your guests to do the stirring and broth-adding). If you have the risotto cooker, then this dish is a snap. I liked the fontina in this (had never tried using that cheese in risotto before). It mellowed out the rather sharp cheesy flavor from Parmigiano.

What’s NOT: nothing, other than the time it takes to make risotto. (All the more reason to buy one of the risotto cookers!)

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Don’t you just love this season of the year when asparagus is at its peak? Actually, here in California, we can buy asparagus nearly  year ‘round, but at least 6 months of the year I suppose it’s shipped north from South America somewhere, and the price and quality are commensurate with the long distance. Anyway, here’s a new take on an asparagus salad. That’s Feta cheese you see sprinkled all over the top and toasted pine nuts. Dig in.

This salad was served at the little gourmet dinner we had just a week or so before my dear darling DH had his stroke. He was fit as a fiddle that evening, enjoying the wine, conversation and the food, of course. My friend Cherrie served this, and I promptly came home and made it myself a few days later. It’s great. This was another of those Sunset Magazine 25 all-time favorite recipes they did in a recent issue.

It makes a pretty presentation with the dark green of the asparagus, the white of the cheese (you could probably use goat cheese too) and the contrast of the toasted pine nuts. It has a very easy dressing that’s poured over it just before serving.

What’s GOOD: well, asparagus is good anytime, anywhere. I think it’s my favorite veg. With green beans a strong second. Loved how pretty it looked, so it’s great for a gathering. It’s easy to do and everything can be prepared ahead – just toss before serving and add the cheese and nuts on top.

What’s NOT: nothing whatsoever.

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Although this picture may not wow you with its color artistry, all I can tell you, bottom line, it’s ultimately a creamy, smooth, oozing risotto, filled with umami flavors. I served it with salmon, but it could be a meal unto itself.

Below you will find this recipe in two versions – one made on the stovetop, which is what most people will do – and another revised slightly for the Breville risotto cooker that I used. This recipe is one I’ve made for at least 3 decades, and was my first introduction to risotto, way back in the early 1980s. I can’t say that I’ve made it more than a dozen times, just because risotto is so high in carbs and it (used to) require so MUCH standing at the stove, stirring and stirring.

At the time, I had attended a cooking class at a then-popular cooking school called Ma Cuisine, and Tarla Fallgatter taught the class, and made risotto as well as osso buco (a recipe I’ve never posted, and suppose I should!). I’d read about risotto, never had it, and merely said to myself “no way” would I stand in front of the stove for 30-45 minutes, stirring and adding broth until it was just done. Arborio rice was very, very hard to find back then – only one upscale market carried it and at a very hefty price. Champagne, then, was a splurge, and to think of using it in rice was almost over-the-top. But when the class was served the results – oh my gosh, it was just SO good. I became a convert, and made this many times, usually when someone was visiting, who would help with the stirring. Our friend Russ was a frequent visitor for dinner then, and he was a willing helper, being the one to get a spa facial as he stood over the big frying pan stirring.

Jump forward to 2014. My DH bought me for Christmas (at my suggestion) the Breville BRC600XL The Risotto Plus Sautéing Slow Rice Cooker and Steamer. A splurge, for sure, for a device to make risotto, but I’ve used it to make rice (just regular stuff) and I’ve used it as a slow cooker too to make a bean soup (it has a slow cooker low and high function). It also has a sauté function which means you can cook the onions or leeks or shallots or whatever, in the same pan without dirtying up more dishes.

To make this risotto in the Breville risotto cooker I did all the same steps, really, except I reduced the amount of broth I added – although I ended up adding almost all of it by the time it was served. What I didn’t want was too-soupy risotto and having not made this in the Breville before, I was hesitant to add it all at once. It’s easy enough to ADD more fluid. Not possible to remove any! I don’t use expensive champagne or sparkling wine – just something drinkable, and certainly not a bottle worth $1.99 either. Usually I use Prosecco (because we usually have some on hand and it’s very inexpensive). You want a dry taste, though, not something sweet. Some Proseccos would be too sweet – so watch that.

When the Risotto Cooker is in the cooking process (on the Risotto setting) it boils furiously. In fact, it boils so fast I wonder each time if it’s not going to be ruined. But it isn’t. Certainly it boils at a full rolling boil – a much higher heat than you’d use if you were making it the traditional way. And yet, when it’s done, well, it’s just absolutely PERFECT. The asparagus was partially pre-cooked, so I added it into the risotto about 2/3 of the way through its 30-minute cooking. Next time I’d cook the asparagus completely and add it in at the very end, just long enough to heat it through. As soon as the risotto cooker gives a warning, it switches to low and that’s when I added the little bit of cream, butter, and Parmesan. (You don’t know how long it’s going to cook – there isn’t a timer to view, but you can estimate 30 minutes.) Every time I’ve made risotto in this, it’s been at that perfection stage immediately when it dings – and I wish I’d been absolutely ready to serve up plates. It took me another 5 minutes or so to toss the green salad with Garlic VIP Dressing, dish up the garlic green beans and finish the sauce for the Salmon with Orange and Leeks that I served with it. I added about another 1/3 cup of hot broth to the risotto to get it back to that almost soupy texture and dinner was served.

This could easily be an entrée unto itself, if you choose to; I made it to accompany a meal. I made it to serve 8, but since we served buffet style, people didn’t take as much risotto as I’d anticipated, so we still have at least another 4 or more servings left over. I may make risotto cakes out of them. Once cooled, the rice is fairly thick and the creaminess has totally disappeared. To reheat, you’ll need to add more broth to thin it out. It certainly won’t be as good as the first round, but it’s actually okay for a family meal.

What’s GOOD: what’s there not to like about risotto? It was delicious, as it’s been every time I’ve ever made this. You’ll enjoy the asparagus in it and probably won’t be able to identify any other flavors except the Parmesan cheese. If you serve this to risotto fans, I guarantee they’ll like it. By making it in my Breville Risotto Cooker, I was able to work on other last-minute things.
What’s NOT: really nothing. Not exactly healthy, though – there is butter and cream in this, albeit, not a lot. If you make it the traditional way, have someone else help do the stirring and adding of the broth. It’s not difficult work to do, but requires someone to be there all the time, hovering.

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