Restaurant Secrets to the Side Dishes

Get the following and stock your pantry.

Turmeric
Drinkable deep red wine (inexpensive Cabs are good)
Butter (a lot of butter)
Heavy Cream
Sea Salt
Black peppercorns and a good grinder

The number one mistake home cooks make is too little butter and salt. Thanksgiving is not a low fat day.

4 cups fresh cranberries
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup red wine
1 teaspoon salt

Heat to medium and cook just until the cranberries pop, serve warm or cold. You can stir in some nutmeg, cinnamon, lemon or orange zest, but this basic savory cranberry sauce will make everyone happy. The wine gives it a depth of flavor that pairs beautifully with the berries.

Baked mashed potatoes.

3 lbs Yukon Gold, Idaho or red potatoes scrubbed well
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup butter

BAKE those potatoes until they are fork tender. (boiling is how you get the watery glue ones, don't do it. Also, keep the peel on.)

Lightly mash with a potato masher, keeping them lumpy. Stir in the butter and cream with a lot of salt and pepper. (if you want to add baked garlic, truffle oil, sour cream, etc. do it at this step.)

Pack into a casserole and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, salt and dot with 1/2 cup of butter. Throw them back into the oven for up to an hour while everything else finishes. They will be piping hot and brown on top.

Baking gives you a drier potato capable of soaking up more butter and cream which is really what these potatoes are all about.

So what's the turmeric for?

Your gravy, or any other dish that needs it. Sometimes you get a grey gravy, it is good, but not too appealing to look at. A few dashed of turmeric will warm up the color and give you a golden hue. A little wine in your stock can give your sauces and gravies depth of flavor. Don't neglect the salt either.

Remember Alton Brown's recipe if you are determined to make the bird. Please feel free to put questions in the comments section and I will do my best to post the solution.

Hummus

Hummus is a house staple. I make it often to snack on and for meals served to friends. It takes minutes and is very open to improvisation.

1 15.5 ounce can of chickpeas
1 cup of olive oil
1/2 cup of Tahini
8 cloves of raw garlic
Juice of two lemons
1 tablespoon Turmeric
1 tsp. Cumin
1 tsp. Coriander
1/2 tsp. white pepper

Put the whole mess in a food processor and mix until it has the texture you like. Use as a dip, a sandwich spread, or for the hardcore, eat with a spoon.

Fried Oysters Tony Meola

An actor you've never heard of? No, Tony Meola
is a sound designer whose work you probably know. He created that wonderful
magical sound of the original Lion King. He is currently represented on
Broaday with Wicked. The best way to tell if it's a Tony Meola show (other than reading the playbill) is to look for shows with no visible microphones and wonderfully balanced sound.

He also loves fried oysters so this dish was created with love and respect for Tony.

Ingredients:
As Many Oysters as you can afford
A good pile of flour
Paprika
Turmeric
Salt
Pepper

A nice skillet and plenty of olive oil.

Mix
the seasonings with the flour and don't skimp. We want flavor kids.
Coat the oysters in the flour. Put 'em on a plate on the bottom shelf
of the refrigerator and go do something else for 15 minutes. Coat 'em a
second time. Get the oil in your skilled nice and hot. Carefully place
the oysters in the oil. While they begin to fry prepare the sauce.

Sauce for one dozen oysters:

Honey lime sauce.
Olive oil
4 cloves of finely minced garlic
Juice of one lime
1 tablespoon honey
Salt and Pepper

Soften the garlic in the heated oil then add the lime juice, honey and seasoning.
Once you have browned the oysters on both sides place on a heated platter and drizzle with the sauce.

This is a dish worthy of Tony...and that's a tall order.

**This
is the first year the Tony Awards will have sound design as a major
category. We've all seen the clunky shows with visible mike cords and
unbalanced sound. Maybe this award will raise the standards so that the
hacks don't get the work.

Rolled Zucchini AND Mint Walnut Dip

I love mint and in my garden it grows in profusion in the summer. Mint and basil are two of my favorite Summer herbs.

I first had the Mint Walnut dip in Yemen and loved the taste of it. We had it with flat bread and fresh vegetables for dipping. The contrast of the cool mint and yogurt with the hot pepper is delectable.

3 cups fresh mint leaves
3 hot chilies with seeds (jalapenos are great and widely available)
1/2 cup walnuts
2 cloves of garlic
1/4 cup olive oil
A good dash of salt

Puree all of the above in a food processor then mix with 1/2 cup of thick Greek style yogurt. It is so delicious. It goes beautifully with a Rose and a summer night.

Zucchini Rolled with tomato mint sauce.

The Sauce
4 chopped Roma tomatoes seeds peel and all
1 cup fresh mint leaves diced
2 cloves garlic finely minced
1/4 cup olive oil
Salt and Pepper
Stir and set aside

The Rolled

3 zucchini sliced lengthwise in thin long strips. Use the short exterior cuts in a salad
Olive oil
Salt

Lightly salt the zucchini and saute for a few minutes on each side in olive oil until they are soft and can be stuffed and rolled.

The Filling
1/2 cup smoked mozzarella shredded
1/2 cup Ricotta cheese
1/2 cup chopped black olives
2 tablespoons pine nuts
1 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 cup dried apricots finely diced and soaked in wine for about an hour

Plus...one anchovy per Roll

Schmear each zucchini strip with the filling divided evenly leaving about an inch on each long end free. Place one glorious salty anchovy in the middle and slowly roll the zucchini, secure with a toothpick and place seam side down in a baking dish.

Pour the sauce over the top, cover and refrigerate for a day.

The next day allow to come to room temperature then bake at 350 for 45 minutes until cheese is melted sauce is bubbly and the whole thing is warm and wonderful. Serve over rice.

I am so glad Katie asked for a mint recipe because these are two of my favorites and it will remind me to make them for my S.O.

Lamb Meatballs

As I looked in my refrigerator and saw the leftover Ham of God I gravitated to the more original Lamb of God and pulled out the leftover scalloped potatoes, a pound of ground lamb and the rest of the asparagus.

Cooking only for myself I decided to make my lamb meatballs.

1 lb ground lamb
1 cup green or black olive tapenade
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon Turmeric
2 good grinds of black pepper
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
1/2 cup pine nuts
1 egg

Mix with hands. They will look a little orange because of the seasoning but don't let it scare you. Make little balls with your hands and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes and remove for sauce.

I made the sauce not so much for tonight but for the left overs. You can make and freeze a bunch of the meatballs and then make the sauce fresh each time to heat them in. This is enough sauce for 8 meatballs.

2 cloves garlic
3/4 cup milk
2 tablespoons salted butter
Splash of olive oil

Chop the garlic and warm it in the oil until it is soft but not brown. Add the milk and the butter. When the butter has melted add the meatballs and let the meatballs simmer in the sauce for a few minutes.

Milk sauce with lamb may sound weird but trust me when you have this over rice and the creamy buttery sauce penetrates the rice you will be in heaven. With the potatoes I didn't so much need the sauce, but you should know how to make it.

Between the olive tapenade in the lamb and the salted butter in the sauce you really don't need more salt unless you like things really salty.

8 meatballs, half a pound of asparagus, a good bunch of leftover potatoes and two glasses of Terra Rosa Malbec, (A wine I really love, fruity and dense and complex enough to stand up to spicy lamb and gentle enough to sip by itself) and I am quite content to be sitting here at the computer for a few minutes before going back to my book.

Roberta Flack is playing in the background and it is just about as romantic it can be...considering I am alone tonight. What can I tell you...sometimes you have to be happy with lamb meatballs, wine and a warm bed, and even if not completely happy at least content.

I am so having some chocolate.