Holiday Dinner Sides - What Works

Yesterday I wrote about what roasts to grace your holiday table. Today it's another important component to your Christmas or New Year's dinner- the sides. Although they're not as important as the main course, they still have to figure heavily in the dinner menu. The question is here what to serve and how many sides make the perfect meal.


The perfect dinner should have just two sides. If you want more then just stick with a third and only three. Most chefs would agree to have a potato dish of some kind. The most obvious is a bowl of homemade mashed potatoes (no instant - it is the holidays). They go well with gravy , whether from a roast beef or turkey. Another bonus is that they can be turned into fryable puffs the next day. You can have them plain or lightly herbed for some variation. Another good and easy potato dish is scalloped.Again these are easy to prepare, with just slicing the taters and then layering with butter and milk last .Sometimes the simplest is best as in the case with new potatoes. These are tiny , red skinned ones that can be just drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with sea salt and rosemary. These go well with nay meat from crown rib to goose to ham to turkey.

Of course there should be one green side.Brussels sprouts are an interesting and elegant choice They can sliced and grilled or parboiled and then baked with melted butter and Parmesan cheese. Spinach is tasty as well. it can be made with just the simple addition of oil and garlic or creamed. Of course you can make that modern American classic, green bean casserole. This is an odd yet surprisingly tasty combo of cream of mushroom soup mixed with soy sauce and milk.It is then poured over green beans and baked ,A layer of crunchy onions is then put over and under the bake.It''s a sure favorite with kids and definite do make if you have little ones over for the holidays.

Making sides for a holiday meal is a pretty easy task.It just takes potatoes and greens to finish off a holiday roast. Anything you make will go perfect with your meat of choice.

The Amazing Potato Part 2

Yesterday I wrote about mashed and French fried potatoes in the vast array of tater dishes. There are so many of them that it deserves two days worth of writing. Today it's time for th e more "upscale dishes" such as scallopped or gratinee potatoes as well as soups. The first adds class and , flavor and character as a side to any roast while the second make a wonderful, elegant lunch or dinner staple.

Scalloped potatoes are an easy to fix dish but they add a very classy touch to any roast beef or pork dinner. The dish is also called gratinee or dauphinais because it originated in the Dauphin region of southwestern France . Using a mandolin, slice russet potatoes wafer thin and layer in a buttered casserole dish. Spread milk or cream on each layer and bake for forty minutes in a 325 degree oven. They can be baked alongside a roast.Variations can include a mix of grated Gruyere and breadcrumbs on the top or even breadcrumbs between the potato layers.

Potatoes also make wonderful soup especially vichyssoise. This is a simple yet classic potato soup not from France surprisingly, but from New York City. The man who invented it . Louis Diat named it after his hometown of Vichy France. It is a cold soup or potage glacee and made with leeks and pureed potatoes . For heartier fare during this cold weather stick with hot soup such as baked potato soup. This is popular even in diners. It's a simple soup full of pureed and chunks of the tuber. Usually there is bacon. cheddar cheese bits and chives added to to give it a "Loaded potato taste"

Making potatoes into scalloped or soup dishes is easy. Both are great ways of exploring the different sides of this versatile tuber.Try them to bring out the best tastes and textures of the potatoes.