Category Archives: Recipes – Side Dishes

Recipes - Side Dishes

Squash Fritters

It’s outrageous how intense food whispering is at times! Last night mama and I were looking in my cookbook and talking about recipes and again today at church my mind kept returning to Squash Fritters with syrup. For lunch. Nothing to do then but beat it to the market after church and cross my fingers that they still had yellow squash in the produce section. My efforts were rewarded as the squash was all I needed for stirring up a batch of these tasty treats; everything else is found readily on hand. If you are out of Bisquick baking mix, use all-purpose flour instead.  Some cooks also add grated onion to the mix but I prefer just the flavor of the raw crook neck squash.

The grated squash goes right into the batter with the eggs and the dry ingredients; do allow the batter to  breathe for 10 minutes so it thickens before you begin frying the fritters. Heat your oil briefly then fry in the hot oil for a few minutes per side, drain, sprinkle with powdered sugar, and do not forget to give them a good splash of maple syrup before serving. I am certainly satisfied now, until the next whisper that is.

Squash Fritters

1/2 to 2/3 cups Bisquick baking mix
1/4 cup Parmesan or Cheddar cheese, freshly grated
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
2 eggs, slightly beaten
2 cups raw yellow squash, grated
Cooking oil for frying
Powdered sugar and  maple syrup, optional

Directions  In large shallow bowl, combine all ingredients except the oil, stir well to blend. Allow the batter to rest for ten minutes then drop the mixture by tablespoons into preheated oil over medium heat.  Cook fritters 2-3 minutes on each side or until golden brown.  Dust with powdered sugar;  serve warm with maple syrup if desired.

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Recipes - Side Dishes

Southern Spoon Bread

cold, with syrup
cold, with syrup

Southern Spoonbread was a practical, and tempting, choice for supper tonight after spending the better part of the day cleaning and organizing the pantry. This simple dish, easily prepared any time with ingredients normally on hand, makes a fine side dish at any meal. Eaten warm, just out of the oven, it is best described as a spoonable cornbread pudding. The center is creamy with a top that browns and thickens enough to give texture.  Eaten cold, as a midnight snack, drizzled with maple syrup, the texture had firmed and it tasted a little like bread pudding.  With only a teaspoon of sugar, the dish is  not overly sweet, but it is rich with eggs and cornmeal.

There are dozens of versions of this classic Southern recipe and today I modified the one I normally use because I didn’t have corn meal other than the self-rising variety and that wouldn’t do for this dish. I used boxed Jiffy Mix as a substitute, and though the souffle was not as dry as when using plain white corn meal, the texture was still satisfying. The top will crack as the souffle bakes and that is fine. The hardest thing about making this is resisting the urge to eat it right out of the pan. I managed to do so only by walking out of the kitchen and occupying myself elsewhere for 15 minutes. This is comfort food at its Southern finest.

Do beat your egg whites separately and until they are stiff and firm and fold them into the batter gently to lighten it. This could easily be baked in a 2-qt. souffle dish also.

Ingredients

5 T. unsalted butter, softened
4 cups milk
1 cup fine-ground white or yellow cornmeal
1 tsp. sea salt
1 tsp. sugar
4 eggs, separated
1/8 tsp. cream of tartar

Directions Preheat the oven to 400. Butter a 1-1/2 quart soufflé dish with 2 T. of the softened butter; set aside. In a large saucepan, heat milk until just below boiling. Slowly whisk in cornmeal; bring to boiling. Cook, whisking constantly, over medium heat for about five minutes or until the mixture thickens and begins to pull away from the sides of the pan. Remove from heat; transfer to a large mixing bowl. Cool 10 minutes. Whisk in the remaining 3 T. butter, salt, and sugar. Beat in egg yolks until well blended.

In a separate large mixing bowl, beat egg whites and cream of tartar with a clean large whisk until they form soft glossy mounds. Stir one-third of the beaten egg whites into the cornmeal mixture to lighten. Gently fold in remaining egg whites. Gently turn into prepared soufflé dish; the batter will nearly fill the dish. Bake 30 minutes or until puffed and golden brown. Cool five minutes at least before serving.

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Recipes - Side Dishes

Fried Apples & Raisins

Fried Apples & Raisins

When asked last week what she’d enjoy for a snack this week, mama just didn’t know, she just didn’t know, but when I suggested fried apples, she quickly said, “Oh, yes, that would be good!” True to form she clearly knows what hits the spot on a winter day.

This recipe from my cookbook collection is simple to prepare. Use a cast iron skillet and cook the apples until just tender. You want them to hold their form and be fork-tender, not mushy. Today I used Jonagold apples and dark raisins because I didn’t have the golden raisins I prefer and dark raisins work just as well really.  Don’t take too long sautéing the apples, 7-8 minutes is fine, in melted butter, over medium-high heat. I did add a teaspoon of bacon grease to my skillet today knowing it would add contrast to the sweet butter I used.  Flavor with brown sugar, thicken with cornstarch and water, and add just a splash of lemon juice before serving.   All pau!   Ready!

 

Fried Apples & Raisins

Ingredients

4 lg. tart apples, peeled, cored, and sliced 1/4” thick
1/4 cup butter
2 tsp. cornstarch
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup golden raisins
1 tsp. lemon juice, to taste

Directions Prepare apples. Melt butter in large skillet; add apples. Cook and stir over medium heat 6-7 minutes or until almost tender. Dissolve cornstarch in water, add to skillet. Add brown sugar and raisins and bring to a low boil. Boil 2 minutes, stirring often. Remove from heat and season with the lemon juice to taste.

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Recipes - Side Dishes

Copper Penny Carrots

Copper Penny Carrots

I associate this dish with friendship because as years pass, the best friendships become sweeter and more meaningful. For the past ten years, I have hosted a group of my closest high school friends to a dinner party in mid-January. “The Class of ’67 & Friends Gala” is now a tradition and the evening passes with much merriment as we enjoy a hearty meal prepared at my house along with many appetizers and desserts shared by the ladies. This particular gathering is our time to celebrate and toast a happy new year and thoroughly enjoy the easy camaraderie long friendships entertain. My dinner party menu for this event varies only slightly each year with menu choices revolving around dishes easily prepared the day before; doing so provides more visiting time and less hubbub once we gather. You will like this dish both because it is tasty and because people don’t eat large servings of it so you will have enough carrots for several meals. The marinade is a basic sweet-sour mixture using canned tomato soup as a base with vinegar and sugar added; the sauce, spiced with ground mustard, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper, infuses the carrots with tangy flavor akin to many relishes.

Added bonus for this dish(!) is that the flavor of the dish mellows as it sits. And that is probably why the dish brings to mind friendships. Both only get better with time. The yellowed magazine recipe page in my files, dated September 1977, reminds me that this dish also has stood the test of time. If you and your family like carrots, this is a keeper for you particularly.

Copper Penny Carrots

Ingredients

3 lbs. young slender carrots, peeled, sliced in thin rounds

For the marinade

1-(10 oz.) can tomato soup
3/4 cup vinegar
1/2 cup cooking oil
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. dry mustard
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper

Directions Peel and slice the carrots then boil them with water to cover in a large sauce pot for 15 minutes or until just fork tender but still crisp. Drain well then place them in large glass mixing bowl. Prepare the marinade by bringing remaining ingredients to a boil, stirring until sugar dissolves. Boil 5 minutes, low. Pour the hot marinade over carrots and stir to coat well. Chill in fridge overnight. This dish lasts a week plus in the fridge if not eaten in one sitting; just stir well before serving again to blend the dressing.

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Recipes - Side Dishes

Broccoli Cornbread

Broccoli Cornbread 2 (2)

I made this dish when Susie was visiting in November and served it with Chicken Cacciatore, but made it again today because the photo from November was terrible (it’s all about “the learning curve” here with photographing food). Today I halved the recipe since there was no company here to help enjoy it. This simple dish bakes up moist with cottage cheese, eggs, and Jiffy Mix, and it actually tastes more like dressing than anything else. The broccoli and eggs produce a satisfying side dish with many purposes; it is especially delicious accompanying meatloaf or a pot of ham-n-beans. This old recipe of mama’s is always a good choice for a pot luck or when there are enough people around the table to enjoy it in one sitting; if not, it does microwave well the second day.

Broccoli Cornbread

Ingredients

5 eggs, beaten
2 cups cottage cheese
1 box frozen chopped broccoli, thawed
1-1/2 sticks margarine, melted
1 onion, chopped
2 boxes Jiffy cornbread mix

Directions Preheat oven to 350. In large bowl, mix eggs, cottage cheese, broccoli, margarine and onion. Stir to mix well. Add the cornbread mix, one box at a time and mix well, folding all ingredients. Scrape into a greased 9×13 glass baking dish. Bake 45-50 minutes until a knife inserted in center comes out clean. Cool slightly then cut into squares for serving.

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