At your holiday dinner party, don’t neglect the side dishes
The turkey is golden and steaming. The ham is in the oven. The prime rib is resting on the counter. The goose, so to speak, is cooked. At your holiday dinner, it is the entrée that is the star attraction. It is what gets the attention and garners all of the obviously well-deserved praise.
But something seems unfair about that. Undemocratic. The mashed potatoes and green bean casseroles do the heavy lifting, yet it is those elitist beef wellingtons that bask in the glory.
We say it is time to stand up to this abuse. Time for vegetables of all shapes and varieties to come together in peas and harmony, and demand the recognition they deserve.
Side dishes of the world, unite!
With this stirring thought ringing through the clear skies, we set about to make side dishes for the holidays that are worthy of the occasion. Side dishes that are good enough that
they can hold their own against the ceaseless bullying of a salt-crusted leg of lamb.
But because the entrées are still the star of the show, no matter what we say, and they demand most of the cook’s attention, I made side dishes that were not too difficult or time-consuming. Which is to say I did not make Delmonico potatoes.
Delmonico potatoes, named for the legendary New York restaurant that invented them, are potatoes au gratin that are served inside the hollowed-out skin of a baked potato. You can imagine how good they are, and how much effort they are to produce.
Instead, I made mashed potatoes — but not just ordinary mashed potatoes. I made the
best mashed potatoes I’ve ever made. They are silky smooth and deliriously rich without being too, too caloric. Which is to say they have a lot of butter, but no cream.
A couple of tricks go into making them so smooth and satisfying. One is that they must never, at any time, be allowed to go cold. Another is that instead of smashing the potatoes with a crude masher, you push them through a ricer or a food mill, for a much finer result. And the final trick seems to be to that instead of melting the butter and pouring the milk directly into the potatoes, you melt the butter into the milk and pour the mixture into the potatoes like that.
They are the epitome of mashed potatoes, everything a mashed potato should be. Who needs Delmonico potatoes?
On the lighter side, I made a delightful — and delightfully colorful — salad: Roasted beet goat cheese salad.
It’s a classic, and worth bringing out for the holidays. It begins with a base of bright and peppery arugula, which is topped with gemlike diced beets, creamy dots of goat cheese, slices of rich avocado and crunchy bits of toasted walnut.
That is a delicate balance of flavors, and it needs the perfect dressing to make it even better and bring the most out of each ingredient. But that’s easy: the recipe includes a simple vinaigrette that is lightly sweetened with balsamic vinegar and a touch of maple syrup.
Actually, you’ll want to serve it when it isn’t the holidays, too.
Roasted winter vegetables came next: Brussels sprouts and carrots, cooked with balsamic vinegar, olive oil, rosemary and thyme. You could use other winter vegetables if you like, but the Brussels sprouts and carrots strike me as a nice and festive mix for Christmas.
You could just serve the vegetables like that, and everyone would enjoy them. But for the holidays, I made them extra special. I sprinkled them with toasted pecans and dried cranberries. It’s just the right touch to put everyone in the right spirit.
My final side dish of the season was another salad, and this time it’s all about the dressing. Kale, Ginger and Peanuts Salad is pretty straightforward: It is shredded kale tossed in a dressing of peanut butter, ginger and lime juice. A bit of sugar cuts the bitterness, a single shallot adds depth and water thins out the mixture until it is a proper dressing.
All it needs is something unexpected, a special treat to add flavor and crunch. All it needs are roasted peanuts scattered across the top.
It’s light and surprisingly flavorful. It’s just the sort of side dish that can stand up to an entrée, no matter how haughty it may be.