Side dishes
I’ve always cheated with butternut squash, opting for the pre-chopped, steam-in-the-bag version from Trader Joe’s. But I thought I’d take a chance and work with the real deal. Turns out it’s not as difficult as I imagined. Here’s a really easy recipe for butternut squash puree — all you need are 3 ingredients and some patience. Bon Appétit!
PS See below the recipe for an accompanying chicken recipe and wine pairing suggestions!
Love learning about food and wine pairings? Then you may want to become the newest member of the Tasters Guild International — a US nationwide society of foodies/wine-lovers who gather together with their local chapters to geek out on all things culinary.
While wine tasting at this year’s SF Pinot Days, I was lucky enough to meet John Engstrom and Jim Lipman of California’s only living Tasters Guild chapter, the Diablo Tasters Guild located in the San Francisco East Bay Area. They were kind enough to invite me to one of their monthly get-togethers where they sync a local restaurant’s venue and cuisine with a California winery. This month the Guild featured food with an Italian flare from Buon Appetito in Fremont alongside some Spanish-inspired wine from Bodegas Paso Robles.
This is a side dish I’ve made so many times that I cannot honestly tell you how I thought of it or if it was inspired by another recipe. It’s my go-to side dish for my homestyle version of Duck a l’orange (which is why I put the “French” in front of fusion), but it also goes really well with glazed salmon, or as a vegetarian dish on its own.
I think I inherited my dad’s salsa gene. We both make salsas that pack a punch when it comes to flavor and somehow seem to go well on top of…anything. However, my dad, unlike me, has knife skills like a ninja. So after I took my first knife skills class, the first thing I did when I got home was make a salsa — it’s the best way to practice uniform dicing and the results are delicious. Now, I’ve done it so many times, I’ve got the recipe — and the knife skills — down to a science. So please enjoy…
It’s fun to play “fancy French food” in the kitchen every once in awhile. Unfortunately, I am not classically trained and some techniques and ingredients are just beyond my reach. But when you’re cookin’ up a duck breast, you can’t help but want to make it a l’orange, right? Enter, my cheats sauce…
