They may be a support act, but great side dishes can transform a meal. Breads, salads, rice, potatoes and veggies, some can even be transformed into the main attraction with a little inspiration. Here are my favourite side dish recipes.
Salade Verte – How To Dress A Green Salad Like this recipe? You’ll love my online French cooking class Inspired by Damien Pignolet! A simple green salad (salade verte in French) is the ideal accompaniment to so many dishes, whether it’s made from just one type of leaf or a mixture of several. Salade verte […]
Southern Hush Puppies Like this recipe? You’ll love my online cooking class featuring the food of America’s Deep South! I’ve been intrigued by hush puppies ever since a friend who grew up in the American South told me about them. He said that when the good old boys were sitting around the campfire at night […]
Crispy Potato Skins Like crispy potato skins? You’ll love my online Italian cooking class featuring the food of Liguria! This crispy potato skins recipe is inspired by one in a 1980s Gourmet Traveller magazine. I make it with potato skins leftover from preparing gnocchi (see video below). Roasting the potatoes on a bed of rock […]
Focaccia Join my food & wine tour to Italy to discover more Italian regional specialties! I love authentic focaccia made with a generous amount of olive oil and had such fun working on focaccia recipes inspired by Lucio Galletto for my Ligurian online cooking class. Lucio uses more water and oil in his recipe than […]
Duck Fat Potatoes Like this recipe? You’ll love my online French cooking class Inspired by Damien Pignolet! Duck fat potatoes are a delicacy in France. So whenever I have some rendered duck fat left over from frying duck breasts for salads or duck à l’orange (see video below), I save it to make them. They’re […]
Chestnut Rice Like this recipe? You’ll love my online Japanese cooking class Inspired by Hideo Dekura! Chestnuts are a favourite autumn food in Japan in both savoury and sweet dishes. At their simplest, yakiguri (roasted chestnuts) are sold to passers-by from mobile street stands just as they are in Europe. For something slightly more filling […]
Lebanese Pink Pickled Turnips Like this recipe? You’ll love my online Lebanese cooking class! Pickled vegetables are always on a Lebanese table. Olives, chillies and turnips are most common, and small stuffed eggplants (makdous), cucumbers and cauliflower are also popular. The most distinctive are the pink pickled turnips, traditionally stained bright pink with beetroot. These […]
Orange & Date Salad Like this orange and date salad? You’ll love my online Middle Eastern cooking class inspired by Michael Rantissi! Once you discover how easy it is to segment an orange (see video below), you’ll be making this simple orange and date salad regularly. Use vivid Persian pistachio slivers instead of almonds if […]
Lemon & Ginger Rice Like this recipe? You’ll love my online Indian cooking class inspired by Ajoy Joshi! Lemon and ginger rice is a deliciously fresh side dish that’s a great accompaniment to all sorts of dishes, especially seafood or poultry. With the optional tempering mixture drizzled over the top it’s particularly good with Indian […]
Crispy Smashed Potatoes Like this recipe? You’ll love my online Caribbean cooking class inspired by Paul Carmichael! The method for making these crispy smashed potatoes was shared with me by my friend Paul Carmichael. They combine the crunchiness of roast potatoes with the creaminess of mash – what’s not to love?! The most important thing […]
