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Name That Dish!

partysugar — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 16:15:03 -0800

The dip below would be ideal at a Super Bowl party. It's generally served with crudités or thick-cut potato chips. Sometimes it's used to dress salads. Do you know what this dip is called?

A Condiment Worth Making: Blue Cheese Dressing

partysugar — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 12:15:05 -0700

It may be old-fashioned, but I love a good wedge salad. With its crisp, cool lettuce and tangy, creamy dressing, the iceberg and blue cheese combination is incredibly comforting. While good bottled blue cheese dressings exist, there's nothing like the thick, rich homemade variation.

It's not only delicious in the wedge salad, but it's great on spinach salads, tasty as a dip with carrots or buffalo wings, and scrumptious slathered as a spread on steak sandwiches. To learn how to make this simple yet rewarding dressing, read more.

Blue Cheese Dressing
From Martha Stewart

Ingredients

3/4 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup finely chopped shallot (about 1 shallot)
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh chives
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon celery salt
1/2 cup crumbled domestic blue cheese

Directions

Whisk together buttermilk, mayonnaise, shallot, chives, lemon juice, coarse salt, pepper, and celery salt in a small bowl.
Fold in blue cheese. Cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until cold, about 30 minutes.

Makes about 1 1/2 cups of dressing.

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Reader Recipe: Maple-Balsamic Dressing

YumSugar — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 06:27:19 -0700

I was checking out all the great recipes everyone's been posting, when I came across this dressing from TeamSugar member FinnLover. She's based in Québec, and finally caved in to the local maple syrup frenzy. Lucky for us, it's resulted in a yummy looking maple-balsamic dressing. To get her recipe and try it for yourself, read more.

Submitted by TeamSugar member FinnLover

Yummy Maple - Balsamic Dressing
Tyler Florence's Fall Salad, Tyler's Ultimate

The Province of Québec is the world's largest producer of maple syrup and every year, during the months of March and April when the production takes place, happens some kind of maple frenzy. Wherever you go, restaurants have maple dishes on their menus (pie, cake, pork, salmon...). So last week, I decided to make this sweet and simple dressing. It was fast, easy and tasted great. Tyler's recipe called for candied pecans and pears, but since I had none of that on hand I made a simple green salad.

Ingredients

- 1 small shallot, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 2 teaspoons Balsamic vinegar
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 teaspoons maple syrup
- salt and pepper to taste

Directions
1. Mix together the shallot, Dijon mustard and Balsamic vinegar.

2. Slowly add the olive oil while you whisk to emulsify.

3. Add the maple syrup, mix well, and season with salt and pepper to taste.

4. Serve with the greens of your choice. I used Romaine because that's all I had, but endives, radicchio or baby spinach would have been great too.

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Wild Rice Dressing Two Ways - Beginner and Expert

YumSugar — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 05:50:27 -0800

Regardless of whether or not you stuff your turkey, it simply wouldn't be Thanksgiving without stuffing - er, I mean, dressing. Change things up and take a tip from denizens of the Deep South and Carolina low country: make rice the star of the dish. Not only is whole-grain rice healthier and gluten-free, but cooking up a pot of rice is less work than cubing pieces of day-old bread.

If you're on a tight timeline, keep things simple by using brown rice mix. Fluff in sweetness and crunch by adding dried fruit, almonds, and orange zest. Alternatively, build layers of complexity by browning aromatic vegetables, slow-boiling the rice separately, and then baking the components together to fuse all of the dish's earthy flavors. See both options when you read more.

Whet Guests' Appetites With a Spicy, Seasonal Salad

YumSugar — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 15:00:02 -0800

Whenever I have people over for a sit-down holiday dinner, I like to set the tone with a hunger-inducing salad as the first course. For my most recent dinner, I foreshadowed the Fall meal to come with a peppery medley of in-season produce.

This salad, with its salty, spicy, tangy, and sweet components, turned out to be the perfect way to get guests psyched for supper while still leaving plenty of room for the main course.

Toasted on the stove, pepitas, or hulled pumpkin seeds, impart a nutty flavor to the olive oil, which plays a crucial part in the aromatic dressing. Make this your Thanksgiving salad when you keep reading.

Burning Question: What's the Difference Between Stuffing and Dressing?

YumSugar — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:00:04 -0800

It's arguably the standout dish at Thanksgiving, yet at the same time shrouded in ambiguity. What's the proper way to refer to it: stuffing or dressing? Is there even a distinction?

Some believe that if it's cooked inside a roast, it should be dubbed stuffing; if it's prepared outside the bird, then the proper name for it is dressing. But go south of the Mason-Dixon line, and cooks will call it dressing, regardless of whether its preparation, citing the term "stuffing" as an unpleasant-sounding word. Likewise, northern states and New Englanders generally refer to the dish as stuffing across the board.

So, much like the soda-pop debate, whether you term that beloved side of seasoned starch and vegetables stuffing or dressing is really a matter of where you're eating. But we can all call it one thing for sure: delicious.

Got a burning question? Join the Burning Question group in the YumSugar Community! It's your place to post the most pressing questions about the culinary world.

Let's Dish: What's the Star of Your Thanksgiving Meal?

YumSugar — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 07:50:57 -0800

A fellow Sugar staffer and I were discussing the subject of stuffing versus dressing when the conversation got a little sidetracked. When I mentioned that it (whatever you want to call it!) was the star of last year's Thanksgiving meal, we started sharing the dishes we're most anticipating this holiday. For TrèsSugar, it's mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce; for PetSugar, it's apple pie. To CasaSugar, the answer's obvious: the bird!

The star of my supper always seems to alternate between sourdough bread stuffing and a vegetable side, like these beloved brussels sprouts with bacon. What dish do you consider to be the star of your Thanksgiving feast?
Do you have an standout Thanksgiving recipe? Please participate in our Thanksgiving recipe challenge. All you have to do is upload your recipe, an image, and a brief description to the Kitchen Goddess group. If you're lucky, we might just feature your recipe here on YumSugar!

Source: Flickr User CarbonNYC

Fast & Easy Dinner: Sausage and Pepper Sandwiches

partysugar — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 07:50:55 -0800

Tonight, surprise your loved ones with a homemade version of a ballpark classic, sausage and pepper sandwiches. No grill is necessary, all you need is an oven.

The veggies and sausages are roasted while the bread gets toasty and the cheese melts. The ingredient list calls for bottled balsamic dressing, but if you have the time and skills, why not whisk your own quick vinaigrette?

Serve with mixed greens and a cold beer. To make this mid-week pick-me-up, get the recipe after the break.

Stuffed Squash Two Ways - Beginner and Expert

YumSugar — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 05:50:12 -0800

If you're attending a potluck this Thanksgiving and have been assigned to bring a side, be sure to pick something that's classic yet breaks just enough from the norm, so you know there won't be repeated dishes on the table.

Why not spring for the always stress-free and elegant course known as stuffed squash? Keep it simple and fill the gourd with an Italian-inspired medley of sausage, garlic, peppers, and cheese. Alternately, add another layer of texture by simmering couscous, then fluffing it into a sweet-savory dressing of ground beef, onions, cranberries, and walnuts. For a Thanksgiving side - or everyday meal! - that's sophisticated yet straightforward, keep reading.

Don't Have Day Old Bread? Make It Yourself

partysugar — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 04:00:28 -0800

Recently, I decided to try a recipe that called for day-old bread. I wanted to make the dish that night and headed to the grocery store hopeful that I could find a loaf of day-old bread. Although I was out of luck, I chatted with the baker about my dilemma. How could I turn new bread into stale bread? Here's what she told me to do:

Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Slice the bread into 1/2-inch cubes. If your recipe calls for no crusts, remove them now.
Place the cubes in a single layer on a baking sheet. Do not season or coat with oil.
Bake for 15 minutes or until the bread cubes are toasted and dry, but not browned.

Use the dried out bread to make your recipe. This technique worked perfectly for me! How do you dry out bread?

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