Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Think Hot Sides for a Barbequed Meal

As the weather gets warmer, barbeques and smokers come rolling out; and so do the recipe books. However, one of the mistakes, well I think it's one, is that cold side dishes are always being served. Potato and macaroni salads, cold cole slaw; ok, maybe baked beans make a showing, but not always.

Well lets put a twist in them old knickers and consider some hot sides for those hot burgers, brats and ribs. First we're gonna turn cold cold slaw upside down, and heat it up a bit.

Hot Slaw

Ingredients:

1 small head white cabbage shredded
1 small head red cabbage shredded
3 carrots cleaned and grated
½ cup brown sugar
¼ cup water
2 cups sweet onion relish (jarred or homemade)

Preparation:
In large skillet, on medium heat, mix together the cabbage and carrots, but do not let the vegetables get limp or burned; approximately 5 minutes on heat. Add the brown sugar, water and relish; mix thoroughly, remove from heat and serve.

Makes 8 servings.

If you can't find the jarred sweet onion relish, than try my
Sweet Onion Relish recipe .

Now this second recipe is one I learned about when living in New York; the majority of folks, in the areas I lived in, were either of Italian or Hebrew descent. My mom had sent me to a daycamp, managed by some wonderful Jewish people, and when we had sandwich day for lunch, "Noodle Kugel" was served as a hot side. It was sweet and savory, and oh so delicious.


Noodle Kugel with Raisins

Ingredients:

1 (16 oz) package wide egg noodles, cooked and drained.
½ cup sugar
1 Tbsp ground cinnamon plus ½ tsp
1 Tbsp nutmeg
½ tsp salt
½ cup raisins
½ cup butter; cut into small pieces and divided in half

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350F. Spray a 2 qt round casserole dish with nonstick spray.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the noodles with sugar, 1 Tbsp cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, raisins and ¼ cup of cut up butter. Spoon mixture into casserole dish; sprinkle ½ tsp cinnamon and other ¼ cup of cut up butter over top.

Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes; serve hot.

Makes 6-8 servings.

Mary Cokenour
April 14, 1985