Simply Irresistible Sides

On By Leslie Byars RegisterIn sides, The Recipes4 Comments

I don’t mind serving the same meats or mains over and over again, but when it comes to the side dishes, I like to change it up a bit. Here are two of my most recent favorite side dishes. Both are simple and impressive—with five ingredients or fewer.

These Hasselback-style potatoes are a Swedish version of a roasted potato. It takes its name from the Hasselbacken Hotel Restaurant in Stockholm, Sweden. The name makes me think of David Hasselhoff—from Baywatch—I can’t help it! It’s silly, I know.

Baywatch Potatoes

Serves 6

3 tablespoons butter, melted

3 tablespoons olive oil

6 large Yukon Gold potatoes, sliced Hasselback style as directed below

Kosher salt

Toppings: sour cream and chives

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Melt butter in a small microwaveable bowl; stir in olive oil. Set aside.

Place potatoes, one by one, in the bowl of a serving spoon, slicing in 1/8th of an inch increments, stopping when knife hits the spoon. (The spoon prevents the knife blade from going completely through the potato—leaving it intact at the base.)

The metal of the spoon prevents any slipups with the knife.

Brush a 2-quart baking dish with the melted butter mixture. Place sliced potatoes in the baking dish. With a basting brush, brush the potatoes with the butter mixture; sprinkle generously with kosher salt. Bake for 30 minutes; remove from oven, and baste with remaining butter mixture. Return to the oven for an additional 35 to 40 minutes or until brown and crispy. The baking time may vary slightly, depending on the size of your potatoes.

Brush the potatoes with butter and olive oil mixture before baking; sprinkle generously with kosher salt.
The potatoes should be the size of a large egg.

Yields 6 Servings

Baywatch Potatoes (Hasselback Style)
Save RecipeSave Recipe
Print Recipe
Recipe Image

Ingredients

  • 3 tablespoons butter, melted
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 6 large Yukon Gold potatoes, sliced Hasselback style as directed below
  • Kosher salt
  • Toppings: sour cream and chives

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
  2. Melt butter in a small microwaveable bowl; stir in olive oil. Set aside.
  3. Place potatoes, one by one, in the bowl of a serving spoon, slicing in 1/8th of an inch increments, stopping when knife hits the spoon. (The spoon prevents the knife blade from going completely through the potato—leaving it intact at the base.)
  4. Brush a 2-quart baking dish with the melted butter mixture.
  5. Place sliced potatoes in the baking dish.
  6. With a basting brush, brush the potatoes with the butter mixture; sprinkle generously with kosher salt.
  7. Bake for 30 minutes; remove from oven, and baste with remaining butter mixture.
  8. Return to the oven for an additional 35 to 40 minutes or until brown and crispy.
7.8.1.2
33
https://dearpartydiary.com/simply-irresistible-sides/

These are delicious with a steak dinner. Depending on the size of the potato, allow 1 to 2 per person. Pottery by earthbornpottery.net.

Both of these beautiful and tasty sides are even more attractive because they don’t break the piggy bank.

I like to think of the overall look of the recipes on the dinner plate. The Blistered Tomatoes are a nice, colorful addition to a plate of mostly brown food.

How cute are these?
Simple ingredients make this recipe a snap.

Blistered Tomatoes

Serves 3 to 4

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 cups (1 pint) of cherry tomatoes

2 tablespoons chopped, fresh basil

Balsamic glaze, to drizzle

Salt and red pepper flakes to taste

In a heavy skillet (I use my cast iron), heat olive oil to medium-high. Add tomatoes to hot oil, and jiggle often. After about 5 minutes the tomatoes will begin to shrivel.

To stir, simply jiggle.

Continue to cook 5 more minutes or until some of the tomatoes begin to pop open.

Drizzle with balsamic glaze, and top with fresh chopped basil. I serve this right out of the cast-iron skillet.
I like the thickness and richness of the balsamic glaze, but a good quality balsamic vinegar can be substituted.
Balsamic Glaze is available at most grocery stores; look for it with the vinegars.

Learn from Leslie: If you have any leftovers, the tomatoes are a treat to serve over pasta.

Bubbly Bar

On By Leslie Byars RegisterIn appetizers, beverages, brunch, The Parties8 Comments

“I’ll have a double mimosa, hold the O.J.”

Fresh fruits and flowers set the tone for this colorful event.

Nothing says party more than a chilled bottle of Champagne. During football season, Thanksgiving weekend, or anytime during the holidays, take time to set up an attractive mimosa bar. Start with a decorative tray and a variety of fresh juices, such as orange, pineapple, and cranberry, and of course, ice-cold Champagne. For those less festive folks, throw out a bottle of vodka.

A little humor never hurt anything.

A quick and easy appetizer to serve with a mimosa bar is Parmesan-Parsley Popcorn—which falls into my Emergency Appetizer recipe category. I always have these ingredients on hand. I love to serve such a simple nibble in an interesting container. It changes everything.

Even though I’ve never smoked a cigarette in my life, I am somehow obsessed with vintage ashtrays. Certain things jump out at you and there is no explanation—other than there is a sense of nostalgia to them. I feel they will soon be extinct.

Be on the lookout for unusual serving pieces like these vintage treasures.

A large vintage ashtray is the ideal size and shape for a snack like this popcorn, and it’s always good to do something unexpected. The best compliment you can get after a party is for one of your guests to tell a friend what you did. Give them something to talk about.

One bag of microwave popcorn, tossed with Parmesan and then topped with chopped parsley. Impressive, huh?
Buttery saltines are always a crowd-pleaser; add a seasoning salt and they are over the top. Next time you have last-minute company, try Trader Joe’s Everything but the Bagel Sesame Seasoning Blend on top of saltines dipped in melted butter. Bake for 25 minutes at 275 degrees. (Bake on a rack on top of a cookie sheet.)
This blend of sesame and poppy seeds, sea salt, garlic, and onion is not just for bagels anymore.
The buttered saltines will get extra crispy baking on a rack instead of directly on the baking sheet. Find one that fits comfortably on top of your baking sheet.
And another really easy Emergency Appetizer is making a mad dash to the “olive garden” bar at your local grocery store. Spoon up a container of specialty olives, add a fancy lemon curl on top, and you are done. Voilà!

Somewhere near the ashtrays at most flea markets are the vintage ice trays—soon to be extinct too, thanks to modern-day ice machines. Look for an interesting ice tray shape, like this honeycomb-shaped one, to make a specialty cube to add to the bar. Pineapple juice freezes beautifully, and a cube of it will add a fresh taste to many of your concoctions without watering it down. Cranberry is a good choice too.

Small cubes are perfect for a skinny Champagne flute.
Cranberry juice frozen in a unique ice-cube tray almost looks like fruit when dropped into a glass of Champagne. It flavors as it melts. It’s a two-for-one special.

When time allows, order funny, printed cocktail napkins or interesting, custom cocktail stirrers.

Custom stirrers are available from Etsy at etsy.com/shop/FranJohnsonHouse.
How special are these stirrers?

Take advantage of fresh fruits and use them as a container for your garnishes, as I did here with the fresh pineapple. I simply cut a fresh pineapple in half, hollowed out the fruit from one side, and reserved the rest for garnish. You now have a beautiful bowl—that doesn’t need washing at the end of the night.

Decorate the bar with a pineapple bowl filled with the mimosa garnishes.

If hosting a special occasion with an honored guest, save one of the Champagne corks, place it in a mini glass shadow box, and let it be his or her party favor to remember the event. It will make the perfect keepsake. I buy these by the dozen—they come in handy for wine corks too. Thanks, Elizabeth, for sharing this idea with me years ago. (I have one sitting on my coffee table now that she gave me from our wedding.) It’s a thoughtful, easy gift. Your guests will be impressed.

This keepsake Cork Holder can be ordered from Mercantile + Co. at ggmercantileco.com.

I’m planning the party!

On By Leslie Byars RegisterIn Uncategorized4 Comments

Most people do a blog before a cookbook, but I’ve never done anything the conventional way—so why start now. I realized how many ideas and recipes I forgot in my first book, Leslie’s Party Diaries, and that led to this—the first post on my blog, or as I prefer to call it, the mini magazine. That sounds prettier to me.

I will follow the basic format of my book. Each week I will post something different—it might be a recipe, party tip, entertaining idea, or whatever I’m excited about at the time.

I would love to hear from you too, so feel free to ask a question or make a comment. So here we go! Welcome to Dear Party Diary, the mini magazine.