Non-Chicken Entrees and non-potato sides?!
Any suggestions for sides that aren't potato based and main entrees that aren't chicken based? We love chicken and potatoes, being from the South, but I don't want to over do it and would like some variety. We aren't too picky about we eat, meat wise, and will eat anything from ham, turkey, beef or pork. We are a little more picky vegetable wise, steering clear of anything with mushrooms and foods like asparagus and artichokes.
Answers:
OVEN-BAKED BARBECUED PORK CHOPS
This recipe is over 100 years old, passed down through the family.
4 end cut pork chops (the cheap shoulder or arm steaks)
1 cup chopped onion
3 Tablespoons vinegar
2/3 cup ketchup
1/2 cup water
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. garlic powder
2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. Tabasco sauce
2 tsp. prepared mustard (not the dry mustard powder)
1. Preheat oven to 350-F
2. In a baking pan, mix together everything except the chops. Then put the chops into the sauce, flipping over to cover them with the sauce.
3. Bake at 350-F for 1 hour.
4. Uncover and continue baking for 45 minutes.
Remove pork chops from pan onto serving plate. Pour sauce from pan into container and strain/spoon off fat (there will be a lot).
Serve chops with rice and sauce on the side.
DOUBLE CRUST MEAT PIE
Another family recipe, this one from a friend
Filling:
1.5 to 2 pounds lean ground beef
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup shredded raw carrot
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. granulated sugar
1/4 cup ketchup
1 cup water
2 tsp. prepared mustard
...One double-crust pie-crust recipe (or prepared crusts)
A bit of milk to lightly brush the finished top crust with prior to baking.
Preheat oven to 450-F
1. Fry beef and onion, drain off excess fat
2. Mix all the wet ingredients together and pour over beef. Sprinkle over beef. Stir, cover, and simmer slowly (stirring occasionally) for 15 minutes.
3. If you are preparing your own pie crusts, do this while the filling simmers
4. Add filling to bottom crust. Add top crust. Brush with a bit of milk to make it brown nicely.
Bake at 425-F for about 40 minutes or until crust is done.
Serve with "Best of Bridge" POTATO PUFF
2.5 pounds potatoes
half of an 8-oz. pkg of cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sour cream
2 Tablespoons onion salt
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
2 Tablespoons butter
Parmesan cheese
The recipe says to cook and mash the potatoes, add everything and bake, covered at 350 for 30 minutes. This can be prepared ahead of time and heated up in the microwave, or even frozen, thawed and baked.
But if you have a pie in the oven at 450, the potatoes won't cook in there too as they need a much-lower temperature. So I just mix them up and serve it hot. The steam released during the baking puffs the potatoes up, but they're just as tasty if you don't bake them. The good thing about this recipe is that it is just fine without gravy ... just butter at the table.
what about... ham and pea soup, homemade burgers, pork chops and apple sauce. and for sides... fried rice.
I just made a great mixture of roasted vegs (just chop, drizzle with olive oil, and add a little salt, pepper and garlic powder): cauliflower, carrots, parsnips, onions. You can play around with this and add/omit vegetables and herbs. I roasted them for about 20 minutes and the stirred/flipped them and roasted them for 20 mins more. You're Southern: what about collard greens, kale, etc. cooked for a long time in water with a piece of porkfat?!?!? lol I take it you probably don't like okra, either? It's good fried in cornmeal--and it doesn't get slimy.
My family is Southern, too (in case you couldn't tell), and we do eat a lot of chicken! My Southern parents also love: white bean soup (that I make with the leftover Christmas or Easter hambone); stuffed peppers with ground turkey (or beef, which is the traditional way) and rice; chili, made with ground turkey or pork or beef or a mixture, with cornbread. They also like it when I marinate a pork loin in red wine, orange juice and spices (cardamom, coriander, etc.) and roast it for holidays. What else...? Meatloaf, meatballs, turkey pot pie, lasagna, baked pasta, mac'n'cheese, salmon patties, crab cakes, corn-on-the-cob with Old Bay, hoppin' john, succatash, baked squash... OH, and if you're a true Southerner, you have to include a fresh peach cobbler.