Category Archives: Side Dishes

Karl’s Lobster Linguini

This Sunday’s Mercury News food section had a recipe for lobster spaghetti. As my followers may know, I cannot make any recipe as written—I have to add my own twists. Italian food with no onion—“Inconceivable!!!!”

Karl's Lobster Linguini

Karl’s Lobster Linguini

Note: I have not posted any recipes in months. Some have used this time productively—for example my wife who has just written her 11th book. Part of my hiatus was due to the difficulty of shopping these days. The major reason, however, was that my kids—in concern for my mental health during a time of Covid—convinced me to play Dragon Age and Skyrim. It has taken me months to resurface—but their plan did work in the sense that those months just flew by. When I finally tried to post something new, I found that WordPress had taken away my “classic editor” and replaced it with a blank screen where all of the controls were hidden in long drop-down menus. It took me a while to recover from the shock. Continue reading

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Filed under Main Dishes, Pasta, Seafood

Karl’s New York Style Bagels

Adapted from a Sophisticated Gourmet recipe

My family has been hankering for bagels, but with the current crisis I am not going to rush out and buy some. Looking online, I found a reasonable recipe and I gave it a try. It was incredibly easy and put all of the store bought bagels to shame.

Karl’s New York Style Bagels

Karl’s New York Style Bagels

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Filed under bread, Side Dishes

Karl’s Caribbean Sweet Potato Salad

Adapted from a Yummly recipe

My sister is visiting and I always try to make something special when they come to California. Daughter Eilene brought some Nevis jerk spice back for me and I decided to try it out on some chicken. This left me with the dilemma of what to serve with the meat. Scouting around the internet for “Caribbean side dishes,” I found a recipe that met my needs.

Karl’s Caribbean Sweet Potato Salad

Karl’s Caribbean Sweet Potato Salad

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Filed under Salads, Side Dishes

Karl’s Curried Deviled Eggs with Capers

I just learned a new hack for easily peeling hard boiled eggs. Since I was making a dinner for wife Jan’s Burner friends, I decided that deviled eggs would be a good appetizer. It took me 2 minutes to peel six eggs perfectly.

Karl’s Curried Deviled Eggs with Capers

Karl’s Curried Deviled Eggs with Capers

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Karl’s Patatas Bravas II

I am making CaldeiradaPortuguese fish stew—for wife Jan’s Burner friends. This soup sometimes contains potatoes, but I decided to make a second dish Patatas bravas—roasted potatoes with a spicy tomato sauce—with the potatoes. A pickled cucumber and tomato salad and bread from a Portuguese bakery round out the meal.

Karl’s Patatas Bravas II

Karl’s Patatas Bravas II

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Filed under Potatoes, Side Dishes

Karl’s Portuguese Flavored Cucumber Pickle Salad

Portuguese salad is a fairly standard Mediterranean salad of bell pepper, cucumber, onions, and tomatoes with a red wine vinaigrette. I had several days to plan this meal, so I thought I would pickle the cucumbers—taking a page from Japanese cuisine. While I am calling these pickles Portuguese, they are more “Portuguese flavored,” as I am using common Portuguese seasonings.

Karl’s Portuguese Flavored Cucumber Pickle Salad

Karl’s Portuguese Flavored Cucumber Pickle Salad

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Filed under Pickles, Salads, Side Dishes

Karl’s Turmeric Rice

I made Kūbide meatloaf for a weeknight dinner, but I had run out of pita bread to go with it. Instead of making another store run I decided to make some Middle Eastern rice as my starchy side dish. I sought inspiration on-line and a found a recipe for garlicy turmeric rice—I then went on to almost completely change it.

Karl’s Turmeric Rice

Karl’s Turmeric Rice

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Filed under Rice, Side Dishes

Karl’s Broa de Milho

I am making caldo verde—“green soup” for dinner and—as I was looking at various recipes—people mentioned that Broa—Portuguese corn bread—was the normal side dish for this soup. My family has developed several food avoidances. Son-in-law Chris is currently avoiding starches, as a result I eliminated the potatoes from my soup. This bread gave me a way to provide a starchy dish for those not on his diet.

Karl’s Broa de Milho

Karl’s Broa de Milho

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Karl’s Spinach Dip

Daughter Eilene is having friends over and she asked that I make sesame crackers. While these crackers are tasty and thoroughly addictive on their own, they do not constitute a meal. I decided to make some spinach dip and lay out some cheese and salami to round out the meal.

Karl’s Spinach Dip

Karl’s Spinach Dip

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Karl’s Broccoli Soup

Wife Jan just had temporary crowns put in, so she is having trouble chewing. I am planning to make a ham and sweet potato dinner—I will be mincing her portion of ham. Normally, I would simply steam some broccoli, but I suggested broccoli soup instead—wife agreed.

Karl’s Broccoli Soup

Karl’s Broccoli Soup

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Filed under Side Dishes, Soups