From the Introduction...

Amen!

Side Dishes and Veggies

Makes about 8 side-dish servings

6 sweet potatoes, about 1 pound each
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, diced
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 cup honey
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Chef Jamie’s Tips: I usually incorporate all the pan liquid because it’s needed
for consistency and it has a lot of flavor.
I like the dark, orange sweet potatoes, not the thin-skinned pale ones. The
darker-skin variety is sweeter and has deep orange flesh, while the pale variety
is starchy, The medium to large size seem best, with the sweetest ones coming
from mid-fall to late winter. Store them in a dry, dark, cool area. You can add
more butter and honey if you wish.
This dish can be made up to 3 days in advance, but keep it covered in the refrigerator.

"The Brennan family is Irish, Chef Jamie Shannon is Irish, and we’re
serious about potatoes. In fact, John Brennan, Lally’s late father, had
a machine to pre-cut potatoes for restaurants and ran a company that
did that. And as you can see from the recipes in this book, we also like
garlic. So we’re proud of our version of garlic mashed potatoes. We fry
the garlic, add it to the butter, and combine it with buttermilk for a rich,
Southern side dish not to be missed."

2 1/2 pounds boiling potatoes, white or red
1 1/2 tablespoons Kosher salt
1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter, 1 stick whole,
1 stick in 1/4-inch slices
1 large head garlic, cloves peeled, half
sliced very thin, half left whole
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon sour cream
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Scrub the potatoes, place them in a large pot, cover with cold water by 1 inch, and add the salt. Bring to a boil and simmer until a knife pierces the potatoes with no resistance, about 30 to 40 minutes. Drain them in a colander.
Melt the whole stick of butter in a small skillet over medium heat. When
the butter is hot and starting to brown, add the sliced garlic and stir with
a slotted spoon, separating any pieces that stick. Stir to fry evenly, until
brown and crisp, about 2 minutes. Remove with the spoon, drain on a
paper towel, and season with salt and pepper. Add the whole garlic cloves
to the pan and cook over medium heat for about 1 1/2 minutes, or until
tender.
In a small saucepan over medium heat, bring the buttermilk to a simmer
but do not allow to boil. When the potatoes are cool enough to handle,
peel them. Pass half the potatoes through a food mill or ricer set over a
pot. Then remove the whole garlic from the pan and pass the cloves
through the mill. Pass the remaining potatoes through the mill. Stir in
the melted butter and turn on low heat. Stir in the buttermilk. Turn
off the heat. Stir in the sliced butter and 1 cup of the sour cream and
season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle the garlic chips on top, and serve. Garnish the top with the remaining tablespoon of the sour cream.

Chef Jamie’s Tips: The round white or red potatoes are called boiling
potatoes, and they contain less starch. My favorites are Yukon Gold and
fingerling potatoes. Round potatoes are not new potatoes; new potatoes
are just young potatoes.
Don’t peel the potatoes until after they’re cooked. During cooking, the peel
protects the potato from absorbing water. And don’t overcook the potatoes,
or they will absorb water. Don’t run them under cold water after cooking;
instead, let them cool by themselves. Using a food mill or ricer helps avoid overmixing the potatoes and pulling out too much starch. Be sure to serve
the potatoes while they are hot. Pay attention to their temperature because
you’ll be adding cold ingredients.
Be sure to have plenty of salt in the water when you’re cooking the potatoes. Adding salt at the end is not the same.
The whole garlic cooks quickly because the cloves are peeled and they go
directly into hot fat.

2 medium head cauliflower, cored and
cut into large florets
1 cup water
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, 4 tablespoons
diced, 4 tablespoons melted
Kosher salt and freshly ground
pepper to taste
1 cup fine dry bread crumbs
1 cup grated Romano cheese
1 cup chopped fresh parsley

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Arrange the cauliflower neatly in a roasting pan, add the water, place the diced butter evenly over the florets, and season lightly with salt and pepper. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes. Most of the liquid will evaporate and the cauliflower should be about half-cooked.
Thoroughly combine the melted butter, bread crumbs, cheese, and parsley, and sprinkle the mixture evenly over the florets. Return the pan to the oven, and cook for another 25 to 30 minutes, or until the cauliflower is tender but not overcooked. The topping should be golden brown, not burned.

Pear Parsnip Purée

"If you don’t have fresh, ripe pears, don’t bother making this dish. This great combo goes well with any meat or roasted fish. We serve it during the winter holidays, and it’s fun to watch intrigued customers trying to figure out what it
is when they’ve forgotten the menu description. Then they ask for the recipe."

Makes 8 to 10 side-dish servings

3 pounds parsnips, peeled and roughly
chopped into 1-inch lengths
4 cups milk
Kosher salt and freshly ground
white pepper to taste
6 medium ripe pears, cored, and quartered
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter,
cut in 1/2-inch dice
1 tablespoon honey or sugar, or to taste
1/2 cup water

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Place the parsnips in a medium pot, add the milk, salt, and pepper, bring
to a boil, then simmer for 20 minutes, or until the parsnips are tender. Remove the parsnips from the milk and set aside.
Transfer the pears to a small roasting pan. Add half the diced butter,
sprinkle with salt and pepper, and drizzle the honey on top. Add the
water to the pears, and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the pears are
fully cooked and very tender and most of the liquid has evaporated.
Add the pears and any remaining liquid to the parsnips, and purée the
mixture with a hand blender, a food processor, or a ricer. If the mixture seems too thick, add a little of the hot milk mixture. Add the remaining butter, and adjust seasoning.

Chef Jamie’s Tips: Parsnips can be found most of the year, but are best after
the first frost has turned their starch into sugar. Pears are usually at their
best in the late fall. If the pears are not ripe, make something else. Be sure
the parsnips are fully cooked. They tend to be woody when they’re not.
I like to add some of the liquid that remains after it comes out of the oven
and let it melt over my purée.
This is a great dish with meat and poultry, but I’ve also enjoyed it with fish.
It makes a special holiday dish.

By now, we're sure you're even more of a Commander's Palace fan
than ever before! It follows, then, that you'll want to have a look at

Commander's Palace: a Pictoral Guide to
the Famed Restaurant and Its Cuisine

Part of "The Great Restaurants of the World" series, this this pictorial
guide to a famous New Orleans restaurant features 75 stunning color
photos and 15 delicious recipes.

And of course, you're longing for more recipes. No problem, just click!

Introduction:
Pickled Shrimp
(includes Creole Seafood Seasoning)
Onion-Crusted Fried Chicken Salad with
Blue Cheese Dressing

Fish and Seafood:
Catfish Pecan with Lemon Thyme Pecan Butter
Stewed Creole Tomatoes and Shrimp