How Do You Match Side Dishes To A Main Entree?

[flyinglentris]

Wow. I'm surprised that all the brave chefs on CB trip up over picking sides for an entree. I don't think the term 'appropriate' applies to sides, but instead, what works? It shouldn't be a hard choice, but something open to exploration and experience of variety, like everything else, - my view.

I have already confessed above, that more often than not, my angle is the commonly acceptable, or the what is available. It is the what is available option that opens the door to exploration of sides, I suppose. But I asked the question looking for a guide to what might work best, not what can be fit from left over stuff in the fridge. Acceptable? How sycophantic can one get in cooking?

Why do we usually have fruit with breakfast items? I haven't a clue, except that it sweetens the flat taste of grains. But that doesn't apply to bacon and eggs, and we still have fruit with that. Why? Why not peas and carrots with breakfast? Yes, that sounds awkward, if anything ever did. But then we have all eaten cold pizza from the previous night for breakfast and no side, no orange juice.

And there's another question to open here, what goes behind the choice of beverage with an entree?

Sometimes a full meal, like a pizza, may not have a side, but always, a beverage.

And going full circle, I reiterate, a full meal includes a side, often, - and what should or could that side be?

 

[Yorky]

Why do we usually have fruit with breakfast items? I haven't a clue, except that it sweetens the flat taste of grains. But that doesn't apply to bacon and eggs, and we still have fruit with that.

I occasionally have fruit for breakfast but not as an accompaniment; pomelo, grapes, banana, rose apple. My usual breakfast, when I have one, is either pâté on buttered toast or salsa and some form of crisps. That's if I'm at home. If I'm away staying in a hotel I'll have a selection from the buffet which will include an omelette usually. In Muslim countries, bacon and sausage are either forbidden or are beef or turkey bacon and chicken sausage which I can do without.

 

[Yorky]

Surprisingly, I prefer American biscuits with butter and honey over buscuits and gravy.

CD

Was that a typo or are the biscuits with gravy spelt differently?

I've never had biscuits/buscuits with gravy.

 

[Morning Glory]

I've never had biscuits/buscuits with gravy.

Typo - its biscuits. Its virtually unheard of in the UK/Europe and probably elsewhere except for the US. The word biscuits in the US means something that resembles a scone. The gravy is white (like a béchamel) and often contains sausage meat. Its not a looker!

 

[Yorky]

Typo - its biscuits. Its virtually unheard of in the UK/Europe and probably elsewhere except for the US. The word biscuits in the US means something that resembles a scone. The gravy is white (like a béchamel) and often contains sausage meat. Its not a looker!

I went to a restaurant here in town run by an American (from Boston) for Christmas dinner many years ago. The gravy for the turkey (which was shredded) was white!

I don't go now (at least not at Christmas).

 

[garlichead]

Wow. I'm surprised that all the brave chefs on CB trip up over picking sides for an entree. I don't think the term 'appropriate' applies to sides, but instead, what works? It shouldn't be a hard choice, but something open to exploration and experience of variety, like everything else, - my view.

I have already confessed above, that more often than not, my angle is the commonly acceptable, or the what is available. It is the what is available option that opens the door to exploration of sides, I suppose. But I asked the question looking for a guide to what might work best, not what can be fit from left over stuff in the fridge. Acceptable? How sycophantic can one get in cooking?

Why do we usually have fruit with breakfast items? I haven't a clue, except that it sweetens the flat taste of grains. But that doesn't apply to bacon and eggs, and we still have fruit with that. Why? Why not peas and carrots with breakfast? Yes, that sounds awkward, if anything ever did. But then we have all eaten cold pizza from the previous night for breakfast and no side, no orange juice.

And there's another question to open here, what goes behind the choice of beverage with an entree?

Sometimes a full meal, like a pizza, may not have a side, but always, a beverage.

And going full circle, I reiterate, a full meal includes a side, often, - and what should or could that side be?

These are generally cultural decisions.

 

[caseydog]

Typo - its biscuits. Its virtually unheard of in the UK/Europe and probably elsewhere except for the US. The word biscuits in the US means something that resembles a scone. The gravy is white (like a béchamel) and often contains sausage meat. Its not a looker!

Yes on both. It was a typo. And, yes, it is more similar to a scone, although not exactly the same. I think biscuits and gravy started in the American South, but not sure. It is common "country" food.

BTW, American biscuits are very common with fried chicken in the US, with butter and honey. Doesn't KFC in other countries serve biscuits with chicken orders?

CD

 

[Yorky]

BTW, American biscuits are very common with fried chicken in the US, with butter and honey. Doesn't KFC in other countries serve biscuits with chicken orders?

Not here. Although I rarely visit KFC, if at all.

(Note: we don't have McDonald's nor Burger King in this neck of the woods).

 

[caseydog]

Wow. I'm surprised that all the brave chefs on CB trip up over picking sides for an entree. I don't think the term 'appropriate' applies to sides, but instead, what works? It shouldn't be a hard choice, but something open to exploration and experience of variety, like everything else, - my view.

I have already confessed above, that more often than not, my angle is the commonly acceptable, or the what is available. It is the what is available option that opens the door to exploration of sides, I suppose. But I asked the question looking for a guide to what might work best, not what can be fit from left over stuff in the fridge. Acceptable? How sycophantic can one get in cooking?

Why do we usually have fruit with breakfast items? I haven't a clue, except that it sweetens the flat taste of grains. But that doesn't apply to bacon and eggs, and we still have fruit with that. Why? Why not peas and carrots with breakfast? Yes, that sounds awkward, if anything ever did. But then we have all eaten cold pizza from the previous night for breakfast and no side, no orange juice.

And there's another question to open here, what goes behind the choice of beverage with an entree?

Sometimes a full meal, like a pizza, may not have a side, but always, a beverage.

And going full circle, I reiterate, a full meal includes a side, often, - and what should or could that side be?

Well, you asked a question. I'm sorry if you are not getting the kind of creativity out of our answers as you wanted. As far as I can tell, they are all very honest answers.

Like I said before, other than certain meals, I don't give a lot of thought to what my sides will be. If I'm having a steak or a pork chop, I go with what sounds good at the moment. With BBQ, I almost always have potato salad, and sometimes some BBQ beans. With fried fish, I usually go with fries/chips. It looks like I am not alone in how I view sides.

CD

 

[MrsDangermouse]

BTW, American biscuits are very common with fried chicken in the US, with butter and honey. Doesn't KFC in other countries serve biscuits with chicken orders?

Nope, not in the UK. I don't think they're even on the menu.

I've tried American biscuits and gravy - I found it a bit odd, but I actually quite liked it. Not enough to go out of my way to have it again, but I'd eat the dish if it was put in front of me.

 

[karadekoolaid]

Wow. I'm surprised that all the brave chefs on CB trip up over picking sides for an entree. I don't think the term 'appropriate' applies to sides, but instead, what works? It shouldn't be a hard choice, but something open to exploration and experience of variety, like everything else, - my view.

I don´t think anyone is tripping up; we´ve all stated how we go about choosing sides for entreés. Classic combinations work, if you want to know "what works", so I don´t really see what your question is.
Fruit for breakfast? Not in my house, and never combined with eggs, sausages or bacon, but in other places it´s common. Cereal for breakfast? Who invented that - Mr Kellogg? But you look around and you can find almost any combination, depending a lot(IMHO) on local culture and availability. I can recall seeing some Greek fishermen breakfasting on fried fish and cooked sea urchin, washed down with Retsina.
I´m always interested in seeing what a typical menu is when I travel. 3 things that come up again and again here, for example, are mac & cheese, green bean casserole and creamed spinach. Why ? I´ve got no idea.
Sides in my local pub in the UK include "chips" (fries), side salad, onion rings and those bloomin´mushy peas again.
Go to a Mexican cantina in San Miguel de Allende and there´s no such thing as a "side". Same principle applies in Palestine, Sri Lanka, Viet Nam and Japan.

 

[JAS_OH1]

I don´t think anyone is tripping up; we´ve all stated how we go about choosing sides for entreés. Classic combinations work, if you want to know "what works", so I don´t really see what your question is.
Fruit for breakfast? Not in my house, and never combined with eggs, sausages or bacon, but in other places it´s common. Cereal for breakfast? Who invented that - Me Kellogg? But you look around and you can find almost any combination, depending a lot(IMHO) on local culture and availability. I can recall seeing some Greek fishermen breakfasting on fried fish and cooked sea urchin, washed down with Retsina.
I´m always interested in seeing what a typical menu is when I travel. 3 things that come up again and again here, for example, are mac & cheese, green bean casserole and creamed spinach. Why ? I´ve got no idea.
Sides in my local pub in the UK include "chips" (fries), side salad, onion rings and those bloomin´mushy peas again.
Go to a Mexican cantina in San Miguel de Allende and there´s no such thing as a "side". Same principle applies in Palestine, Sri Lanka, Viet Nam and Japan.

Yeah, I rarely have fruit for breakfast either. I like it sometimes on pancakes or French toast, which I eat maybe 4x a year. More typical here is eggs and potatoes, an omelet, or eggs and toast, because that's what hubby likes. Lots of times I don't eat anything until 2 pm or later and it could be pasta or a leftover slice of WARM pizza (haven't eaten cold pizza since college).

I don't like fries with my burgers. I'd rather just load my burger up with lettuce, tomato, cheese, bacon, etc. I have a hard time finishing that, don't need a side. With fried fish I'd rather just have extra fish and a side salad. I like CD's idea of a baked potato with his burger. But I rarely eat anything I didn't cook myself these days, we've eaten restaurant takeout maybe 5 times in the past year.

I'm not familiar with mac n cheese being on menus except the kid's menu, and green bean casserole around Thanksgiving could be a thing. I love creamed spinach but not a popular menu listing up here.

 

[NailBat]

The simple answer is: do we have it, and does the wife agree to it?

The complex answer? That's like asking what chords belong in a song. At least on music, they have music theory which can shed a little light on why things work together. Cooking has no such thing.

 

[FowlersFreeTime]

My post was meant to be humorous, but there was more than an ounce of truth to it...
Say for example tonight I choose to make chicken...

• What's in the freezer? Boneless chicken breast. OK Meat has been selected.
• How am I going to do that? Pan fried with a garlic sauce of some sort. OK Style has been selected.
• Should I do rice or other? Feels like more western cuisine than Asian, so I think mashed potatoes will work well and will absorb some of the sauce. OK Starch has been selected.
• I need veggies: I have a head of broccoli, I will roast that in the oven unless wife vetoes (it seems to be one of the foods she does not like during her pregnancy) and as a backup I have romaine lettuce for a salad. OK Vegetables have been selected.

That's my process by default. Now if I were to start by saying I want (fill in the meat here) in a certain ethnic style (American southern comfort food? Chinese? Japanese? etc) then I would pick side dishes that fit the above formula within the confines of that style's culinary norm.

 

[FowlersFreeTime]

The simple answer is: do we have it, and does the wife agree to it?

YES this is the right answer most of the time LOL

The complex answer? That's like asking what chords belong in a song. At least on music, they have music theory which can shed a little light on why things work together. Cooking has no such thing.

Well, you do have regional cuisine which doesn't give you a theory or rules, but it does narrow your choices if you want to adhere to tradition or authenticity.