Side Dishes

Not just mayo and pickles. This Gordon Ramsay Tartar Sauce version has real lift—fresh lemon and a splash of white wine vinegar, capers, fine herbs, …

I thought blue cheese sauce was just blue cheese and cream. So I tossed them together and called it a day. What I got was …

I thought potato cakes were foolproof. Mashed potatoes, a bit of flour, into the pan. But I learned the hard way—hot mashed potatoes = glue. …

I treated garlic bread like a side dish you don’t have to think about. Butter. Garlic. Bread. Done, right? Wrong. I slathered on cold butter, …

I thought Madeira sauce was just wine in a pan with a bit of stock. I dumped, stirred, and hoped for magic. What I got …

The first time I made cranberry sauce, I used canned. Yep. That gelatinous log with the can-ridges still imprinted. It slid out with a slurp …

The first time I made parsnip purée, I treated it like mashed potatoes. Boil, blitz, done. It was watery, bland, and split when I reheated …

I rushed it. Tossed everything in a bowl, skipped the salt soak, served it right away—and ended up with a bowl of limp cucumber slices …

I treated them like regular potatoes. Boiled them into oblivion. Didn’t drain properly. Added cold milk and called it done. What I got was orange …

The first time I screwed this up, I overthought it. Threw in everything but the kitchen sink—jalapeños, cumin, even Greek yogurt. What I got was …