Southern green beans are fresh green beans simmered low and slow in broth with bacon, ham hock, or smoked turkey for 45 minutes to an hour and a half, until they’re soft enough to fall apart on a fork, not crisp-tender. If you grew up on the quick-blanched, still-snappy version of green beans, this recipe
Candied carrots are sliced carrots simmered first in water until just tender, then finished in a butter and brown sugar glaze that reduces until it clings to every piece. Carrots are the side dish nobody plans around and everybody finishes first. Glazed properly, they go from an afterthought to the thing people ask about before
Cranberry sauce is fresh or frozen cranberries simmered with sugar and a little water or orange juice for about 10 to 15 minutes, until the berries pop and the natural pectin in the fruit thickens the sauce on its own as it cools. Canned cranberry sauce is a texture, not really a flavor, and the
Candied yams are sliced sweet potatoes simmered in a butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon syrup until tender and glazed, made on the stovetop or finished in the oven, with marshmallows entirely optional depending on which side of the family you grew up in. The name bothered me for years before I finally looked into it.
Creamed corn is fresh or frozen corn kernels simmered in butter and cream until the sauce thickens into something rich and slightly sweet, made without any canned cream-style corn at all. I spent years assuming creamed corn came from a can, the pale, oddly sweet stuff sitting next to the green beans on the Thanksgiving
Crispy garlic parmesan potatoes are baby Yukon Gold potato halves seasoned with garlic and Italian herbs, pressed cut-side down into a butter and Parmesan paste on a parchment-lined sheet pan, and roasted at 425 degrees until the cheese forms a golden, lacy, shattering crust on the bottom of each potato. The technique is the whole