Nutty Brussels Sprouts

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For your Thanksgiving pleasure: Brussels sprouts with roasted chestnuts.

When the holiday table is groaning under the weight of heavy cream, loads of cheese, bountiful bacon, enormous hunks of meat and other heavy fare, a veggie side dish that’s simple — and simply adorned — always offers a welcome relief.

Such is the case with “Buttered Brussels Sprouts and Chestnuts” from the new cookbook, “Holiday Dinners with Bradley Ogden” (Running Press), of which I recently received a review copy.

Ogden, co-founder of San Francisco’s Lark Creek Restaurant Group, offers up 150 recipes perfect for the big winter holidays.

This dish is beautiful to behold all on its own, what with the plump, whole chestnuts peeking through a bowl of green. Brussels sprouts are blanched, then put into an ice water bath to ensure their hue stays vivid, too. Then, they are tossed in a hot saute pan with chestnuts that have been roasted and shelled, as well as a knob of butter, and salt and pepper. That’s it.

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Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s Inventive Take on Butternut Squash

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A drizzle of balsamic vinegar makes magic in this butternut squash dish.

Cutting up a hard winter squash like butternut can be a rather cumbersome chore.

But leave it to esteemed New York Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten to devise a dish that does away with that unwieldy step.

Vongerichten’s “Butternut Squash with Balsamic and Chile Panko Crumbs” is made by cooking a whole butternut squash in a big pot of boiling water until tender, about 45 minutes.

In this recipe from his newest cookbook, “Home Cooking with Jean-Georges” (Clarkson Potter), of which I recently received a review copy, he jokes that he came up with this surefire method one night when he was cooking at home, but wanted to watch a movie with his kids uninterrupted.

After all, Vongerichten’s flagship Jean Georges restaurant may be only one of six in the country to garner three Michelin stars, but this is also a chef who likes to cook and entertain at home. The book includes 100 recipes of family favorites that he likes to make at his country home in Waccabuc, New York. Think everything from “Portobello Parmesan Sandwiches with Rosemary Mayonnaise” to “Pork Chops with Cherry Mustard” to “Apricot Frangipane Tart.”

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Pumpkin Pie of A Different Sort

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Not your average pumpkin pie. No, siree.

This is my kind of pumpkin pie.

Indeed, it’s made for folks like me who don’t really feel the love when it comes to traditional pumpkin pie.

I dunno, but the time-honored one has always been a little too one dimensional for me.

But “Pumpkin Swirl Ice-Cream Pie with Chocolate-Almond Bark and Toffee Sauce” is anything but that. It’s from “Bon Appetit Desserts” (Andrews McMeel Publishing) by Barbara Fairchild.

It’s a decadent graham cracker crust filled with vanilla ice cream swirled with pumpkin puree mixed with autumn spices, then topped with a mound of whipped cream and craggy pieces of dark chocolate studded with almonds. Serve big wedges with a warm toffee sauce.

Seriously, does plain ol’ pumpkin pie even compare to that?

I think not.

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Amber Dhara Makes Its Mark In Palo Alto

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Shrimp Assamese flavored with galangal, tamarind and lime leaves -- a a dish from North-East India.

A budding new Indian restaurateur recently remarked to me that the establishment he most hopes to compete with is Amber India.

It’s easy to understand why.

The Indian restaurant group, which started more than 13 years ago with its first Amber India restaurant in Mountain View, practically pioneered the art of modern Indian cuisine in the Bay Area.

Weeks ago, it opened its fifth restaurant, Amber Dhara in downtown Palo Alto, in the former location of Junnoon, another modern Indian eatery. If that weren’t enough, you can look for a second Amber Dhara to open in San Francisco’s Mission District in January.

The look of the Palo Alto place hasn’t changed much. Heavy silk drapes and peach banquettes cocooned in dark wood still lend a glam, exotic ambience.

Last weekend, I was invited in as a guest of the restaurant to try some of the new dishes. Amber Dhara, explains Corporate Executive Chef Vittal Shetty, emphasizes small plates and little-seen regional Indian specialties. Think roti ($3.75) — but made with nine grains to give it a deeper, heartier flavor; and “Duck Two Ways” ($20) with a spice confit duck leg plus a seared breast in orange curry. There’s also a range of specialty cocktails, including the “Ginger Sutra” with fresh ginger, vodka and jaggery, which I couldn’t resist.

A tangle of mung lentils, pomegrante seeds and sweet pear slices.

We started with the moong lentil salad ($7) — a vibrant mix of full-throttle crunch from pomegranate seeds and crushed peanuts, as well as sweet Anjou pear slices. A zingy key lime vinaigrette tied it all together.

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A Kale Salad To Stand the Test of Time

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A kale salad that won't wilt on your holiday table.

We all think we can multitask with ease.

We try to learn Spanish while sweating on the Stairmaster — and trying to write the great American novel in our head. We try to watch our favorite TV shows while balancing our checkbook — and knitting a sweater. And during the big holidays, we try to cook 10 dishes simultaneously from scratch that will all go on the table miraculously at once.

At times like that, there’s only one true salvation — kale.

Yes, the hardy green comes to the rescue when we’ve got just one too many cooking tasks to attend to.

In Melissa Clark’s “Raw Kale Salad with Anchovy-Date Dressing,” the veg is a lifesaver as it forms the basis of a salad that can sit quite happily on the table for hours without any worse for wear. It won’t get soggy like spring mix. It’s far more interesting than iceberg. And it actually gets tastier as the leaves start to wilt a little.

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