It might seem as if food bloggers cook all day long every day, but it’s not exactly so. While I cook more than most people (otherwise I’d have to clean house or organize my closet or something), there are days I need a good meal but am not much in the mood for standing around watching anything bubble on the stove. Like you, I lazily cast around for something requiring little to no work that gets tossed into the oven or slow cooker so I can read a sleazy novel or play the piano–my other favorite guilty pleasures. Someone like you might watch a football game or perhaps create a crossword puzzle, an engaging but oh-so-difficult task. Try it sometime.So glad my teaching junior high English days are long over.
Using this as an appetizer? Yay! Pair it with a California Sauvignon Blanc. Add some crackers or fresh veggies to the plate; there should be plenty of cheese to spread around. (Oh! Are those red pepper flakes on that cauliflower? Why, yes; they are!)
…scroll down to bottom for links to many things thanksgiving–crafts for kids, wine advice, music….
When it’s only a week until Thanksgiving, we can go one of two ways: bury our heads in the sand of the past and recreate each and every one of the holidays gone by — could do that with your eyes closed, right; would it be so bad? —or what about spend a little time thinking about trying, even learning something new–perhaps in the way of Thanksgiving sides? If you’ve been reading along lately, you’ll know I’m totally taken with the idea of a curated Thanksgiving. That is to say, a more dinner party-ish meal– not dinner party-ish as in fancy pants table settings or overly-priced sparkling wines served in frighteningly expensive flutes, but rather in a limited number of precisely considered, perfect dishes. Ok, just ones that taste good, not necessarily perfect-perfect. One vegetable instead of 6. 2 desserts in the place of the buffet of pumpkin and pecan lovelies. A beautiful meal, not an eat-all-you-can til you bust your britches buffet. Less cleanup. Fewer leftovers. More energy for a round or two of Hearts or to watch “Planes, Trains, and Automobiles,” that all-but-required Thanksgiving movie. No, no. Don’t start the Christmas movies, please. Even football is better than that. Give Thanksgiving its due, its own time. Let’s not mash our day of gratefulness all up into December madness.
Sausage+Beer Soup w/ Brussels Sprouts+White Beans – Scroll down for recipe
After nearly a month away from the blog and home
…first to see our daughter Emily in Pennsylvania..
…and then to cruise via some stormy, leftover hurricane seas with my sister Helen from our favorite foreign spot, Quebec City, to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida… …
You know how when you’re in someone else’s kitchen, you’re a bit lost? Your best and perfect meals just barely turn out? (Where’s the whisk, the measuring cup, the plates, the vinegar, and why doesn’t she buy your brand of butter?) I’ve got a new kitchen and it’s my own. And I’m a bit lost. Not totally, but somewhat.
It’s not that I don’t know it at all. I know this kitchen REALLY WELL; I watched it being built from the studs up. It’s just that it’s new. My stuff isn’t all put away…
WHERE ARE MY THINGS????
and I’m still looking for quite a few kitchen items. Like the rest of my dishes and my every day glasses, which just turned up under the upstairs bathroom’s sink. My big fear is that all of these boxes just aren’t going to fit in this new kitchen. Or maybe that I’ll just go on in a big mess, never sorting out the stacks and cartons in the garage, spare room, and basement. I can see me at Christmas searching for the –this is no kidding — two-foot can of cookie cutters. (I really haven’t seen it.)
I have a terrible time leaving caprese alone. I just keep messing with it. Adding this and that. Changing it up. Or Down. In part, I’ve just been overrun with tomatoes, so why not eat them fresh while they’re heavy, fragrant, juicy, and ripe? Make hay while the sun shines.
. When brussels sprouts (note spelling) first came back in vogue (they were vegetable non grata for a long time, right?), I put off making them. It seemed everything was being thrown into the oven with olive oil, salt and pepper. Was there anything you couldn’t cook that way? Brussels sprouts joined in the olive oil-oven fun all over the food world. I waited.
(above) This is one of Madeline L Pots’ award winning songs from her CD “Gonna Plant A Garden”.
As a kid, I didn’t like brussels sprouts. Did anyone? As a young bride, I occasionally bought a package of frozen ones (just for something different) as there weren’t fresh ones available at the places I shopped. As time went on, they just disappeared from my repertoire until a few years ago when I began to see them fresh in tiny bags or right on their very own totem poles at Whole Foods. (illustration courtesy Merriam-Webster)
A few special recipes began to be part of our regular meals as I developed not one, but several ideas for these special tiny lovelies. (I share a couple of them below- one with potatoes and one without.) Cooked slowly in a sauté pan, the inherent bitterness dissipates into the air, and the gentle beauty of brussel sprouts begins to shine in their sweet, tender nuttiness. Carmelization might be the word. Makes them wine-friendly, too.
Prep: Try to buy young sprouts; older ones tender toward the bitter side. Store young, fresh brussels sprouts (yellowed leaves removed if they’re a bit older) for up to two weeks loosely covered in refrigerator. When ready to cook, wash them well, remove a leaf or two, and trim the stem–not too far up or all the leaves will come off. You can also cut an X into the stem to quicken cooking time and ensure even cooking. If they’re huge, cut them in half. There’s a video for everything and here’s one about cleaning brussels sprouts since I know you have nothing else to do today: .
Now that you know all about them, try this:
PAN-ROASTED BRUSSELS SPROUTS with New Potatoes and Parmesan
2-3 servings
2T olive oil (regular is fine; don’t need extra virgin)
12 fresh brussels sprouts, cleaned, trimmed, cut in 1/2
6 red potatoes- 1/4d if large, left whole if small
1 large onion, peeled and cut into eighths
Kosher Salt, freshly-ground pepper, pinch of crushed red pepper (or to taste)
1/4 c Parmesan cheese, “grated” in large shards with a potato peeler (skip for vegan version)
Heat oil in a 12- inch skillet over medium heat. Add brussels sprouts, potatoes, and onions. Sprinkle generously with salt, pepper, and add just the pinch of crushed red pepper. Stirring frequently to avoid burning, but still to brown nicely, cook for about 10 minutes.
Add Parmesan to the pan. Turn heat down to medium-low and cook until vegetables are fairly well-done, but still somewhat crispy. Take care to not burn the Parmesan but it should be quite brown; some of it will be almost chip like. This may take another 20 minutes or so, depending on how hot your skillet is. Taste; re-season if necessary. Serve hot or at room temperature.
Cool completely before storing well-wrapped leftovers in refrigerator for 2 days.
To re-warm, place in a skillet over medium heat with a tiny bit of olive oil to prevent sticking. Heat, stirring often, until hot–about 10 minutes.
Saving the best for last, here’s my pan-roasted brussels sprouts mixed up with only very crispy shards of Parmesan and topped with pumpkin seeds for crunch. Cooked slowly and thoroughly, the sprouts become a little nutty and the Parmesan turns into something akin to chips. Scrumptious. Even if you never wanted to eat brussels sprouts.
PAN-ROASTED BRUSSELS SPROUTS WITH PARMESAN AND PUMPKIN SEEDS
12 fresh brussel sprouts, cleaned and trimmed (Take l layer of leaves off, cut off bottom tiny core) and cut in half
2T olive oil
1/4 c Parmesan cheese, “grated” in long pieces with a potato peeler
1/4 c pumpkin seeds
Kosher Salt and freshly-ground pepper
In a medium skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat and add brussels sprouts. Stirring frequently to avoid burning, but still to brown nicely, cook brussels sprouts for about 10 minutes. Add parmesan and pumpkin seeds. Turn down heat to medium-low and cook until sprouts are fairly well-done, but still somewhat crispy. Take care to not burn the parmesan; it should be quite brown. Salt and pepper well. Serve hot. Follow storage and re-heating instructions above. .
I’ve served these brussels sprouts for many occasions, but particularly like them for my fast Thanksgiving dinner.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ everything you didn’t want to know about brussel sprouts courtesy brusselsprouts.com:
Brussels sprouts, or Brassica oleraceagemmifera, are related to other better-known vegetables in the Brassica genus like broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower. They are part of the cruciferaeor mustard family, so known because of a four-part flower in the shape of a cross.
HISTORY: Sprouts were believed to have been cultivated in Italy in Roman times, and possibly as early as the 1200s in Belgium. The modern Brussels sprout that we are familiar with was first cultivated in large quantities in Belgium (hence the name “Brussels”sprouts) as early as 1587, with their introduction into the U.S. in the 1800s.
NUTRITIONAL INFO: Brussels sprouts are a very good source of many essential vitamins, fiber, and folate. They are especially high in Vitamin C. (Click here to see the nutritional label) They, along with their other cruciferous cousins, have been shown to have some very beneficial effects against certain types of cancer, as they contain many different ingredients that are believed to help prevent the disease
These recipes originally available on More Time and Dinner Place in separate blogs. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
38 Power Foods is a group effort! Stop by these other blogs and see what they’re cooking each week as we team up to bring you some of the healthiest cooking available.
I’m busy developing and testing recipes for the soup cookbook. This week, I’m working on Pozole (Mexican stew–mine’s made with pork tenderloin, corn, and hominy) and Tom Kha Kai (coconut/chicken from Thailand). I’m finding the most difficult part is figuring out how this whole thing goes from a Word doc (actually becomes a pdf first) to the 6×9, 100 printed page. How can I be sure that the pagination makes sense or that recipes are on one page? Or that the margins are accurate? Did I consistently use “t” or “tsp” for teaspoon? You get the picture! Slowly, I’m starting to see how it works. I have a bunch of home-testers cooking away. If you have a testing recipe and I haven’t heard from you, I’m looking forward to a response pretty soon. Test on!
It’s NW blueberry time; I’m eating all I can get and freezing the rest.
You can see how easy it is to move around my kitchen.
In Colorado, we have time for movies with the grandkid. Thanks, God.
Just for grin and giggles, I made homemade mayonnaise for a dressing for a steak and fresh potato chip salad. Dear.
