Attempt #2 at Brussel Sprouts

Brussel sprouts are not something I had growing up because my mom was not a fan.  However, Nick is a BIG fan of brussel sprouts so I have been trying to figure out a way to cook them at home where we both enjoy them.  My first attempt at brussel sprouts was not super successful in my book - Nick liked them though, which counts for something!  So after getting some great feedback in the comments of that blog post, I now have a little treasure trove of tricks and recipes to play with.

While out shopping at Whole Foods I saw brussel sprouts that they were selling straight from the stalk!  I had never thought about where they come from before, and it seemed a bit odd but did make sense.  Next to the big stalk were bundles of brussel sprouts that were a bit smaller in size, a bit more manageable and, in my opinion, the perfect size for my next attempt at brussel sprouts.

Smaller Brussel Sprouts!

I decided to keep the preparation easy this time around per the suggestions from all of you following my previous post.  I emptied the brussel sprouts into a bowl, poured in some (or a lot) of olive oil, added a bunch of salt and pepper and mixed it all together.

Adding the oil...

Some Salt and Pepper

From there, I just poured the coated brussel sprouts onto a baking sheet and put it into a 400 degree oven for about 25 minutes - or until it was brown and crispy.

Brown and Crispy!

I paired the brussel sprouts with a mahi mahi with a coconut mango sauce that I just grabbed from my freezer - super easy!  This fish is one of those vacuumed sealed ones from Whole Foods that has the marinade tucked in there as well, so really it is a matter of just cooking it through.  I put the fish and the sauce into a baking dish and cooked it at 375 for about 15 minutes.

Dinner is Served!

I must say these smaller and crispier brussel sprouts were way more delicious in my book!  They were so tasty and way less like the little soggy lettuce ball that I made previously.  So these are now my new brussel sprout starting point.  Roasting works for me and I am sure there are plenty of ways to dress them up from here!

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An attempt at brussel sprouts...

Brussel sprouts are one of the foods that I believe to be an acquired taste.  It was something I never had growing up because my mother hates them.  Nick, however, loves brussel sprouts - seriously, one of his favorites.  The first time I tried them was at Craigie on Main.  There, the brussel sprouts were roasted in duck fat - I mean, if there was ever a time to try them, it was there.  Sure enough they were super tasty.  My favorite?  No, but definitely something I would have again.

Trying to be the good fiance that all significant others strive for, I decided to attempt brussel sprouts at home as a nice side to some the frozen pre-seasoned fish from Whole Foods that I love so much.  Lets just say, I did not enjoy these as much as I hoped.  They were good, but I just need more crunch to my brussel sprouts.  Maybe roasting is a better option.





I was not sure what to do so I decided to just wing it, but I figure bacon makes everything better and probably a good place to start.  To begin, I sliced up a bunch of thick and smokey bacon and added it to my Le Creuset dutch oven and allowed it to cook until the bacon started to brown and also left plenty of grease and brown bits on the bottom of the dutch oven.

Sliced Bacon

While the bacon was cooking away and flavoring the pot I chopped up some white onions and prepared the brussel sprouts.

The nemesis

Once the bacon finished up, I removed it from the dutch oven and set it aside for later.  I then went ahead and added the chopped onion and allowed it to brown up a bit - probably about 8 minutes (I wanted them nice and tender).

Onions cooking

Once the onions were well on their way I added the brussel sprouts to the dutch oven.




I then put the top on and allowed everything to cook together for some time - ensuring that the brussel sprouts cooked all the way through.  Since I had some on hand, I decided to slice up some crimini mushrooms and added them to the oven and put the top back on and allowed it all to continue to cook.

Just about done...

Finally, I added the bacon back in, gave it all a big stir and plated it with the fish that was sitting on a bed of rice.

Dinner is served

Nick enjoyed these brussel sprouts.  The bacon flavor definitely came across which made them tastier in my opinion.  However, I still found them like eating a miniature head of lettuce.  In order to get them more like the Craigie on Main variety that I really like, I think I need to roast them and get them crunchier.  But, if you like brussel sprouts, this is a delicious side dish.

How do you make your brussel sprouts?

A Rustic Potato and Onion Tartlet

Like I said, we have been getting tons of potatoes in our CSA, and rather than just making mashed potatoes over and over again (even though they are so good!) we have been trying to be creative.  When Nick said he found a recipe for a Rustic Potato and Caramelized Onion Tart I was completely sold and could not wait for dinner!

Dinner is served!

This recipe had a lot of moving parts going on...
The Necessities for the tart filling (adapted from Foodess)

• 1 recipe of pastry dough
• 1 egg yolk 
• about 4 - 5 small red onions
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 teaspoon of sugar
• 1 pound of potatoes
• 1 egg
• 1 cup of shredded Cheddar
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 tablespoon fresh sage minced
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ground pepper

The Necessities for the pastry dough

• 1 1/2 cups of flour
• 1/4 cup lard
• 1/4 cup butter (cubed)
• 1 teaspoon vinegar
• 4 tablespoons ice water

For the pastry, Nick first added the lard, butter and flour to a bowl - cut up perfectly.

Some butter and lard

Using a pastry blender (one of my favorite toys!) Nick blended all the ingredients together until it was nothing but crumbs.

Crumbs...

Nick then sprinkled the vinegar and the ice water over the crumbs a bit at a time until the mixture holds together.  At this point, he poured the dough out onto a large of piece of parchment paper.






On the parchment paper, he formed a disk out of the dough and then tightly wrapped the dough ball in the parchment and stored in the fridge for 20 minutes.

Dough ball

While the dough ball was literally chilling, he went ahead and thinly sliced the red onions.

Chopped onions

Nick added the onions to a sauce pan heated with oil and butter.

Cooking onions...

He continued to allow them to cook over low heat until they were fully caramelized.  Towards the end he added the sugar and allowed them to cook a bit longer and then spread them out over a plate to cool.

Completely Caramelized

In the same pot he added the sliced potatoes and topped with cold water (covering the potatoes by an inch).  The potatoes came to a boil, cooked for 5 minutes, and were then run under some cold water to cool down.

Cooking Potatoes

In the meantime, he mixed together the sour cream, eggs, cheese, sage, salt and pepper.






Once completely combined, he stirred in the cooled onions.






The pastry came out of the fridge and between two sheets of parchment was rolled into a large circle about a quarter of an inch thick.  There was no need to keep it straight since we were going for a rustic look to this tart - no even circles needed!

Tart Dough

The bottom piece of parchment with the dough on the top went onto a baking sheet.  Nick then layered on the sliced potatoes, leaving about a 2-3 inch border of dough.





Next, Nick piled on the onion mixture and maintained that 2-3 inch border of dough.





He then folded those dough borders up around the insides, pinching the folded pieces tightly and sealing the edges.  The edges of the tart were brushed with a whisked egg yolk.





He then popped it all into a 425 degree oven for about 10 minutes, and then reduced the heat to 375 degrees and allowed the tart to cook for another 35 minutes, until golden brown.

Tart is ready!

Nick plated each piece with some greens we got from our CSA that week.

Dinner is served!

Needless to say this was an indulgent weekday meal that Nick prepared.  I enjoyed every bite of this tart.  It was so rich and was a perfect contrast to the crisp greens.  Making it rustic took the perfection out of the dough, which takes some of the pressure off, but also provides a great look to the tart itself.  This really is a great dish for so many occasions and perfect for the fall weather!

Corn and Potato Chowder

For a while in our CSA we were getting more corn and potatoes than we knew what to do with!  I know I shouldn't complain, but when you have 8 ears of corn and 15 potatoes and only 2 people, something needs to be done.  So turning to Gojee, I plugged in the vegetables I had on hand and stumbled upon this corn and potato chowder that looked relatively light and pretty simple to make.

Potato and Corn Chowder

I set out all of ingredients and hoped it would all turn out OK.  While it was not too difficult, there were quite a few ingredients involved.

The Ingredients

The Necessities...

• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves (minced)
• 1 large onion (chopped)
• 1/2 teaspoon sriracha
• 2 cups of potatoes (I used both red and yellow)
• 5 cups of broth (a combination of chicken and beef)
• 1/2 cup of sour cream
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• Kernels from 5 ears of corn
• 1 cup Cheddar cheese (grated)
• pepper

To begin, I cooked the chopped onions and garlic in a saucepan over medium heat - until the onions were nice and tender and just beginning to brown (about 12 minutes).

Chopped Onions

While the onions were cooking away, I chopped up loads of potatoes.  I left the skin on because I like the added texture.  I definitely had more than 2 cups of potatoes, but since I had them on hand I just cut them all up.

Chopped Potatoes

Once the onions were browned, I added the the potatoes and gave everything a big stir to make sure it was all thoroughly mixed and allowed it to cook for about 3 minutes.  At this point you also add the cayenne pepper, but I used sriracha instead (we were cayenne-less after a jar of it shattered, dusting the entire kitchen in spicy pepper!)

Loads of potatoes

Next I added the broth, sour cream, and salt, and gave everything another big stir, allowing it to cook for about 20 minutes.

Cooking away

Five ears of corn is a whole lot to cut off and I really did not want to slice off my finger.  Instead, Nick taught me a great trick.  I simply flipped over a small bowl and placed it in a larger bowl, cut off a little piece of the bottom of the ear so that it was flat, placed it on top of the small bowl and sliced downward so that kernels just collected in the big bowl.

Ready for slicing

Kernels from 5 ears of corn

After the 20 minutes were up, I lightly mashed about half of the potatoes in the pot.  The mashed up bits made the whole broth thicker.  I then allowed the soup to cook for another 10 minutes - until the potatoes were nice and tender.  Finally, I stirred in the massive amount of cheese and corn.

Cheese and Corn - what's not to like?!

At that point, the soup really only needed about another 5 minutes to cook, plus some salt and pepper to taste.

Just about ready

I served this up with a nice big chunk of a hearty bread - perfect for sopping up the broth of the soup.

Dinner is ready

Not being a big chowder fan because of the creamy texture, I have to admit that I loved this "chowder." To me it was more of a thicker broth with loads of goodness to provide some added bite and texture.  I was also surprised at how much flavor the soup had because really there was not much added - shows how far fresh ingredients can go!  That and some sriracha ;)

Extreme Close-up

With all the corn we had on hand and continue to get, we've actually been cutting most of it up so we could freeze it and pull it out in the middle of winter and try to remember what summer is like!

Over-Stuffed Portabello Mushrooms

Another Meatless Monday meant having to come up with something creative for dinner.  I had four large portabello mushrooms on hand and Nick had ripped a Cheese-Stuffed Portobello recipe out of an old issue of Food Network Magazine - perfect!  Based on some of the CSA veggies we had on hand, I adapted the recipe a bit.

The Ingredients

The necessities:

• 4 6-inch portobello mushroom caps
• 4 cups spinach, chopped
• 1 eggplant
• 1 cup panko
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 shallots - finely chopped
• 1 large tomato, diced
• 3 tablespoons grated pecorino romano cheese, plus shaved pecorino for topping
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1/2 cup ricotta cheese

To begin, I used my new favorite eggplant preparation trick - the "slice and salt" method - and allowed it to sit for a bit.

Salted Eggplant

Next, I chopped up the spinach so it would be ready to go.

Chopped spinach

Once the eggplant was ready, I lined the broiler sheet with tine foil and sprayed it with some cooking spray.  Then I placed the mushrooms, gill side down, and eggplant pieces onto the foil and put it in the broiler for about 5 minutes. 

Broiling away...

In the meantime, I combined the spinach, shallots, tomatoes, panko, pecorino, olive oil, salt and pepper in a bowl and mixed it all together with a wooden spoon, making sure everything was thoroughly mixed and that the flavors were spread evenly.

Stuffing Ingredients

All Mixed Up

To begin the "stuffing" I placed some of the roasted eggplant that I mushed up in a bowl onto the gill side of the mushroom.

Lined with eggplant

The recipe actually called for much larger mushrooms than what I had on hand, so I didn't so much stuff the mushrooms as I did cover them with the stuffing!  As you can see, I took the stuffing and split it up among the 4 mushrooms covering them completely. 

"Stuffed" Mushrooms

I topped each of the mounds off with the ricotta and little mozzarella and pecorino cheese. 

Ready for the oven...

I placed the sheet under the broiler for another 5 minutes - until the cheese was lightly browned.

Nicely browned...

I was a bit nervous when I plated this because they really looked like little mounds of spinach with cheese on top - there was definitely going to have to be some digging to find the actual mushrooms!

Spinach and Cheese Mounds with Mushrooms

Actually though, I was impressed that there was a legitimate mushroom inside when I cut it open!

Mushroom

While these were not exactly stuffed, it only meant we had more of the good stuff to dig through to get to the mushroom.  These had lots of yummy flavors and textures in each bite.  I am sure there are plenty of ways to adapt this recipe.  For a weeknight meal, these are easy, pretty healthy, and filling.  I would totally make these again.