Family Dinner

I posted a blog yesterday for Beer Can Chicken that I made while my parents were in town visiting.  We decided to cook dinner at home since we had lunch out at a restaurant.  After the weekend was over, my wife actually told me that was her favorite part of the weekend.  She opened a bottle of wine, got out the nice serving dishes, and we got to enjoy a nice family meal together.

The picture above shows what went into that.  The chicken description can be found in the previous blog post.  But we also made sweet potato chips.  This is another favorite at our house.  Sweet potatoes are kind of a super food because they are full of nutrients.  A lot of restaurants serve sweet potato fries, and this is basically the same thing.  We slice them into round chips; but the main difference is that we bake them instead of frying them.

If you have a mandolin, that would slice them into perfectly uniform chips.  But I have been trying to improve my knife skills, so I sliced them myself.  Don’t make them too thick or they won’t have the same feel.  And if you slice them too thin, you run the risk of burning them.  But we toss them in a little olive oil.  A little.  You will be surprised at just how small of an amount will coat them nicely.  So don’t be tempted to use too much.  Then season them with salt & pepper and put them on a baking sheet.  Bake them for about 25-30 minutes, flipping once.

The second side was Mustard-Braised Brussel Sprouts.  If any picky eaters (or kids) are reading this, they probably instantly went “Yuck!”

This is a dish I invented a while back.  I started by sautéing little pieces of summer sausage in a pan.  You can use any type of pork here, and it’s even fine without any.  In this instance, I just used ham.  Then slice off the ends of the sprouts and cut them into little wedges.  Toss them into the pan and add Dijon mustard and either red wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar.  As always, use salt & pepper to season to taste.

Toss them around to coat them evenly and cook until they are tender.  They are sharp and bitter, but not in a bad way.  If you like mustard, or the tangy vinegar taste, you’ll love these.  I actually make them quite often.