Brussels Sprouts

I have spoken about these Brussel Sprouts before in a previous post; but I decided to dedicate a posting to them by themselves.  Plus, that way there will be a link on the right for anybody searching for this recipe.

I invented this recipe on my own a while back when I had some summer sausage I was trying to use.  It really is a great way to elevate an ingredient that is so often misunderstood:  the Brussells sprout.  Maybe it's my 25% Belgian heritage; but I have a soft spot for these things.

I start by cooking down some fatty pork product in a non-stick skillet.  Originally I used diced summer sausage -- this time it was bacon.  Once that has cooked down and become a little caramelized, add your sprouts.  I like to cut of the stems and then slice them into wedges.

Cook these together for around 10 minutes or so over medium heat.  Then deglaze your pan with red wine (or apple cider) vinegar.  This will release any of the good bits that have become stuck to your pan.  Now add some salt & pepper and saute everything together for another 5 minutes or so.  Then lassly, add some Dijon mustard and a little brown sugar.

Previously I used quite a bit of mustard.  This time I tried it with less, in an effort to get the sprouts a little crispier and sort of caramelized.  If you use more mustard, they will be wetter.  That is not a problem at all.  I served them at Christmas time to my wife's family ... and they all got eaten.  And that was part of a giant spread of food choices.

Here are the ones from last time:

Their is a great pairing of pork and mustard here.  The are bright and acidic, and utterly delicious.  We have them quite often.

Crispy Breaded Chicken

The recipe called this one "Oven Fried Chicken" -- but I think that is a bit misleading.  I love fried chicken. (Love it!)  But it isn't very healthy for you. This dish is a delicious, crispy, breaded chicken recipe that is baked in the oven.  You will get some of the things you love about fried chicken: crispy breaded outside, moist delicious meat, and that great seasoning that goes along with fried chicken skin.  But this dish is considerable better for you.

One of the key ways to make sure this dish is flavorful and moist is to marinade it first in buttermilk.  Trim any excess fat or skin of your chicken, then poke several holes in it using a fork. In a shallow dish, mix 1/2 cup of buttermilk, the juice of one lemon, 1/2 tsp sugar, 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, 4 cloves of minced garlic, and two sprigs of rosemary.

Dredge the chicken on both sides to make sure it is coated. Then refrigerate for two hours, covered.  The lemon juice and buttermilk will help to tenderize the meat. And the seasonings will really help flavor the bird all the way through.

Meanwhile, we will prepare the breading.  I like to grind my rosemary into a fine powder using a mortar & pestle.  That way you won't get any big pieces in your mouth when you're chewing.  It also really releases a lot of great flavors.

Then mix together 1/4 cup cornmeal, 1/4 cup whole wheat bread crumbs, 1/4 cup Panko bread crumbs, 2 tbsp of grated Parmesan cheese, and 2 tsp of rosemary, and salt & pepper.

Next, line a baking sheet with tin foil and place a cooling rack on top.  Spray the wire rack with non-stick spray.  Then take your chicken out of the marinade, allowing the excess to drip off, and firmly press it into the breading on both sides to be sure it is completed coated.  Place them atop the racks, spray the chicken with a little more cooking spray, and bake them in the oven at 375 degrees for 50-55 minutes.

I actually liked a little blue cheese dressing with mine.  But the chicken is flavorful enough on its own.  You get the really great flavors of garlic, lemon, and rosemary. And the buttermilk marinade keeps the bird moist and succulent.  I recommend trying this for anybody who really loves breaded chicken.

The Mrs. saved half of hers to make a sandwich with later.  I might have to steal a bite!

Sweet Potato Chips

I promised I would explain how to make the sweet potato chips pictures in the above photo from "Meatless Sloppy Joes".  I think I may have explained them before, but I will do a separate posting here just to be sure.

This is another time where a mandolin could prove useful. The key is to slice them consistently, so they cook at the same time.  I scrub the outside of the potato first to be sure they are clean.  Then get a sharp knife and start cutting about 1/8" slices.

I have an olive oil mister that you pump to emit a nice even spray of oil.  If you don't have one of these, then put a LITTLE bit of oil in a bowl and toss your slices to coat them.  There is no need to blot the slices with a paper towel to take out the moisture.  These aren't as starchy as a regular potato.

Then place them on a baking sheet and season one side with salt & pepper.  You could also use a little cayenne to add a kick; but we prefer them with just salt & pepper.

Put them into a 350-degree oven for 15-20 minutes.  Then take them out and carefully flip each one over.  I give the other side a quick spray of oil and another seasoning of salt & pepper.  Then back into the oven for another 15-20 minutes.

Check on them to be sure they aren't burning.  If you have thinner slices, they might burn.  Otherwise the ideal thickness will crisp up in the oven.  The won't be as crunch as a fried chip, though.  And some of your larger slices might be more like flattened-out potato wedges.  But we like them either way.

We make these all the time.  And a few people I have showed this recipe to now make them one their own.  If you like sweet potato fries, give this a shot.

Tasty Toasts

This was another idea we got from Bon Apetit magazine.  I dog-eared the page and wen to show it to The Mrs.  She says, "Oh, I know. I already thought that looked delicious."  So we don't like the same movies, music, or sports teams (she doesn't care about sports) ... but at least we have similar tastes in food.

This recipe doesn't involve any cooking (unless you consider placing bread in a toaster cooking).  You can work on some knife skills, though.  Just last week we were talking about whether we needed a mandolin or not.  I have been trying to improve my knife skills, but my wife pointed out that you can still use a tool when it is called for.  A mandolin can make very precise, consistent, and quick slices that almost nobody can replicate by hand.  But I gave it my best effort.

I sliced these radishes by hand; and I think I did a pretty darned good job!  Then all you do is let two pieces of toast cool and then spread original Greek yogurt on them.  Letting the bread cool first will prevent the yogurt from heating up and changing in consistency.  The Greek yogurt is kind of fluffy like a savory frosting. And this is a cold preparation anyway.

Then all you do is top it with your radish slices, and some green onions sliced lenthwise.  I added a little salt & pepper too.  Bobby Flay adds salt & pepper to almost everything he makes -- including salads.  And I figure if the Iron Chef is doing it, so should I.  And seasoning is very important in cooking (or cold toast assembling).

I thought this simple dish was really quite refreshing.  There is a nice tang from the Greek yogurt and s slight bite from the green onion.  The radishes are crunch & cool, and the whole this is really a nice twist on toast.  These could be served with brunch, or just as a very light snack.

Meatless Sloppy Joes

I think I have talked before about a concept called "Meatless Mondays".  I first heard about it from Iron Chef Mario Batali.  This week I saw Paul McCartney, a well-known vegetarian, promoting no meat Mondays.  So my wife must have had ESP when she suggested making this dish.

From the picture it may not be obvious there is anything out of the ordinary with these sloppy joes, but that is actually lentils -- not ground meat.  I started by rinsing and then boiling the lentils.  In the meantime I had another pan going with red onion and diced red bell pepper sauteeing in olive oil.  My wife likes onions much better when they have been cooked down a lot.  Plus the natural sugars in the onions will start to caramelize, lending a sweetness to the dish.

Once the water had been absorbed by the lentils, I added them to my cooked down onions & peppers.  Next I added ketchup and mustard (in about a 3:1 ratio), brown sugar, cayenne pepper, cumin, chili powder, Worcestershire sauce, apple cider vinegar, and salt & pepper.

Stir everything together and let the flavor marry for a few minutes.  As your sauce reduces, it will thicken and become a little sweeter.

Be sure to taste it to see if you need to balance anything out.  I like to have a nice amount of heat, with the sweetness of the brown sugar, and acidity from the mustard & vinegar.

Server this on a fresh wheat bun with a few pickles and you'll notice all those familiar flavors.  The lentils have a nice chew to them, so you won't miss the meat.  It isn't exactly the same; but it's a pretty darned good substitute.

We made sweet potato chips to go with ours.  I'll give a quick update in the next day or so with how to make those little beauties.

Spicy Crab Stuffed Mushrooms

These. Were. Delicious.

This is something I really liked making.  Part of why I enjoyed it so much is because I got to make use of our food processor ... or "Food Pro" if you watch enough cooking TV.  It makes it really easy because you don't have to do a lot of chopping or dicing.  For example, I took a few stalks of celery and cut them into smaller pieces and in literally 2-3 seconds they looked like this:

I used celery for texture.  The recipe originally called for red onion, but my wife doesn't like raw onion taste.  And I agree that it can sometimes be overwhelming.  To the celery I added a package of crab meat, mayo, garlic, cheddar/swiss/provalone cheeses, jalapenos, Worcestershire sauce, and a little salt & pepper.  I did use some green onions so we would have at least a subtle flavor of onions.

Give that a few pulses with the food processor to chop everything up.  

Next take some larger button mushrooms or some baby Portobellos and pull the stems out.  I actually took my knife and scraped away at the opening to widen it a little further.  I wanted to be sure to get a fair amount of the crab filling inside.  I topped them with a criss-cross of cheddar cheese and added some Italian seasoned bread crumbs to my half.  (I'm just now realizing that I have sort of been on a bread crumb kick of late.  I guess I must like them.)

Pop them into a 350-degree oven for 30 minutes until everything heats through and the top gets a beautiful crunchy, golden brown.

The mayo and cheese give it a real richness, and the mushrooms are Earthy.  The peppers have a great kick that will cut through all the richness.  Ours were a little spicy; but that really helped give more depth of flavors.  Everything really worked well together.

We have enough of the crab filling left now to eat with celery or crackers.  It makes a great snack for any time.

Spicy Fried Egg Sandwich with Avocado

Inspiration can come from almost anywhere.  This dish came to my wife via a banner ad on Facebook.  She asked me, "Do you keep getting this picture with a fried egg on toast with avocados & hot sauce?  Because it looks really delicious!"

So she decided to make that for dinner this week.  It is super, super easy.  But it was delicious, let me tell you.  It sounds exactly like the name suggests. Toast some bread, fry a couple eggs, slice up an avocado, and splash on some hot sauce.  Simple. As. Pie.

(Actually, that is much easier than baking a pie.)

The avocado adds a really rich and creamy layer to a typical fried egg sandwich. And the smoky, spicy hot sauce adds a level of heat to balance the richness.

She also decided we needed more vegetables in our lives.  So we had some cucumber, radishes, and red bell peppers with homemade hummus. (See hummus recipe here.)

I'm not sure what put her in the mood for little pickles.  But that acidity was a nice touch too.

Papperdelle with Leeks & Bacon

I owe a tip of the hat to Grandpa Gary for this entry as well.  There was an edition of Bon Apetit magazine devoted to pasta recently.  It had loads of great recipes as well as some really good tips for making pasta.  This recipe was dog-eared by The Mrs -- so I decided to make it Sunday night.

This, my friends, is a leek.  For most people the only time they talk about leeks is when they have to call a plumber.  But this type of leek is a vegetable in the same family as onions and garlic.  The edible part is the white base and the lighter green portion of the leaves.

In a larger pot or Dutch oven, heat 2 tbsp of olive oil and one tbsp of butter.  Add 4 strips of bacon, sliced 1/2" thick and cook until the fat is rendered and the bacon is crispy.  Then slice the leeks down the center, and slice into 1/2" pieces and add to your bacon & oil.

Cook until the leeks are tender (5-8 minutes) over medium-high heat.  Next add 3/4 cup of heavy cream, thyme, and 1/2 cup of water.  Bring this to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for another 5-8 minutes.

Meanwhile, boil the pasta in salted water until it is al dente.  Drain the pasta, reserving two cups of the starchy water.  Do not rinse the pasta.  The starch on the pasta will help bind the sauce to the noodles later.  

Reserving the starchy water to incorporate into the sauce was a tip from the magazine. Once your sauce has thickened, add the pasta, 1 cup of grated Parmesan cheese, and 1 cup of your starchy pasta water.  Stir to coat pasta, adding more water as necessary until you have a creamy sauce.

We served ours with a great little side salad.  My better half chopped cucumber, radish  and red bell peppers and added them to peppery greens.  We used a creamy Italian dressing to compliment the pasta, and served everything with a fresh baked loaf of Italian bread ... oh, and a glass of Red wine.  (Are you sensing a theme to this meal?)

I topped my pasta with just a little bit of Italian-seasoned bread crumbs for an added layer of taste & texture.  This was a fantastic meal, and the house smelled amazing!

Quick Quiche

The Mrs tasked me with a request:  find a dish we can put in the oven for an hour and go to the gym really quickly.  I scoured FoodNetwork.com to find a recipe that didn't require a lot of prep time, but did require a lot of time in the oven.  So the name "quick quiche" really refers to how little time it takes to prep.

I did deviate one step, though.  I bought a frozen pie crust that suggested I bake it first before filling it.  I took out the crust and poked holes in the bottom and sides before putting it in the oven for around 12-14 minutes until it became a light brown color.

Next came the assembling of the filling while the crust cools a little.  Take 4 eggs, 1/2 cup of mayo, 1 cup of half-and-half, and 2 tbsp of flour and whisk them together in a large mixing bowl.  Then add 1 package of frozen spinach (thawed & drained), along with 1/3 cup of diced onion, and 8 oz of Swiss and/or Cheddar cheese, and salt & garlic salt to taste.  Stir everything together and fill your crust.

I put a thin strip of aluminum foil around the edge of the pie crust so it wouldn't burn.  Then bake it off for close to an hour at 350-degrees.  Here's what you will be looking at:

Let it rest a few minutes to cool and settle, then slice.  I topped mine with a little sliced cherry tomatoes to add a little acidity to contract the richness of this dish.  It's a good thing are gym-going folks, because this is a rich dish.  But it is delicious.  Occasionally it's alright to splurge and indulge yourself.

Yuuuuuuuummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

Fried Rice

I should tell you that I made this recipe up as I went along.  But since the results were delicious, I'm happy to share my concoction with the rest of you.  The Mrs wanted to have frozen Chinese appetizers for dinner -- it was "National Frozen Food Day" after all.  So we like to put potstickers and egg rolls in the toaster oven and have them with some type of rice or noodle dish.  I opted for rice.

For those of you who have read my previous posts, you'll know by now that I use whole grain brown rice.  I heated up a larger non-stick skillet over medium-high heat, and added a little oil.  Then I tossed in the rice and toasted them for a little bit.  Next, I added fresh minced ginger, minced garlic, and strips of onion.

Once the onions had sweat a little, I started to add water in about 1/2 to 1 cup increments ... almost like preparing risotto   Basically I was just trying to get enough moister in there to cook the rice.  But I didn't want to have it really runny either.  I also added mustard powder, teriyaki sauce, soy sauce, and lime juice.

I let that cook for a little while and then added thin strips of carrots.  And here is the interesting part that I was hoping would work.  I have seen this done when watching an Asian chef cooking with a wok:  I added two eggs.  As soon as they hit the pan, I started to scramble them around and incorporate them into the rice. This will add a lot of richness to the dish.  And you may not notice it when eating fried rice, but it has eggs in it.

I topped it all with sliced green onions for a little color, and some chopped peanuts for texture.  And even though I was just heating up some frozen appetizers, I still felt the need to make my own dipping sauce.  I do that quite often.  I used sweet & sour sauce (very traditional by itself), but then added soy sauce, teriyaki, honey, spicy mustard, a little lime juice, and chili sauce.  You can use brown sugar instead of honey if you'd like.  The acidity from the lime is nice, and you get sweetness from the honey, spiciness from the mustard and chili sauce, and earthly flavors from soy & teriyaki.

(Obviously I stirred it up first.)

Lean Meatball Sub

I'm reluctant to call this a "healthy" meatball sub -- instead opting for the title "lean".  But this is probably the healthiest meatball sub I've ever had.  I used ground turkey, a whole wheat bun, added no salt, and baked them off in the oven instead of pan-frying them.  So that's about as healthy as you can get.

I like to start by mixing your wet ingredients in a large bowl.  Add one egg, 2 tbsp milk, a few dashed of Worcestershire sauce, and 2 cloves minced garlic.  Most recipes will just have you add everything together at the same time.  But when you're incorporating an egg into any mixture, I like to completely whisk it together with the other wet ingredients first.  Otherwise, how can you be sure it is evenly distributed?  (That's just my opinion, though.)

Next, add your dry ingredients:  1/2 onion (diced), 1/3 cup dried bread crumbs (I like to use Italian flavored, wheat bread crumbs), 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese, and a fair amount of parsley.  I did NOT add salt here.  I have in the past, and the meatballs have ended up really salty.  You will pick up salt from the cheese, and later in the sauce.  So I don't think it's totally necessary.  Gently mix this all together to incorporate.

Now comes the messy (or fun) part, depending on your viewpoint.  Add 1.5 lbs of ground turkey.  Roll up your sleeves, and dive in!  You will need to mix everything together by hand.  That's really the only way to do it.  Then form evenly sized balls, and arrange them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  In the past I have pan-fried the meatballs in a little oil.  But I saw a restaurant owner baking off his meatballs like this on an episode of D, D, & D -- so I decided to give that a shot.  I am calling these "lean" after all.

A lot of the fat will be rendered out of your meatballs during the cooking process.  Obviously these aren't going to be as rich as meatballs made from veal & pork, but I promise that the end product is still very delicious   And I think the quote "Nothing tastes as good as thin feels." is apt for this dish.

Heat up some marinara sauce and coat the meatballs.  Then slice into a fresh bun (but not all the way through) and add your meatballs to the center.  I made these kind of large so the sandwich would feel really hearty.

 Then top the subs with some shredded cheese and melt everything under the broiler.  When all is said and done, you're going to have a really delicious sub to dig into.  I promise you with all the sauce, cheese, onions, and seasonings, you will for sure like this sandwich.  And it is by no means lacking in flavor or satisfaction.