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.