Brussels sprouts are your friends

Posted in vegetable, vegetarian by

Why do Brussels sprouts get such a bad rap?  It was always the food used as a threat by mothers in sitcoms when I was growing up so I think as a result I just never even tried one until I was an adult because I just assumed they would be gross.  Boy, was that assumption wrong!  They’re delicious.

I’ve been making them as a side dish at Thanksgiving for the past five or so years and they are almost always a hit.  (I say almost always because small children and my Grandma Molly are not big fans, but that just means more for the rest of us!)  I usually roast them until they get all brown and caramelized but a few years ago I ate them in a gratin at a fancy restaurant in New York and was inspired to seek out a recipe for this cooking method.

The recipe I found also involves cauliflower which is another vegetable that can sometimes get an undeserved bad rap.  Brussels sprouts and cauliflower smothered in cream and Parmesan cheese?  Yes, please!

This gratin also gets a crunchy topping courtesy of bread crumbs and toasted pine nuts.  This dish just might make it to my Thanksgiving table this year!

I will be tagging all Thanksgiving-worthy recipes as such to help you with your menu planning, so check back closer to the date if you are in need of some ideas.

Cauliflower and Brussels Sprouts Gratin (found at www.epicurious.com)

Yield: Makes 10 to 12 servings
  • 1 1/2 pounds brussels sprouts, trimmed, quartered lengthwise through core
  • 1 1 1/2-to 1 3/4-pound head of cauliflower, trimmed, cut into small florets
  • 2 3/4 cups heavy whipping cream
  • 1/2 cup chopped shallots
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage
  • 11/2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1/2 cup plain dry breadcrumbs
  • 1/2 cup pine nuts, lightly toasted
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley
  • 3 cups grated Parmesan cheese, divided

Fill large bowl with ice and cold water. Cook brussels sprouts in large pot of generously salted boiling water 2 minutes. Add cauliflower to same pot; cook until vegetables are crisp-tender, about 3 minutes longer. Drain. Transfer vegetables to bowl of ice water to cool. Drain well.

Combine cream, shallots, and sage in large saucepan. Bring to boil. Reduce heat; simmer until mixture is reduced to 21/2 cups, about 10 minutes. Season with salt. Remove from heat. Cool slightly.

Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add breadcrumbs; stir until beginning to brown, about 2 minutes. Transfer to bowl; cool. Stir in pine nuts and parsley. Season with salt and pepper.

Butter 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish; arrange half of vegetables in dish. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, then 1 1/2 cups Parmesan. Arrange remaining vegetables evenly over, then sprinkle with remaining 1 1/2 cups Parmesan. Pour cream mixture evenly over. DO AHEAD: Breadcrumb topping and gratin can be made 1 day ahead. Cover separately and chill. Bring to room temperature before continuing.

Preheat oven to 375°F. Cover gratin with foil. Bake covered 40 minutes. Uncover; sprinkle breadcrumb topping over and bake uncovered 15 minutes longer.

frozen meals vs. good old home-cooking

Posted in meat, vegetable by

Tonight I ate a frozen burrito for dinner.  It’s true.  The fact of the matter is that during the week I eat like a total bachelor most nights, heating up something from my freezer or piecing together a meal out of whatever I can scrape together from the fridge and pantry which usually means hard-boiled eggs on toast or crackers and smoked salmon spread.  Lately I’ve been juicing a lot of produce up and calling that dinner, but tonight I had no fresh fruit or juice-worthy vegetables (the thought of juiced Brussels sprouts is just not even remotely appetizing…) so that is where the frozen burrito came in.  At least it was of the spinach and tofu variety so I managed to get vegetables into my day somehow.

On the weekends, however, I eat like a queen.  (Most of the time.)  A few weeks ago I made a lovely pot roast with potatoes, carrots and onions.  The rub for the roast consisted of cumin, coriander, ginger, fresh black pepper, salt and a hint of cayenne.  That paired with thinly sliced garlic inserted into the roast made for a mighty tasty hunk of meat.  And you gotta love the way the meat flavors the vegetables when you cook them all together in one big pan…

The memory of it almost makes up for tonight’s microwaved meal… almost.

Roast Beef with Root Vegetables (from “Bon Appetit: Keep it Simple, Easy Techniques for Great Home Cooking”)

  • 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
  • 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
  • ½ teaspoon whole black peppercorns
  • ¾ salt
  • ½ teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 2 ½ pounds russet potatoes, peeled, cut into 1-inch chunks
  • 8 medium carrots, peeled, cut diagonally into 2-inch lengths
  • 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1  3- to 3 ¼-pound beef eye of round roast
  • 1 garlic clove, thinly sliced

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Place first 3 ingredients in heavy small plastic bag.  Using meat mallet or rolling pin, crush spices.  Transfer crushed spices to small bowl; mix in salt, ginger and cayenne.

Toss potatoes, carrots and 3 tablespoons olive oil in large bowl.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Arrange vegetables in single layer in large roasting pan.  Roast about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, using tip of knife, make several slits in roast; insert garlic slices into slits.  Brush roast with remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil.  Rub spice mixture over roast.

Push vegetables sides of pan, leaving space in center.  Place roast in center of pan.  Cook until meat thermometer inserted into
center of roast registers 125 degrees for medium-rare, about 1 hour.  Transfer roast to platter.  Foil to keep warm.  Increase oven temperature to 450 degrees.  Spread vegetables in pan; continue roasting until vegetables are tender and brown, about 10 minutes.

Surround roast with vegetables.  Cut roast into thin slices and serve.

it’s the great pumpkin (bread), charlie brown

Posted in bread by

I’m crazy for pumpkin this time of year.  I’ve already had pumpkin ravioli, pumpkin chocolate chip bars, and pumpkin muffins so far this season so figured it was time to whip up some pumpkin bread, too.

This particular recipe is from good ol’ Betty Crocker’s Cookbook and calls for nuts and raisins but I thought that since chocolate generally makes everything better, why not try adding it here too?

It was an excellent thought to have.  This bread is moist and a little spicy thanks to ground cloves and the chocolate chips made it feel dessert-like but I felt less guilty eating it as dessert because I figure it can’t be too bad for you since pumpkins are technically vegetables, right?  And vegetables are good for you!  For sure.

Last week was freakishly warm for October in the northern Midwest but next week it is looking much cooler which is getting me thinking about my Thanksgiving menu already.  Look for side dish and dessert ideas for Thanksgiving from me in the coming weeks!

Pumpkin Bread (adapted slightly from “Betty Crocker’s Cookbook”)

  • 1 15-ounce can pureed pumpkin
  • 1 ½ cups sugar
  • 2/3 cup canola oil
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 4 large eggs
  • 3 cups all-purpose or whole wheat flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
  • ½ teaspoon ground cloves
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • Mix-ins: Betty Crocker suggests ½ cup coarsely chopped nuts and ½ cup raisins, but I used 1 cup chocolate chips.  Take your pick.

Move oven rack to low position so that tops of pans will be in center of oven.  Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease bottoms only of 2 loaf pans, 8 ½ x 4 ½ x 2 ½ inches, or 1 loaf pan, 9 x 5 x 3 inches with shortening.

Mix pumpkin, sugar, oil, vanilla and eggs in large bowl.  Stir in remaining ingredients except nuts and raisins or chocolate chips.  Stir in nuts and raisins or chocolate chips.  Divide batter evenly between pans.

Bake 8-inch loaves 50 to 60 minutes, 9-inch loaf 1 hour 10 minutes to 1 hour 20 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool 10 minutes in pans on wire rack.

Loosen sides of loaves from pans; remove from pans and place top side up on wire rack.  Cool completely, about 2 hours, before slicing.  Wrap tightly and store at room temperature up to 4 days, or refrigerate up to 10 days.

the easiest recipe you’ll ever make

Posted in fruit by

Growing up I got spoiled for life on applesauce because my Grandma Molly used to make the most awesome chunky sauce that she would freeze and share with family.  Best gift ever.  I remember fondly the mornings when my mom would thaw out a container for us to eat for breakfast.  I’ve never been able to enjoy the store-bought kind as a result…

So last fall I decided to recreate my grandma’s applesauce in my own kitchen.  As long as you don’t mind peeling, coring, and chopping apples it really could not be simpler, especially with the aid of a slow cooker.

You just throw the chunked, skinless apples into the slow cooker with some cinnamon and water and let it do its’ thing on low for a few hours and then you stir in a little brown sugar and voila.  Comfort-y heaven in your mouth.  It has seriously been motivating me out of bed on weekdays for the past week so I highly suggest you get on board and make yourself some and forget you ever once purchased that junk they sell in the grocery store…

Slow Cooker Applesauce

  • 14 apples (I used a variety of sweet and tart apples), peeled, cored, and chopped
  • 4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar

Place apples in 4-quart or larger slow cooker and sprinkle with cinnamon.  Add water.

Cover.  Cook on low for 2 to 4 hours, or until apples become mushy.  Stir in brown sugar and mix well with an immersion blender or potato masher.

soup season

Posted in soup, vegetable, vegetarian by

Fall is my favorite time of year for a variety of reasons– the brilliant colors of the changing leaves, the cooler temperatures, and of course for the abundance of foods that are prevalent this time of year: squash, pumpkins, apples, parsnips, Brussels sprouts– love them all.  I also love nothing more on a cool fall day than a nice hot bowl of soup.

When I went apple picking two weekends ago I also picked up a beautiful butternut squash at the same farm and this inspired me to whip up my first soup (chili doesn’t count!) of the season.  This recipe starts with roasting cubed squash for a nice caramelized flavor.

Then you chop up some onions, celery and fresh sage.  Sage is a wonderful herb that does a lot of work this time of year as it pairs very nicely with squash and pumpkin as well as poultry.  Bonus: it makes your house smell wonderful!

After these ingredients (along with some vegetable or chicken broth) had simmered for a solid half hour I busted out my immersion blender and made a beautiful smooth soup.

What goes well with soup?  Bread.  What’s one step better than bread?  Homemade croutons.  I chunked up a few slices of sourdough bread and tossed them with olive oil, more chopped fresh sage, minced garlic, finely shredded Parmesan and a little salt and toasted them in the oven until they were nice and crisp.

Nothing says “fall is here” quite like a hot bowl of butternut squash soup with homemade croutons…

Butternut Squash Soup with Sage and Parmesan Croutons (from recipe from Real Simple magazine)

  • 1 3-pound butternut squash—peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch cubes (5 to 6 cups)
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 3 teaspoons kosher salt
  • Pinch of freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1 large yellow onion, diced (about 1 ½ cups)
  • 3 stalks of celery, chopped (about 1 ½ cups)
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage
  • 6 cups chicken or vegetable broth
  • ½ cup freshly grated Parmesan

Preheat oven to 400° F. In a large bowl, toss the squash with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, 2 teaspoons of the salt, and the pepper. Place the squash on a rimmed baking sheet and roast in oven for 15 minutes. Turn the cubes over and continue roasting for 15 minutes or until they are caramelized; set aside.

In a Dutch oven or a large stockpot, heat the butter and the remaining oil over medium heat. Add the onion, celery, and sage and sauté, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are translucent and tender, 10 minutes. Add the squash, broth, and the remaining
salt and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 30 minutes or until the liquid is flavorful. Remove from heat.

Using a blender or a food processor, blend the soup in batches until smooth. Return to the pot and keep warm. Top with Sage and Parmesan Croutons and the grated Parmesan.

Sage and Parmesan Croutons (also from Real Simple magazine)

  • 3 ounces rustic white bread (about 3 thick slices), torn into 24 1-inch pieces
  • 1 large clove garlic, minced (about 2 teaspoons)
  • 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh sage (about 6 large leaves)
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons finely grated Parmesan

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Toss all the ingredients together in a mixing bowl to coat.  Spread the bread evenly on a baking sheet and toast in oven for 10 to 12 minutes or until crisp and golden brown.