Brussels Sprout Surprise

On my list of favorite foods Brussels sprouts rank somewhere near the bottom. They’re just….they’re just…well they’re Brussels sprouts. What more can be said?

I have some vague childhood memories of sitting around the dinner table with Brussels sprouts steaming on my plate. This is shortly followed by me and my older sister, if memory recalls, with fingers clamped on our lips like lobster claws trying to chew and swallow the things without gagging so that we could gain freedom from said table. Needless to say, the things have just never appealed.

That said, when the bag of fresh raw Brussels sprouts appeared in our basket at last Saturday’s Bountiful Basket pick-up I’ll admit my nose wrinkled. Still, like I tell my kids, "You get what you get, and you don’t throw a fit.” which meant we’d be eating Brussels sprouts at some point this week.

Determined to find a way to disguise the little green orbs in something at least half palatable I wandered into the depths of Pinterest. Bountiful Baskets has an account over there (http://pinterest.com/bountiflbaskets/ – this is the link if anybody is interested)and they have boards for just about every fruit, vegetable, and food related activity you can think of…including a board with 89 ‘pins’ for Brussels sprouts. I simply pointed and clicked and selected a recipe that seemed appealing

I came up with a recipe called ‘Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and Apple.’ The bacon part was the clincher. It is bacon after all,..bacon can fix anything! Pretty much the recipe called for baking the 3 title ingredients together in the oven and tossing with red wine vinegar.

I’ll admit I was dubious. Like any good mother I let Emilie go first. She consumed with her usual gusto so I figured it wasn’t terrible. I took my first bite, and my worries were put to rest. No lip clamping or gagging needed! In fact the stuff was half way decent. Okay, it was downright delicious. Even Jack tried it! Granted, he was mostly in it for the bacon part…but he still ate a couple of pieces. If it can get my 3.5 year old to eat Brussels sprouts the dish must be a success right?

For those interested the recipe follows bellow:

 

Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and Apple

Ingredients:

• 3 slices bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 4 pints of Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved (I used 12 large ones as that is what I had)
• Coarse salt and ground pepper to taste
• 1 apple, cored, and sliced
• 2 teaspoons of red-wine vinegar

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Arrange bacon in a single layer on a large rimmed baking sheet and bake until browned, about 10 minutes.

2. Add Brussels sprouts in a single layer; sprinkle with salt & pepper. Roast until sprouts begin to brown, about 15 minutes.

3. Remove from oven, toss in apple. Return to oven and roast until sprouts are browned and apples have softened; 10 to 15 minutes.

4. Remove from oven toss veggies with vinegar and serve immediately.

Opening Day….Vampires Beware!

Until I met Kevin I was not aware that the opening day of baseball ranks right up there with Christmas, Easter, and the 4th of July…Now I know. Kevin puts it so eloquently: “If Baseball is America’s national pastime then the first day of the season is practically a national holiday and should be celebrated as such”. Therefore, in this house, we observe this glorious day with ‘traditional’ ballpark foods; hot dogs, French fries, and the like.

This year we decided on Bratwurst with sauerkraut and Safeco Field-esque Garlic Fries. For those of you who have never been to Safeco Field and like garlic (and I mean REALLY like garlic) I highly recommend you make the trip and try the real thing. Kevin and I first discovered these yummy little morsels half a dozen years ago on a road trip to Seattle to see the Mariners play the Rangers. The fries are incredibly yummy, but let me warn you. If you eat them make sure your ride home has either eaten them too or doesn’t mind the smell of garlic as it will be emanating from your person for some time.

On that last visit we drove down to my parents place after the game and spent most of the drive down I-5 with the windows rolled down to air out the car. Those burps were potent, but so worth it.

So, in honor of that wonderful memory we decided to try and recreate them. I read several recipe versions from Mariners fans online and ultimately decided to wing it. I peeled a garlic and a half (no, not cloves…whole garlic) and ran them through the garlic press. Then I put the garlic in a small saucepan with about 2/3 cup of olive oil and heated it. You don’t want to caramelize the garlic, just cook it long enough to get a good strong garlic smell wafting through your house. Mine cooked for 2 or 3 minutes. Next, I strained out the garlic and put it in a mixing bowl and threw in a tablespoon or so of parsley in with it. I also added a teaspoon of salt.

While all this garlic-ness was going on I had some French fries cooking in the oven. I used frozen crinkle cut fries, but you could make your own if you were feeling really frisky. I cooked enough to just cover the bottom of a standard casserole dish. When the fries were done I lightly fried then in the oil that I had cooked the garlic in. Just enough to make them a little crispy on the outside (Seriously, I want to log 45 minutes on the elliptical just thinking about this). Then they were tossed in the bowl with the garlic mixture and tossed along with a handful of parmesan cheese.

By this time the whole house smelled like we were trying to prevent a Vampire Apocalypse. Thank goodness I’m not “Team Edward”, cause he wouldn’t be coming within a mile of this house for the next week (Yeah that’s right, I just threw in a Twilight reference….I am on a roll tonight). Count von Count, Dracula won’t be stopping by either so I guess we can rest without fear of the undead tonight.  

Anyway, let’s just say the results were yummy. Not sure how close they were to the real thing, but they were very good nonetheless. The sauerkraut and brats weren’t half bad either.

Now, before I go and sweat garlic out my pores on the elliptical I want to take a moment to apologize to Kevin’s co-workers in advance. If he comes in smelling a little, uh, whiffy tomorrow blame me. While making garlic fries were his idea, I’m the one who executed the feat. Oh, and Happy Opening Day to you all! Go Mariners!

Pork Chop Dinner

There are so many folks that I want to share this yummy recipe with that I’m just going to post it here. It comes from the Betty Crocker: Healthy Home Cooking Cookbook and is soooooo yummy! I love that all the ingredients are pretty much staples in my pantry and I can make this for any given meal. Just remind me to take the pork chops out of the freezer please! My ‘tweaks’ are in italics on the side.

Ingredients:

• 4 pork loin or rib chops, 1” thick (about 1.5lbs)
• 1/4 cup beef or chicken broth (I’ve been using chicken)
• 4 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into forth (I don’t peel them)
• 4 carrots, cut into 1” pieces
• 4 med onions, cut into fourths (I find 4 to be too many but 3 to be fine)
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 tsp pepper
• Last time I cut up two celery ribs and threw them in as well

Cut all your vegetables and prepare your broth. I use bullion cubes and to reconstitute those you dissolve 1 cube in 1 cup of hot water. (I’ll be honest that I end up throwing the rest of the broth into the skillet right before I put the lid on to simmer and so far so good.)

Remove fat from pork. Spray 12-inch nonstick skillet with cooking spray; heat over medium-high heat. Cook pork in skillet about 5 minutes, turning once, until  just brown. (Don’t worry about it not being cooked through as it is going to cook for another 30 minutes with the veggies and if you cook it through now you’ll end up with dry chops.)

Add broth, potatoes, carrots, and onions (and celery if you so choose ;-P) to skillet. Sprinkle salt & pepper over the top. Heat to boiling; reduce to heat to low. Cover and simmer about 30 minutes or until vegetable are tender and pork is slightly pink when cut. Enjoy!!!

More Notes from the Chef:

Makes 4 servings (1 serving is 335 Calories). From start to finish this recipies takes about 45 minutes (15 to prep and 30 to cook).

While the chops cook Jack and I usually whip up some Biscuits Supreme from that classic red and white Better Homes & Gardens cookbook (see picture at right). Mostly because he likes to roll out and cut the dough and that’s 30 minutes of him not begging for food before dinner.

Banana Chip Muffins

These are a big hit with both my munchkins and my husband. They are a good way to use up those brown banana’s. You can make them with our without the chocolate chips and still have a tasty outcome. Plus, it’s a good recipe for any young chefs you may know. Smashing the banana’s is Jack’s favorite part….after adding the chocolate chips that is.

I give credit for the recipe to my fabulous Mother in-law. I’m not sure who she got it from, but whomever the original creator is should be commended!! 

 

Ingredients:

• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 3/4 cup sugar
• approx. 1 1/3 cup mashed bananas (about 3 medium)
• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 cups Old Fashioned oats
• 3/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt.
• 3/4 cup mini chocolate chips

 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line cupcake pan with cupcake wrappers.

In medium bowl combine egg, vegetable oil, and sugar. Beat until smooth, then stir in mashed bananas. Set aside.

In a second bowl combine flour, oats, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Stir gently into the banana mixture. Stir in chocolate chips. Don’t over mix.

Drop mixture into cupcake pan filling each well roughly 1/2 full. Bake for 18 – 20 minutes. Remove from oven and enjoy! (Seriously, if you don’t get right on them they’ll disappear before you get a chance.) Yield approx. 18 muffins.