Why do brussels sprouts have such a bad rap? Is it because they, unlike spinach, never had a Popeye-like character to extol their virtues to the public? I have so much love for brussels sprouts, but when I offer to bring them over people generally look at me blankly or make a face. However, most people change their minds once they taste this delicious recipe that, in its simplest form, only has a few steps:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Cut the stems off brussels sprouts and then cut them in half. Spread on baking sheet.
Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper.
Pop into the oven for 30-40 minutes.

This is truly the simplest way to prepare brussels sprouts and the easiest way to make them delicious. Once you’ve mastered this (which won’t take long), then you can get creative! Some of my favorite ways to add a little extra:

• Cook several slices of bacon (I usually do about 5 slices per pound of sprouts) until almost done – before you would consider it ready for eating straing. Use kitchen shears to cut up into bits, and pour the bacon bits and all of the rendered fat from the pan onto the brussels sprouts. Make sure the fat is spread evenly, and supplement with olive oil if needed. Roast until delicious.
• Throw some chopped pecans in with the sprouts.
• Get those bags of shelled, pre-cooked chesnuts, chop into halves, and roast them alongside the sprouts.
• Put the sprouts in a cast iron skillet instead of a baking sheet, add butter, garlic, cheese, herbs, and anything else your heart desires.
• For people with a sweet tooth, try with some honey on top. Here’s a great recipe!

Now these are just some variations I’ve tried or thought about trying, but really – you can’t go wrong. As for cooking method, I enjoy roasting the best, but you can also boil them. However, I think that it’s much easier to over or undercook when boiling – just be careful!

You want some photos? Kalyn’s Kitchen has a nice recipe with awesome photos.

As for portioning, I’ve found that a pound of brussels sprouts will generally feed about 3-4 people with generous portions.

Ingredients

• 1 can crushed tomatoes
• 2 whole tomatoes, diced (optional, I added them but wasn’t sure how much of a difference they made)
• 1 can great northern white beans
• 1/2 onion, diced
• Garlic (I used an entire small bulb of it), minced
• 5 stalks of celery, diced
• 3-4 carrots, diced
• 1/2 head of cauliflower, cut roughly into half florets, stalks
• ~1 cup of thinly sliced snow peas
• ~2 cups frozen corn
• Milk
• Chicken broth
• Herbs (I used rosemary, bay leaf, thyme – you can use whatever you want)

Instructions
Cut up all the veggies you want to add. Saute carrots, onion, and celery with some oil in the pot you want to make the soup in. Add in minced garlic during this process. When the veggies are soft, add crushed tomatoes and chicken broth until the soup reaches about 3/4 the volume you want it to be at when done. At this point, I put a small spring of rosemary with a bay leaf into a tea bag (for easy removal later) and threw it in to the soup. Add cauliflower, diced tomatoes, corn and peas. Bring to a boil, then let simmer on the stove. While it is simmering, blend the white beans with a splash of milk. Add the beans to the soup and continue to simmer. Add salt and pepper to taste. I also added some red pepper flakes (less than a tsp) to give it a bit of a kick. Wait until the soup has come to a boil again, then it should be about done.

Recipe is from Food Network’s Michael Chiarello, who was that Italian chef on the first season of Top Chef Masters. While I wasn’t a fan of his attitude, his recipes are usually a hit. It’s named “Super Quick Minestrone”, which is to say that it still takes upwards of 40 minutes to make, but the process is straightforward and involves enough down time that you won’t really feel like you’re slaving away at the stove all evening.

I followed the recipe pretty closely, substituting sage sausage for the pancetta and foregoing the thyme.  My pasta of choice was wheat elbow macaroni, and I added some chili powder to the seasoning at the end. The result was better than I was expecting – a great balanced comfort dish.

Extra bonus: you can definitely practice your knife skills when chopping all the veggies up in the beginning. That part was the most tedious, but at least it will get better with practice!

Recipe reproduced from the Food Network website:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup (4 ounces) tubetti pasta, or other small pasta shape
• Extra-virgin olive oil
• 6 cups chicken stock
• 1/4 pound pancetta, cut into 3 pieces
• 6 medium garlic cloves, each cut in 1/2 lengthwise
• 2 cups finely chopped yellow onions (2 small onions)
• 1 cup small-diced celery (2 medium stalks)
• 1 cup small-diced carrots (2 to 3 medium carrots)
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped rosemary or thyme leaves
• 1 (14-ounce) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 (14 1/2-ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 4 cups small-diced zucchini (green/yellow) (5 small zucchini)
• 2 cups small-diced, peeled russet potatoes (1 large russet)
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook according to package directions until al dente. Drain and transfer the pasta to a baking sheet. Toss the pasta with a little olive oil to prevent sticking.

In a large saucepan over medium heat, warm the chicken stock.

In another large saucepan over high heat, heat 1/4 cup oil. When the oil is hot but not smoking, add the pancetta and cook until it begins to brown, 3 to 4 minutes, turning occasionally. Add the garlic and cook until it begins to brown, about 1 minute, stirring occasionally. Lower the heat to medium and add the onions, celery, and carrots.

Cook until the vegetables are soft, 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent browning. Add the chopped herbs. Raise the heat to high. Add the beans, tomatoes, zucchini, and potatoes. Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Then bring it down to a simmer and cook until the potatoes are tender, 12 to 15 minutes, skimming any foam off the top of the soup. Season generously with pepper. Add salt, to taste. Just a few minutes before serving, add the cooked tubetti pasta. Serve warm with Parmesan and olive oil passed at the table.

Cooking notes: Add the cooked pasta just before serving. If it sits in the soup too long, it develops a flabby texture. Tubetti (little hollow tubes) are the classic pasta for minestrone, but you could substitute another small shape of pasta.

So I’m getting back in the game with a delicious little cookie that’s perfect with some tea or coffee.  The recipe originally calls for wheat germ, but I read a post by another blogger who substituted oat bran instead. Since I had oat bran on hand, I figured it was worth a shot. The result is a delightful, light cookie.

Note that the dough needs to be made at least 2 hours beforehand to allow chilling time. Plan accordingly!

Thanks to Flourchild for the recipe – I’ve basically copied her instructions below.

Ingredients

Whisk together the flour, 1/2 cup of the oat bran, baking powder and salt. Working in the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large bowl,run the sugar and lemon zest together with your fingers until the sugar is moist. Add the butter and, using the paddle or whisk attachment of a hand mixer, beat on medium speed for about 2 minutes, until creamy or smooth. Add the honey and beat for another minute or two. Add the egg and beat for about 2 minutes more, until you have a smooth, light , fluffy mixture. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients in 2 portions, mixing only until each addition disappears. Scrape the dough out onto a large piece of plastic wrap and wrap well. Chill the dough for at least 2 hours, or for up to 2 days.

Getting ready to Bake: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats. Put the remaining 1/2 cup oat bran into a bowl. Remove the chilled dough from the fridge and, working with a spoonful of it at a time, roll the dough between your palms into 1-inch balls. Drop each ball into the wheat germ and turn to coat, then place the balls on one of the baking sheets, leaving about 1 inch of space between them(these don’t spread much). Use your palm or the bottom of a glass to gently flatten each cookie. Bake the cookies one sheet at a time, for 10 to 12 minutes, or until they are just firm to the touch. Transfer the cookies to a rack to cool to room temperature. Repeat with remaining dough. Storing: The cookies will keep at room temperature for about 3 days or wrapped airtight in the freezer for up to 2 months.

I took the instructions from this recipe, and because of my limited pantry I just threw together a lemon butter sauce by melting butter in a small pan, adding a bunch of lemon zest, and cooking it for a few minutes.

It’s super easy, and hard to mess up! A+!

Beer Battered Fish (serves 4)

Heat enough olive oil, to shallow fry the fish, in a large skillet over medium-high heat.

In a shallow dish, whisk together 1/2 cup of the flour, beer, egg, and baking powder. Remember to do this methodically, because if you just dump the beer in there it will foam up and spill over into a nasty mess on your counter.

Place remaining 1/4 cup flour in a separate shallow dish.

Season both sides of fish fillets with salt and black pepper. Dredge fish in flour, turn to coat both sides and then shake off excess flour. Dunk fish in beer mixture and turn to coat both sides.

Add fish to hot oil and cook 2 to 3 minutes per side, until cooked through and opaque. Remove fish from oil. Place on a paper towel lined plate.

There are a lot of beer battered fish recipes out there, so I recommend trying a variety of them! Report back on the results as well so I can try them.

Some links to get you started:

Homemade Beer Battered Fish and Chips (the classic! This blog post gives lots of good basic tips.)

Beer and Chipotle-Battered Fish Tacos

Beer Battered Fish Tacos with Baja Sauce

After receiving the CakeLove book, I thought to myself, “okay, now you HAVE to give baking a real chance”.  Unfortunately, my first attempt at making meringue buttercream frosting was miserable!  The butter wasn’t well-enough incorporated, and the meringue component wasn’t stiff enough to give the frosting any structure. Added to the fact that I had never used a whole pound of butter in anything before, it became a traumatic experience. It took me a while before I cared to try again.  Finally, I gave it another try this past Friday, with much better results.

Ta-da! Unfortunately we were pressed for time (see the small kitten trying to bury his face in the frosting), so I didn’t get any better pictures of the cake.

Chocolate Butter Cake (from the CakeLove book) – yields 2 9-in. diameter round cakes

Dry ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups + 2 tbsp unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt

Liquid ingredients

• 1 cup half-and-half
• 2 tbsp brandy (I subbed this with dark rum)
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract

Creaming ingredients

• 6 ounces (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temp.
• 1 3/4 cup extra-fine granulated sugar
• 4 large eggs

** full-fat, unsweetened, Dutch-processed cocoa powder with 22% to 24% cocoa butter is recommended in the book

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Sift the flour into a big mixing bowl. Measure out the other dry ingredients and add to the bowl. Whisk them together.

Combine the liquid ingredients in a separate bowl and set aside.

Measure the butter and sugar into separate bowls and set aside. Cream the butter and sugar together (note that the butter must be room temp). Use an electric mixer at low speed. After it looks well incorporated, start adding the eggs one at a time, keeping the mixer at the same speed.  Remember to scrape the sides down to mix everything evenly.

Alternate between adding the dry and liquid mixtures, starting and ending with the dry mixture. Keep the mixer going, and don’t wait for the added ingredients to get fully incorporated before adding more.

Stop and scrape the sides down, making sure that you get any possible pockets of unmixed batter.  Turn the mixer back on medium speed and mix for another 15 to 20 seconds.

Prepare the pans – for 9-in. round pans, line the bottom with parchment paper (I cut it roughly into circles and folded the edges under so it fit exactly along the bottom).  You don’t need to spray the sides of the pan.

Pour the batter into the pan, using a rubber spatula to smooth it out evenly in the pan. Fill the pan about 3/4 deep.

Bake for about 28 minutes.

When the cakes are done, let cool to room temperature and then remove from the pans by loosening the edges with a spatula or knife and then inverting onto a flat surface.  You can wrap the cakes in plastic wrap andore in the fridge up to 5 days before frosting.

Italian Meringue Buttercream

• 5 egg whites
• 1 1/4 cups extra-fine granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup cold water
• 1 lb (4 sticks) unsalted butter
• candy thermometer

Separate the egg whites into a bowl.

Measure 1 cup of sugar and the water into a heavy-bottomed, 1 qt saucepan. Gently stir to combine before you put it on the heat.

Measure the remaining 1/4 cup sugar into a small bowl and set aside.

Cut the butter into tablespoon-sized pieces and set aside.

Put the thermometer in the saucepan. Place the saucepan on the stove and heat on medium-high heat. Partially cover the saucepan with a lid to capture the evaporating water – this helps prevent sugar crystals from forming. Heat until the mixture reaches 245 degrees F. This will give you enough time to continue with the steps below.

As this is going, whip the egg whites with a whisk attachment on high speed. Whip until stiff peaks form – that is when you have a meringue.

Keep the mixer going while pouring the 1/4 cup of sugar into the meringue.

Set aside the meringue and check the sugar. If it is not yet at 245 degrees, turn up the heat to get it there. Once it reaches 245, promptly remove it from the heat and slowly pour into the meringue. ** Note: It is VERY important to make sure the syrup is at 245 degrees. Baking is hard that way

Continue mixing the meringue at high speed for a minute or so. Reduce the speed to medium for another 3 to 4 minutes, or until the meringue is mostly cooled. Start adding the butter 1 tbsp at a time. This is the time to add any flavorings – I added about 1/2 cup of raspberry puree.  Below are some more flavoring ideas.

Continue to mix at the highest speed possible until the buttercream looks very uniform and smooth. It will have to pass through a weird, curdled-looking stage first.  The one mistake I made in my first attempt was my choice of electric mixer – mine simply wasn’t strong enough at its highest speed to incorporate the butter appropriately.

Flavor Variations

Vanilla: 1 tsp vanilla extract

Chocolate: 1/2 cup melted bittersweet chocolate

Rum: 2-4 tbsp dark rum

Amaretto: 2-4 tbsp amaretto

Lemon: 2 tbsp limoncello

Orange: 1 tsp orange oil

Lime: 1 tsp lime oil

• 1 quart of roma tomatoes (or 1 can of crushed tomatoes) – a quart was about 8 or 9 tomatoes for me
• 3-4 cloves of garlic
• 3/4 cup finely chopped onion or shallots
• 1/2 cup peas
• 1 cup vodka
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• olive oil
• 1/2 cup torn fresh basil

If you’re using fresh tomatoes, first cut in an X on the end of each tomato and drop them all in a pot of boiling water for about 4 minutes.  You’ll start to see the peels starting to separate. Take the tomatoes out and put them in cold water to bring the temperature low enough that you can handle them.  Peel the skin off with your hands – it should be super easy!

Next, use a serrated knife to chop the tomatoes roughly. Stick the tomatoes in a strainer of some sort – a colander should be fine. You want to get a good deal of the liquid innards out so that the sauce isn’t to watery later. I finished up the chopping by using kitchen shears (you can transfer it back to a board to chop as well, I just find shears to be a lot easier), and then crushed them a bit with a spoon.

Heat up a deep pan (I like to use a wok) with some olive oil, and start sauteeing the garlic and onion/shallots.  Continue sauteeing until the onion looks soft.  Throw in the vodka, and cook it down by at least half.

Add the tomatoes and chicken broth, stir. Throw in some salt and pepper.  Cook it down again for 3-4 minutes. Add cream and peas, turn heat to low, and stir gently to incorporate.  Simmer a bit longer until it looks nice and thick.  When it’s about ready, take it off the heat and stir in the torn basil.  Serve with pasta! I like to use penne.

If you like some heat with your sauce, try adding red pepper flakes to taste. I actually added a few pinches of it and it was good!

There is a version that Emeril Lagasse makes that involves bacon – you cut the bacon into small pieces and cook it first, using the fat to cook the onions afterwards. YUM. I’ll have to do that next time!

Chicken lettuce wraps are one of those dishes which I can never remember the origin of – are they really anywhere close to “authentic” asian food, or is PF Chang’s overpriced asian fusion menu responsible for them? A quick Google search yielded no concrete answers, though searching my memory did dredge up something – I think I had these in Taiwan once.  Well, regardless of whether or not this is an American invention, this dish is damn tasty and makes for a good meal that’s not altogether that bad for you.  Extra bonus: it’s low carb!

The one negative to this dish is that it takes a lot of mincing.  However, it’s worth it in the end! Just put your favorite show on the TV or convince someone to be your kitchen grunt, and get chopping.

As usual, measurements are just guidelines that I basically made up – in actuality I just mixed up whatever seemed right. I hope the measurements give you an idea of proportion, however. This recipe was sorta cobbled together from the first three recipes I found through Google. I’ll include a list of sample recipes at the end so you can get an idea of what other variations there are.

Ingredients (Yields about 6 servings):

• 2 lbs ground chicken (you can also use turkey for a similar taste/texture)
• 1 head of lettuce (I used iceberg, but other popular choices are butter lettuce and romaine)
• 3 tbsp minced garlic
• 2 tbsp minced fresh ginger
• 3 scallions, chopped finely
• 1 can water chesnuts, chopped finely
• 2 cups fresh shiitake mushrooms, chopped finely
• 1/2 cup unsalted roasted peanuts, chopped roughly
• dry sherry
• sesame oil
• oyster sauce
• hoisin sauce
• soy sauce
• black pepper and salt

Start by marinating the ground chicken in about 1/2 cup of dry sherry and 1/4 cup soy sauce.  Salt and pepper as well – I was very liberal with the pepper, not as much with the salt.

Begin chopping up everything while the meat marinates. After you’re done, put a little veggie or canola oil in a skillet or wok, and start cooking the meat while breaking it up into little pieces.  This actually requires a good deal of effort… my arms were getting tired after a few minutes! When the chicken is cooked thoroughly, remove it from the heat and put it in a bowl for later.

In a small bowl, mix about 1/2 cup hoisin sauce, 1/3 cup oyster sauce, 1/4 cup sesame oil, and a little sherry and soy sauce.

Saute all the chopped things together, then add in the chicken when things are mostly all cooked. Pour the mixture in the small bowl in, and stir until well incorporated.

You’re done! Serve with leaves of the lettuce.   It makes a decent meal by itself, or with a side of veggies since the lettuce doesn’t provide as much nutritional value.

Some common additions to this dish are hot pepper flakes, fresh peppers, red pepper, and orange zest. Here are some links to alternative recipes:

Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps (from Stretch Mark Mama)

Chicken Lettuce Wraps Two Ways (from YumSugar)

Thai Glazed Chicken Lettuce Wraps (from Rachael Ray)

Image from mochimama's blog (mine didn't turn out so well...)

This is a super delicious dish that my mom likes to make from time to time.  I love it because it has a bit of everything – protein, fiber, carbs, etc. – all stewed together until delicious and flavorful.  It makes use of almost every standard Chinese ingredient that you can think of, so it may be harder to pull together if you don’t have a lot of them on hand. However! If you have an asian grocery store readily accessible, I guarantee that you can get these ingredients cheaply and benefit greatly in future endeavors with Chinese recipes! You will also need a heavy, heat retaining vessel to make the dish in – traditionally it calls for a lidded clay pot, but I made use of Jo’s dutch oven.

Ingredients (I basically made up approx. measurements for those who like specific directions to follow, so feel free to improvise):

Makes about 5 servings…?

• 1 lb ground pork
• 1 medium sized block of firm tofu (about a 3-inch square, give or take an inch)
• 1/2 cup minced green onions
• 1/4 cup minced fresh ginger
• 1 large egg
• 2 tbsp sesame oil
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 1/4 cup rice wine (“cooking michu”)
• couple pinches of salt and black or white pepper
• pinch of sugar
• cornstarch
• veggie oil
• 6-7 cups of chicken broth (50ish ounces, equal to one of those big cans)
• 1 packet mung bean noodles
• 1 can bamboo shoots
• 1 pound napa cabbage

First, combine the ground pork, tofu, scallions, ginger, salt, pepper, sugar, beaten egg, rice wine, sesame oil, and soy sauce in a big mixing bowl with your hands.  Mix it good!! Then, start adding cornstarch about a couple tablespoons at a time, micing it in thoroughly. You want the consistency of the mixture to be somewhere between too wet and too dry, enough so that it seems to hold together in one mass.

If you’re using a dutch oven like I did, start heating it on medium-low heat right about now.

Separate the meat mixture into thick patties, about three inches in diameter. Pour veggie oil into a deep skillet so that it’s about 1/4- 1/2 inches deep. Heat on medium-high heat and then drop the patties in, frying one side until it’s browned and then flipping over. Remove and put them on a plate.

Stick the dried noodles into a large bowl of cold water.

Pour the chicken broth in the pot along with the cabbage and bamboo shoots, then bring to a boil. As soon as it boils, bring down to a simmer and then add in the meatballs. Add a splash of soy sauce- enough to turn the broth slightly brown- and let it simmer for at least 30 minutes.  You want the cabbage to be soft and delightfully chewy.

Add in the noodles about 10 minutes before you want to eat the dish.  Serve and enjoy!

Some addendums:

• You can be creative with what you add to the dish – mushrooms and bok choy are pretty good additions!
• The most useful ingredents for chinese cooking that I mentioned before? Rice wine, sesame oil, soy sauce!
• Makes for great leftovers, though the noodles do get squishy.  However, the cabbage only gets better.

Now, I don’t have any pictures of this recipe because I wasn’t sure it would turn out that well initially. However, this thrown-together sauté with frozen “basa swai” turned out even better than I expected. So here we are!

“Basa Swai” is a super cheap fish that is similar to catfish. I actually prefer it to tilapia, especially when just doing a simple pan sear. It is a bit meatier than tilapia, and has a softer texture.  Bonus: the basa swai package I got was actually  cheaper than tilapia!

So I cobbled this recipe together after reading up online on various pan searing recipes.  I don’t really have precise measurements since I was winging it, so I’ll just give estimates and leave it up to your (most excellently developed) judgement! Ingredients:

• Garlic – minced
• Onion (yellow, red, or white …up to you!) – sliced to thin strips
• Basil – chopped roughly, generous portions
• Marsala – feel free to experiment and substitute a dry white wine or something else… though the marsala was very delicious
• Olive oil
• Salt and Pepper

Defrost the fish. I normally just stick it in a plastic ziplock bag and then dump it in a bowl of hot water; it should not take very long to defrost.

As the fish defrosts, chop up your onions and basil, and then mince your garlic.

Take the fish out when it’s thoroughly defrosted. Rinse quickly, then pat it down.  Rub on some salt and pepper – I like to be very liberal with both.  This is the only flavoring going directly onto the fish, so err on the generous side!

Get out a pan – I find that ones with a heavy bottom work out better.  Heat about a couple tablespoons of olive oil on medium-high heat, and then throw in the onions.  Let the onions cook a bit until they are just starting to look a bit translucent, then throw the garlic in.  A moment later, throw in about half of the basil.  Sauté a bit more – the basil should wilt. Now, take your fish filet and place it into the pan, keeping the heat at medium-high. Let it sit there for about 3 minutes without moving it. You can, however, poke at the onions and stuff a bit to keep them from burning. While the fish is cooking on this side,  take out the marsala/wine/whatever, and then spread as evenly as you can across everything.  I usually do about two turns of the pan (two circles around the pan).  AFter the fish has cooked for about 3 minutes, turn it over and cook for about another 2 minutes.  You can check to see if it’s thoroughly cooked by seeing if it flakes easily when you stick a fork in it.  The surface of the fish should be lightly browned, looking yummy.

Ta-da!

I found that this dish goes really well with some couscous. You can buy couscous in boxes at most supermarkets – it barely takes any effort to make.  Just boil a bit of water, throw the flavoring packet in (I used a garlic flavor that worked very well), then take it off the heat, dump the couscous in, cover, and let it sit for 5 minutes.  So easy, and the perfect complement to the fish.

P.S. Ever since Jo bought us a tiny basil plant to keep on our windowsill, basil has suddenly become a household staple and I love it. It is so satisfying to not have to pay 3 bucks for a tiny case of basil at the supermarket every time I want to use it…