Brussels Sprout Salad

Everyone knows Brussels sprouts are really baby cabbages. Just like all baby vegetables the flavor is a bit more pronounced then the big boy grown up version. Not as much water and seeds to dilute the taste. Brussels sprouts are no different. One of the cute things we fancy cooking people like to do is put a  twist on a classic. Ratatouille made with whole roasted baby vegetables, petite eggs Benedict made with quail eggs and mini English muffins or a baby lettuce salad. Who knew there was so much food money in babies, besides Jonathan Swift of course.

I tried making baby stuffed cabbage but my fingers are out of practice. Back in the day I'm pretty sure I could have rolled a mean baby stuffed cabbage. Next was  the traditional boiled dinner with baby baby potatoes, teeny tiny carrots, mini corned beef and and my baby boiled cabbage aka Brussel sprouts. It reminded me of a slogan from the nouvelle cuisine days. "Children's portions at adult prices".

How about a version of coleslaw, that should work. I sliced the Brussels sprouts nice and thin with my mad knife skills. Soaked them in some salted water and covered them with a warm dressing. Breezy easy and you really don't need many sprouts so the slicing goes pretty quick. You could use a thin slicing blade on your food processor and get good results.

Here's a blow by blow of how it went down in the AgaKitchen.

• 12 oz Brussels sprouts sliced thin
• 4 oz thick cut bacon julienne*
• 3 shallots or half a small red onion julienne
• 1 clove garlic smashed
• 1/4 cup dried fruit chopped small, I used cranberries
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 3 T Balsamic vinegar
• 1 Tablespoon cider vinegar
• salt & peppa

Boil 1 cup of water with 4 Tablespoons salt. Add one cup water to the salted water and pour into a bowl large enough to hold the sliced cabbage and the water/brine. Put the cabbage in the bowl and press down so it's all covered.

Crisp the bacon on a stove top stirring often or in the Roasting Oven for about 7 minutes if you are in the know and own an Aga.

Remove crisped bacon from fat, sweat shallot/onion in reserved bacon drippings. Add garlic, dried fruit, olive oil and Balsamic, let simmer for a minute. Remove from heat and add cider vinegar.

Drain the purged sprouts and squeeze as much excess water from them as you can. Toss with the dressing, add the reserved bacon, taste and season, taste and season, then taste and season one more time to be sure.

 

We had it over baked haddock with small dice of parsley potatoes and tomato sauce. Works well as a little canapé or on a bed of greens. Try it tossed with cannelloni beans over pasta.

* Garbage in, garbage out. Not all bacon is created equally. Spend the money and buy the good stuff. That factory farmed, water pumped and smoke seasoned bacon is truly a mystery meat. Better yet, raise a pig and smoke your own.

Cook like you mean it, peace, G

Marinated Beef & Bacon Stew

I think the cool kids would call this a "de-constructed" beef stew. And why wouldn't they?

Stews are poor people food. A little meat to create some broth and richness with lots of cheap filler like carrots, potatoes, green beans and other fresh veggies. Lucky poor people get eat to from all those healthy food groups and the rich folk go eat at Applebee's and see how much fat, salt and sugar 20 bucks can buy.

OK, that's enough soapbox time. This is a nice traditional beef stew seasoned with smoky bacon and red wine. I used some star anise to give a background note and thin slices of garlic I did "Goodfellas" style. I used a knive instead of razor blade.

Here is how it went down in the AgaKitchen

Marinated Beef & Bacon Stew  feeds two with some leftovers, maybe

Marinade

• 1 lb beef stew meat
• red wine to cover the meat, about a cup and a half
• 2 cloves of fresh garlic, crushed with the back of a knive
• 10 or so cracked black peppercorns
• a piece of star anise and a bayleaf

Open and dry off the meat, put everything in the bowl and cover with red wine. Marinate at least 4 hours and as long as overnite

Stew Me, remember to season as you go

• 2 or 3 ounces of good bacon cut into lardons, thin strips like 1/2 of a stick match
• 1 lb marinated beef, drained and dried off
• 1 nice onion medium dice
• 2 or 3 cloves of garlic sliced razor thin, use a razor if you have to
• 1/2 cup red wine
• 1 cup beef or chicken stock, boxed is OK, homemade should be better
• bouquet garni with , bayleaf, star anise, fresh thyme or rosemary and parsley. Use cheese cloth, a coffe filter or tea bag instead of just tieing with string.

In a heavy bottomed pan saute the bacon until nice and crisp. Remove bacon and reserve. Using the fat from the bacon brown the meat.

Add the onion and garlic and saute with the browned beef a minute or two

Add the red wine and deglaze the pan, all the browned bits in the bottom are full of flavor, go get 'em

Add the stock and bouquet garni and bring to simmer. Cover loosely with the lid just tilted a little so it can vent and not just boil over.

Simmer until tender, add water or stock as needed. Taste and adjust

Rosti Potatoes

Gotta take the picture quick before they're all gone

Rosti (roo'-shhhh-tea) are shredded potato pancakes seasoned with bacon, onions and black pepper. Simple dishes executed well. easier said then done. I learned this dish when I was just pup in the kitchen. By learning I don't mean someone showed me and I then I made a couple. I made rosti everyday for five years cooking 50 to 100 lbs of potatoes a day.

This is pefect for Sunday morning breakfast. You can cook some ahead and leave in a warm oven while the family sleeps in. Plan ahead. You can make the bacon onion mixture whenever. Boil the spuds on Saturday.

Feed 4 to 6 comfortably with left over bacon onion mixture. Start the potatoes the night before. Only takes 10 -15 minutes cooking time. You will need a meat grinder or food processor, a good non-stick pan

For the potatoes

Wash approx 2 lbs of starchy potatoes, do not peel. Chef, Yukon Gold or Idahos will do. Simmer in salted water with a bay leaf if you have one. Test for doneness after 20 minutes with a paring knife. It should meet just a little resistance. Better to be undercooked than overcooked. Drain, layout in a single layer and cool overnight or at least 4 hours.

For the bacon onion mixture

Set oven @375

• 1/2 lb of cheap fatty smoked bacon. Bacon ends and pieces works well if you can find them Cut into small chunks kept very cold. The colder the meat the easier it will grind.
• 2 lbs of onions pelled and rough chopped

Using a meat grinder or food processor grind all this together into a heavy pan. Put it on the stove with a medium high flame and cook for 2 -3 minutes stirring often. the goal is to start some of the fat rendering from the bacon. Then its into the oven stirring every 30 minutes until it looks like this.

Rosti Potatoes

Peel and shred the potaoes on a box grater into a wide bowl.

Add 1/2 teaspoon sea salt and 10 good turns of fresh ground black pepper

Add 1/2 cup of the bacon mixture

Add fresh chopped parsley if have any

Toss it around careful not break up the strands of potato.

Cooking Rosti Potatoes

Heat up your skillet over moderate heat. Add a Tablespoon of vegetable oil, swirl around and add a big Tablespoon of butter and swirl. Be sure to twirl when you swirl. Add the potatoes into a nice even layer.

Note that I push all the potates into a mound in the center, nothing sticking up on the side of the pan. Pull the heat back to medium and continue cooking about 3 minutes shaking the pan from time to time. Once they are nice and golden brown on the side you cannot see flip them. To flip the rosti put a plate over pan and turn it over. Slide a little more butter into the pan and put the rosti back in. Cook about the same amount of time as the first side.