Raw and Fried Tuscan Kale and Brussels Sprout Salad

 
I love kale salads.  And yet, so many of the ones we make at home are vaguely disappointing.  I feel like it's tough to strike the right balance with a kale salad - you need the dressing to be fairly assertive because kale is a hearty little green with a slightly bitter flavor.  If you try to dress it the same way you would dress baby spinach or really tender young salad greens with a light balsamic vinaigrette it's just not going to work out.  But sometimes the dressing just goes a little too far in the wrong direction and gets too assertive and you lose the kale.  I have been trying for months to come up with a spicy Asian kale salad with cashews (for some reason I am really stuck on the cashews) and I keep failing.  The first time the dressing wasn't flavorful enough and the second time it was too harsh.  It was a bummer.  But this recipe is a wonderful quasi-Asian take on a kale salad that combines two of my favorite greens/vegetables - kale and brussels sprouts.  It has great flavor - bright fresh herbs, slightly bitter greens, and fried greens all tossed in a spicy fish sauce vinaigrette.  And it has wonderful texture.  But I should point out that it is labor intensive.  Alex took one look at the recipe and his comment was "at least you picked a simple recipe for dinner."  I believe my response was along the lines of if he does the menu planning in the future he can avoid over-complicated salad recipes, but until then...  We will make at least one change in the future to simplify the recipe a bit - roasting the kale and brussels sprout leaves in the oven saves us the time, aggravation and oil spatter of frying them in small batches.  I really liked the crispy texture and the nutty, concentrated flavor of the fried kale and brussels sprouts because it added depth of flavor and additional texture to the salad.  But you can achieve a nearly identical result (without risking third degree burns) by roasting the kale and brussels sprouts in the oven.  I'm also tempted to try to transform this into an entree salad by serving it with some tofu (we might roast that too) or shrimp.  I will probably play with it a little more, but I really liked this salad and aside from tinkering with the cooking method out of self-preservation and laziness, there isn't anything else I can think of that I would change to the base recipe.  As a side note, just because I found this recipe doesn't mean I am going to quit my quest to find a perfect spicy Asian kale salad.  I'll get there eventually.

P.S.  The picture sucks because we misplaced the memory card for our camera and had to use my cell phone.  And my iPhone 5s (which has otherwise taken excellent pictures) absolutely and utterly refused to cooperate.
 

Recipe after the jump!

Dover Sole Almondine with Brussels Sprouts

I am currently trying to wean myself from too much dairy in my diet.  I have been mildly lactose intollerant for years (which is no surprise given that my Chinese mother is violently lactose intollerant) but I think when I hit 30 it started getting worse.  Or maybe it started getting worse when I started drinking cappuchinos to keep myself awake in the afternoon after working all night.  I have discovered that coffee is a very sneaky dairy delivery system.  I have been trying to cut back on the cappuchinos (or switch over to soy milk in my cappuchinos, even though I think the taste of soy milk leaves a lot to be desired), but I'm also trying to cut out more gratuitous dairy.  The first things I thought about cutting are yogurt and Polly-O string cheese.  I know that the probiotics in yogurt are supposedly good for you, but eating a yogurt a day for breakfast might not be the best move if you're lactose intollerant.  And it's not like I love the taste of yogurt (whereas I do love the taste of Polly-o and a lot of other cheeses) so it seemed like a relatively painless sacrifice to make.  I'm in the process of trying to find good dairy-free yogurts and that effort has taken me to Fairway, Trader Joe's and Whole Foods.  Not surprisingly I discovered that most of our local markets don't stock many dairy-free options.  Thus far I have discovered the following - I do not like the taste of soy yogurt, some coconut yogurts have a really weird texture but taste okay (whereas some have a weird texture and taste), and almond yogurts seem to be the best of the bunch (at least for me).  I tried Almond Dream's low-fat strawberry and coconut yogurts over the weekend and thought both of them were pretty decent.  So Delicious also makes some almond milk yogurts that I thought were pretty good, but they are harder to find. 

While on my dairy-free yogurt hunt I decided to hit the fish counter at Whole Foods and ended up with these Dover sole filets and some cod filets.  And then I had to figure out what I wanted to do with my Dover sole that would be light and fresh and springy, but still hearty enough to withstand the neverending winter.  With spring stubbornly refusing to appear, I really needed something reminiscent of the warm temperatures and the good times to come.  Did I mention that it is currently snowing outside?  It's late March.  I mean honestly.  I settled on sole almondine because it is easy and quick and I think delicate fish like sole benefit from very simple preparations.  Dredging sole filets in flour and then sauteing in butter and topping with a squeeze of lemon is a very classic preparation for a reason - it just tastes good.  We have been eating a ton of kale lately (and I was already planning on serving a kale salad with the cod) so I wanted to use another vegetable that would still be seasonally appropriate, but would allow me to mix things up a little.  Brussels sprouts seemed like a good fit.  Rather than roasting the sprouts I decided to shred and saute them because pairing such a delicate fish with hunks of roasted brussels sounded weird.  I don't have a ton to say about this dish, except that it was nice, easy and tasty.  It was also perfectly springy.  I liked the combination of the browned butter and almonds with the delicate fish and the sauteed Brussels sprouts.  I also liked the brightness and flavor from the white wine and lemon juice.  It is a very simple dish, but sometimes I like simple.

Recipe after the jump!

Kale and Brussels Sprout Salad

Last night Alex and I decided at the last minute to invite his brother over for dinner.  I'm ashamed to admit that a large part of the reason for inviting him over for dinner was entirely selfish - I wanted to make this salad and I knew that making it for just Alex and I would be a little ridiculous.  On Friday morning I swung by Whole Foods on my way to work and I picked up some really beautiful Tuscan kale.  I knew I wanted to make a salad with it, but I wanted to make something different.  We have made several different kale salads in the past (many of which were either Caesar-like or featured a lemony vinaigrette and cheese combo) and I wanted something new.  I have looked up this recipe several times and considered making it, but the timing (and/or the contents of our fridge) never seemed right.  Luckily we had both Tuscan kale and Brussels sprouts in the fridge yesterday and with a third person at the dinner table it didn't seem quite as ridiculous to make a heaping bowl of kale and Brussels sprouts salad.  And even more luckily, I really loved this salad.  It had everything - a the tangy mustardy vinaigrette, salty cheese, crunchy nuttiness from the almonds...  We have made several kale salads in the past where our chief complaint was that the salad was missing something crunchy and/or buttery (e.g. croutons or toasted nuts).  This recipe felt, for lack of a better word, "complete" - I can't think of anything that it was missing or anything that I would really change.  Some of the reviews on Epicurious complained that the recipe doesn't create enough dressing.  I like my salads to be lightly dressed so it was perfect for me (and I used the entire amount of dressing), but if you like a little more dressing on your salad I would suggest making a little additional dressing.  Some reviewers suggested doubling the dressing so take that into consideration when you make the salad - I would say look at how much shredded Brussels sprouts and kale you have and go from there.  And be a little more generous than you think you need to be.  I think it also helped that we dressed the salad about 30 minutes prior to sitting down to eat so the kale and Brussels sprouts had some time to hang out in the dressing and wilt down a teensy bit.  Other reviewers added pomegranate seeds to the recipe.  I'm not sure that the pomegranates are necessary in my book, but it's an option.  I would serve this salad at any dinner party - it is different, full of flavor and delicious.  You can also throw it together far in advance of dinner (although you might not want to dress it too far ahead) and just let it hang out while you prepare the rest of dinner.  I think it would make a wonderful counterpoint to a rich holiday meal or an interesting addition to a potluck dinner.  I will definitely be making this salad again and I'm pretty excited that between this recipe and the Mediterranean Salad with Prosciutto and Pomegranate I have two new delicious and festive salad recipes for future dinner parties.  Of course, future dinner parties are going to have to wait until we get out a one bedroom apartment in NYC, but that's ok. 

Recipe after the jump!

Hurricane Cooking - Dan Barber's Brussels Sprouts, Mexican Chicken Soup, Lettuce in Sesame Sauce

First things first - the hurricane hit and we are A-OK.  I know that much of lower Manhattan (as well as various suburbs and boroughs of Manhattan) are underwater and without power, but we survived pretty much unscathed.  While we were cooped up in the apartment we ended up cooking quite a bit, so this is going to be one large post containing a number of new recipes that we made over the past few days, in no particular order.  We also made a bunch of recipes that we have made before (like these Buttermilk Biscuits with Green Onions, Black Pepper and Sea Salt) And due to the weather, we don't have pictures of all of the recipes, which is unfortunate, but what can you do?

First up is this brussels sprouts recipe, which I saw on Serious Eats and got really excited about because it couldn't be easier.  Once I started reading further I realized that it is a little finnicky and tedious in that you are supposed to make sure all brussels sprouts are first added to the pan cut-side down, and then "turn each sprout over carefully on its back" after the brussels sprouts have seared up nicely on the cut side.  We cut corners a bit and weren't as precise in the cooking process as perhaps we could have been.  Things I will use from this recipe - the cooking method.  You get an unreal amount of caramelization on the brussels sprouts in a fairly short time period.  I would probably try different vinegars and seasonings in the future, but it was a beautifully simple recipe.  You got nice sweetness from the balsamic, balanced nicely against the nutty flavor of the caramelized brussels sprouts.  It wasn't the most amazing recipe I have ever made, but it was a really nice, simple side.

Now for the Mexican chicken soup.  This was something of a day long endeavor.  I started prepping the stock while on a conference call at 11:00 am.  The stock took about an hour to prepare, before we let the chicken cool in the stock for another few hours.  Around 6:30-7 pm we got started on making the soup to serve to some of our neighbors.  It smelled wonderful while it simmered away.  By the time the soup was ready I was really hungry and excited to finally taste it.  We don't often go to the trouble to make homemade stock and every time we do it really excites me because soup made with homemade stock is better than soup made with boxed stock by several orders of magnitude.  And when you make homemade stock you can season and modify your stock so that the flavors best suit the soup you are preparing.  This time I added various ingredients that are typical of chicken stock (onions, carrots, celery, thyme, garlic, bay leaves) and a few ingredients that I think of as being typically Mexican (chilis and cilantro).  I think that the flavors of the soup were really interesting.  I was a little worried about the texture of the blended hominy and chilis, but it ended up being nicely thick and hearty.  The chilis gave the soup a nice slightly sweet, slightly spicy flavor.  I will definitely be making the soup again because it's great cold weather fare and pretty simple.

Now for the Lettuce in Sesame Sauce.  I'm not really sure what there is to say about this recipe - I have a feeling that the sesame sauce is not going to appeal to a lot of palates.  I told Alex I thought the salad would go really nicely with a batch of Sichuan Dumplings in Chili Oil.  The combination of the thick and nutty sesame sauce would be nicely offset by the sweetness and heat of the chili oil.  We ate it with fried rice, which wasn't the most ideal pairing, but we had a limited selection of ingredients left by Tuesday afternoon...

Recipe after the jump!

Roast Brussels Sprouts and Cauliflower with Maple Syrup, Bacon and Cayenne

We found ourselves in the interesting position yesterday afternoon of having a half serving each of cauliflower and brussels sprouts in the fridge left over from the Brussels Sprout Fried Rice with Crispy Cauliflower.  I was trying to figure out how to use those vegetables individually (I was going to make a pizza with the brussels sprouts and some bacon or speck), but I couldn't figure out what I wanted to do with the pretty yellow cauliflower.  And then I decided, why not throw them both together and roast them in a single dish.  Genius.  My initial thought was to make a riff on the Momofuku Roasted Cauliflower with Fish Sauce Vinaigrette and make a batch that included both brussels sprouts and cauliflower.  We make that recipe with both ingredients separately, why wouldn't it work with them combined?  Easy peasy.  But we didn't have mint or Rice Krispies and we had a nice piece of slab bacon in the refrigerator just begging to be used.  So I decided to roast the veggies with bacon, maple syrup and cayenne.  Alex asked if I wanted to add garlic and/or onion, but I decided that I wanted to keep it as simple as possible.  I really liked our roast veggies - but then again, I always like roast veggies (particularly roast brussels sprouts and cauliflower).  And just like always, Alex liked the veggies but wasn't as happy with them as I was.  He doesn't mind roast veggies, but unlike me he never really craves them.  I really like the combination of sweet, salty and spicy flavors in this dish.  My love for those flavor combinations shouldn't be any surprise to anyone since I have made a number of brussels sprouts dishes with bacon and various spicy sauces in the past.  It's not as spicy, exotic or audaciously flavored as the Fatty 'Cue Brussels Sprouts or the Brussels Sprouts with Kimchi Puree and Bacon, but our was tasty and a lot easier to put together. 

Recipe after the jump!

Brussels Sprout Fried Rice with Crispy Cauliflower

Alex disagrees with me on this - but this dish was my favorite thing we have made all week.  He preferred the Fish-Fragrant Eggplant (Yu Xiang Qie Zi). And it was vegan!  I'm not saying that I want to be vegan (or vegetarian for that matter), but I thought it bore mentioning that this recipe is vegan.  Alex said he would have liked the dish more if we added some finely chopped egg pancake (which we briefly considered doing until we realized that we were out of eggs).  I get where he is coming from, but I don't think the lack of egg hurt the dish at all.  I think the addition of egg would be tasty, but I don't know that it would unduly improve the recipe for me.  My favorite thing about the dish was that the flavors were simple, but fantastic - slightly spicy, salty and full of vegetable goodness.  This is the type of dish I would make for myself all the time if Alex weren't around - I love plates or bowls full of roasted vegetables.  And brussels sprouts and cauliflower are among my absolute favorites.  Instead I have to settle for eating this kind of dish occasionally because it's not really his thing.  He is a good sport about it, but there are other dishes (most of them Asian, pork-based or spicy) that he would prefer.  But that's ok.  I just have to sneak in my roasted vegetable fixes at lunch since he is not around!

Recipe after the jump!

Pan-Roasted Duck Breasts with Butter-Braised Radishes, Kohlrabi and Brussels Sprouts

 

I have been DYING to make this recipe for a very very long time.  I absolutely LOVE so many of the components - duck is one of my very favorite meats, and brussels sprouts are amazing.  As far as I am concerned, radishes and kohlrabi are okay, but I figured if you butter-braised them they would be amazing too.  And my God were they.    But more on that in a bit.  We took a few shortcuts while cooking the veggies because I was way too lazy to use (and then clean) all of those pans.  I think the recipe as written called for two separate pots of boiling salted water and two saute pans.  And that was just for the veggies.  The duck recipe called for a pan, a bowl, a baking sheet and a cooking rack to go on top of the baking sheet.  If we had used all of the pans Thomas Keller wanted, they would have taken over our entire kitchen.  Actually, I'm not even sure we have that many pans and pots.  And we certainly don't have space on our stove top for that many.  Thomas Keller's recipes are flawless, but they are far from simple.  Believe it or not, this was one of the less labor-intensive recipes.

I am obsessed with this dish.  It never ever would have occurred to me to butter braise radishes and serve it with kohlrabi and brussels sprouts.  I was worried that the kohlrabi and the brussels sprouts would be soggy and flavorless since they were blanched without any seasoning, but they were totally delicious.  And the duck was so good.  The skin was perfectly rendered and the meat was tender and juicy.  We have never rendered the fat out this low and slow before throwing the duck in the oven, but the cooking method worked really well.  The meat was perfectly cooked.  The recipe called for orange zest to be grated over the duck while it marinated, but we didn't have any oranges in the apartment so we just skipped that step.  The next time we make the duck (and there will be a next time), I'll make sure to pic up some oranges so I can see how that affects the flavor.  This was a great hearty and rich winter meal with enough butter to make it feel decadent, but enough veggies to make the dish feel balanced.  I loved it.  Sure it had a ton of steps (and necessitated a lot of clean up), but I thought the end result was well worth it.  Once again, Thomas Keller has proved that he is an absolute genius and I am just a baby in comparison.  And once again I am reminded that we really need to make more recipes from this cookbook ASAP.

Recipes after the jump!

Turkey Cutlets with Brussels Sprouts and Dried Cranberries

This dish reminds me of Thanksgiving.  If I were to cook Thanksgiving for just Alex and I, this is the type of dish I would make.  Actually, for Thanksgiving last year we were pretty elaborate and made Pan-Roasted Squab, Polenta and Broccolini.  I have a problem with making overly elaborate dishes/meals on occasion.  What I love about this dish is that it's a medley of my favorite Thanksgiving ingredients and flavors - turkey, cranberries, sage (which I love in stuffing) and brussels sprouts (which is one of my absolute favorite Thanksgiving sides).  Actually, that's not the only thing I love about this dish.  Equally important is the fact that this is a one pot meal that doesn't taste like a one pot meal.  If I didn't know better, I would think this dish had cooked longer and been more complicated.  The flavors were just so rich, nuanced and delicious.  This would be a great Thanksgiving dish, but I would definitely cook this all fall long.  It's perfectly (and wonderfully) autumnal, plus it's so easy.  It also comes together really quickly - and in one pot (bonus)!  It's a toss up for me between whether I prefer the swordfish or these turkey cutlets, but I think the turkey might win by a hair.  Alex said that he also preferred the turkey, but it wasn't quite as close a call for him.  Both were unexpectedly moist and flavorful, but this dish had the added bonus of the delicious brussels sprouts and cranberry mixture.  Yummy.

Recipe after the jump!

Fatty 'Cue Brussels Sprouts

This is among the weirder recipes that I have ever made.  Just look at the list of ingredients - Thai bird chilis, coriander seeds, brussels sprouts, bacon and maple syrup.   Who comes up with these things?  I'm certainly not that creative with my flavor combination (although I guess most people would call that list of ingredients insane rather than creative).  But I love Fatty Crab, and since this recipe came from their sister barbecue restaurant Fatty Cue, I figured it had to be good.  Perhaps a little strange, but good.  And having eaten the dish, I am sticking with that assessment.  I really liked the addition of crushed coriander seeds and maple syrup.  The coriander seeds gave the dish some slightly floral peppery kick.  And maple syrup provided a hint of sweetness in the background that rounds out the dish nicely and balanced out the heat of the Thai chilis.  And then there's the bacon for some porky goodness.  Make sure to crisp it up in the pan in the beginning, because there is nothing sadder than flaccid bacon.  And the bacon just gets thrown back in at the very end, so it's certainly not going to crisp up then.

Word of warning - if you don't like things spicy, skip the second Thai chili (or remove the seeds from both).  Because this dish has some kick.

Recipe after the jump!

Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Potatoes with Bacon

So Alex felt the need to point out to me today that that brussels sprouts are spelled like the city of Brussels, with an "s," and not brussel sprouts.  And I of course responded that I knew that and that I always spelled them "B-R-U-S-S-E-L-S" sprouts, to which he pointed out about a zillion instances in which I called them "brussels sprouts" and "brussel sprouts" interchangably in the same post.  Oops.  Apparently I am terribly inconsistent.  But I will do my best to be more consistent in this post.  And I am creating this post with a caveat - I made these brussels sprouts two weeks ago before work got absolutely crazy (and by crazy I mean I haven't been able to leave the office before 10 pm to midnight in over a week and therefore have not eaten a single meal at home since last Sunday, let alone cooked one) and am only getting around to posting about them now because I have a brief moment of calm and sanity.

If you can't tell, I love brussels sprouts.  They are fantastic.  This might not be my favorite variation on brussels sprouts, but it was a good one.  Who can resist bacon and crispy roasted potatoes served with nutty roasted brussels sprouts?  By itself the dish makes a perfectly hearty meal for two people, or would be a nice side for a family of four. 

Recipe after the jump!

Brussels Sprouts with Kimchi Puree and Bacon

So to address my lack of Asian (or Asian-inspired) recipes of late, I decided to make a brussels sprouts recipe from the Momofuku cookbook.  Now I know that brussels sprouts aren't an inherently Asian ingredient.  In fact, I would be shocked if they ever turned up in any form of Asian cuisine.  But these are tossed in kimchi puree, so that has to count for something, right?  Granted, there is bacon and butter in there, but come on.  You have to give me points for trying, especially since I didn't get home from work until about 8:45 pm tonight with the brussels sprouts.  Luckily I had Alex at home cutting up the bacon batons and making the kimchi puree.  I really do need to use this cookbook more.  When you flip through it there are so many fabulously interesting recipes!  And most of them are at least nominally Asian, which goes perfectly with my renewed desire to cook lots of Asian (or Asian-inspired) recipes.  Next up, the Pan-Roasted Asparagus with Poached Egg and Miso Butter (even though asparagus are not exactly in season right now) or the Pan-Roasted Bouchot Mussels with OS.  Yum.  

I think I will cut down on the amount of butter next time, because I didn't really think it added much to the brussels, except to make them a little soggy.  I would have preferred that the brussels remained charred and crispier.  So maybe I will halve the amount of butter next time and char the brussels sprouts just a few more minutes.  Since our brussels sprouts were pretty small, I only cooked them for 10 minutes once I returned them to the oven.  Next time I will go at least 12 minutes, but probably the entire 15 minutes, and then cut down on the butter.  But I loved the combination of the brussels sprouts, the kimchi, and the bacon.  It's not a flavor combination that would ever occur to me on my own, but they are awesome together.

We served our delicious brussels sprouts with some sunny-side up eggs with runny yolks that we drizzled with soy sauce and topped with more of the kimchi puree.  I think that together they made the perfect meal. 

Recipe after the jump!

Bucatini with Brussel Sprouts

 

Oh brussels sprouts, how I love thee.  Whenever I see brussels sprouts on a menu at a restaurant I have to try them.  It's a compulsion.  Or an obsession.  Take your pick.  My first brussels sprouts experience as an adult (and potentially my first brussels sprouts experience ever because my dad hates them) was the brussels sprouts they serve at Momofuku Ssam.  Their brussels sprouts are tossed with fish sauce, mint Thai chilis, oil, butter, and Rice Krispies (no joke, they really are).  Sometimes they serve cauliflower instead of the brussels sprouts prepared in the same fashion (which is also delicious), but you get the idea.  And then they are either fried (at the restaurant) or cooked in a very hot oven (if you are adapting the recipe to cook at home) until they are nice and nutty and delicious.  Yum.  And then there was this pasta dish with brussels sprouts and sage at Falai that was simply amazing, not to mention the equally amazing brussels sprouts served with apples, creme fraiche and pistachios at Alta.  I have heard that Motorino has a seasonal brussels sprouts pizza that I am dying to try, but I haven't made it there quite yet.  I have been tempted to try making my own pizza with brussels sprouts, but I haven't quite gotten around to it yet because I haven't been able to decide what assortment of other toppings to use.

I wanted the brussels sprouts in this pasta dish to be roasted to enhance their nutty flavor.  I also threw in some walnuts and Parmigiano-Reggiano to amp up the nutty flavor even more.  I wish I had roasted the brussels sprouts just a few minutes longer to really give them some char, but even without that char this was a really nice dish.

Recipe after the jump!

Simple Roast Cauliflower and Roast Brussels Sprouts

Sometimes the best meals come from the humblest beginnings.  And sometimes, simpler really is better.  I don't know about you, but when I first started out cooking I always assumed that the more ingredients a recipe had, the better it would taste.  It is only in the past year or two that I am realizing that a few killer ingredients can make a much better tasting dish than a gazillion ingredients thrown in willy-nilly.  Obviously, there are some exceptions.  You cannot get the depth of flavor in a really good curry without galangal, kaffir lime leaves, coconut milk and a host of other ingredients.  But when you are roasting a vegetable or a really nice steak, simple is key.  

Recently I have been obsessed with roasting vegetables in a cast iron pan.  It all started when I stumbled across Simply Recipe's Roasted Brussels Sprouts.  I just started branching out from only cooking meat in the cast iron and I only wish I had made that leap years ago.  Vegetables roasted in a cast iron are amazing.
My favorite thing about roasting the cauliflower in the cast iron is that it gets wonderfully sweet.  And roasting it in thick slices, rather than in florets is genius because you get more caramelization across the whole surface of the cauliflower.  Whenever I try to roast florets of cauliflower I get caramelization in places and then end up with some of the florets burnt to a crisp.  There is a fine line between caramelized and cinder.  The one thing I don't like about the whole slice of roasted cauliflower is the stem.  It gets a little mushy and has a strange texture.  But there is an easy solution to that problem - just don't eat that part! 
Roasting brussels sprouts in the cast iron turns them nutty, crunchy and delicious.  The lemon juice gives them a little zing, the pecans add even more crunch, and the Parmigiano-Reggiano gives the brussels a wonderful saltiness.  Yum.  Whenever I used to roast brussels sprouts I used to throw in bacon, onion, garlic, evoo, cheese, etc.  No longer.  From here on out I am simple all the way.

Recipes after the jump!