Brussel Sprouts 'Carbonara'

I know Brussel Sprouts are good for you.  But I have had difficulty with the taste.  This time I've found a way to enjoy them courtesy of some naughty ingredients.  I'll be doing it again.

Ingredients:

Brussel Sprouts

Bacon

Crispy onions (store bought)

Cream

Pepper

Parmesan cheese

Parsley for garnish

Method:

Halve the sprouts and cook them for 5 minutes in boiling water.

Then refresh them with cold water – important to stop them cooking on. Drain the liquid away and let them sit.

Cook your bacon – I cut it up into little pieces first but you could do that after if you likes.

Pour the cooked bacon and bacon fat over the sprouts.  Add your cream and pepper plus ½ a cup or so of grated parmesan.  Heat it all gently.

Garnish with chopped parsley.  Yummo!

Need Some Inspiration? Try Brussel Sprouts!

Bourbon Glazed Brussel Sprouts & Bacon Kebabs

Food on Friday: October had some interesting ways with Brussel sprouts. Here are some which I'd like to share with you today. 

The pic at the top was brought over by The Painted Apron - Bourbon Glazed Brussel Sprouts & Bacon Kebabs – what a fantastic idea!

And how about Curried Shaved Brussel Sprouts  - great as always, thanks to MJs Kitchen

Another fab one from The Painted Apron – Brussel Sprouts & Bacon Gratin

For a vegetarian option here's Brussel Sprouts Lasagna  by Lisa's Kitchen

For other ways with Brussel sprouts head over to this Pinboard.

Food on Friday: October 18

It's the second Friday of the month so here is Food on Friday. 

As you can see, there are 4 new themes – Holiday Favorites, Tomatoes, Using Leftovers, Brussel Sprouts.  I hope you'll find some great stuff to share in those categories.

Feel free to add a number of dishes under each category and come back later in the month to add more if you would like to.   

To add your dishes, just put the name of the dish together with your blog name/name into the first Mr Linky box you will find below.  Then paste the url for your post about it into the second box.

I'll be pinning your creations to the relevant Pinboards – Holiday Favorites, Tomatoes, Using Leftovers and Brussel Sprouts. Feel free to add a number of dishes under each category and come back later in the month to add more if you would like to.   

Have fun!

Vegetable Bake

I had a range of vegetables so I thought I'd experiment with baking them all together with a bit of cheese and cream.  It worked out well in taste but was a tad dry.  Next time I'll slice the mushrooms instead of quartering them.

Ingredients:

Potato

Kumara (sweet potato)

½ small shallot

Yam

Brussel sprouts

Mushrooms – Portobello brown

Cheese chunks (grated would be better)

Parmesan cheese

¼ small can of reduced cream

Salt, pepper, cayenne pepper

Oil

Method:

I oiled the glass baking dish and then dusted it with salt and pepper.

The first layer was made up of slices of potato and kumara

Then a sprinkling of sliced shallot

Another dusting of salt and pepper

Then a layer of sliced Brussel sprouts and quartered mushrooms

Another layer of seasoning followed by some cheese chunks and some grated Parmesan.  Finally I spooned on the reduced cream (if you are trying this I suggest you use heavy cream or reduced cream diluted with water)

Bake in a moderate to hot oven until the potato is fork tender.  In my case this took about 40 minutes.

Chicken Noodle Soup

It's winter here so soup is the order of the day – but actually I like a good soup almost all year round.

Ingredients:

Fresh noodles

Leftover roast chicken (skin removed) & potatoes

Onion (I only use a little bit but most people would use at least ½ an onion)

Ginger

Bacon pieces

Oil (tsp)

Chilli

Stock cube – chicken or vegetable

¼ cabbage, shredded

Handful of brussel sprouts (sliced)

Salt (or Fish sauce) /pepper/cayenne pepper

Soy sauce

Lemon juice

Crispy onions for garnish along with some leaves of Brussel sprouts

Method:

Gently fry off the onions, chopped ginger, bacon fat and a touch of chopped chilli in a teensy amount of oil.

Once it is all sweated down, add water (which if you are in a hurry you could boil first in a kettle) and your stock cube.

Add the leftovers all sliced to bite sized plus the shreeded cabbage and the sliced Brussel sprouts.

Bring to just under a boil and then add your fresh noodles.  They only need about 5 minutes to cook.

Season to taste with salt or fish sauce, pepper and cayenne pepper.  Taste again and if the broth still needs more depth add a splosh of soy sauce and a squirt of lemon juice to brighten.

Garnish with a sprinkling of store bought crispy onions and a few leaves from the Brussel sprouts.