We love Brussels sprouts and this looked like an easy way to make them. Slicing them for the “hash” is about the most time-consuming job here (and see below for my opinion as to whether it’s worth it), after that it’s about 5 minutes from start to finish. Serves 4 to 6:
Brussels Sprouts Hash
• 1 pound large Brussels sprouts
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
• 1 tablespoon poppy seeds
• 1/4 cup white wine
• Salt and pepper
Cut the stems from the Brussels sprouts and halve each one lengthwise. Slice each half into thin slices, about 1/8” and toss with the lemon juice in a large bowl.
Heat the olive oil in a sauté pan over high heat almost to the smoking point. Stir in the hashed sprouts with the garlic and poppy seeds.
Add the white wine and continue stirring for about 3 minutes, until the sprouts are bright green and barely crunchy. Reduce the heat to low, season with salt and pepper, and cook for 1 additional minute. Serve and enjoy!
My verdict: Good but not great. I might have liked it better with the Brussels sprouts halved and browned in the oil. It’s probably a really good dish for people who are on the fence about sprouts.
If shredding Brussels sprouts seems like a waste of time, shredding some cabbage and treating it like the sprouts would be a fine replacement.
Of all the spices I have, surprisingly poppy seeds are not in the house, so I used some of my favorite everything bagel spice, figuring that it had a lot of poppy seeds. Frank started to get huffy about it “do you ever see me eating an everything bagel?” but it was fairly innocuous and served it’s purpose.
No open bottles of white wine? A little chicken or vegetable stock, splash of red wine, or even water would work instead.
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One of the great things about a CSA is that you get to try food that might not be on your regular grocery list. Our winter CSA share has given us a bounty of stuff to play with, the most recent being a bunch of parsnips.
Make the parsnips:
Make the horseradish cream:
My verdict: The taste of the roasted parsnips was great! Much more interesting than their carrot cousins. The horseradish cream was good, nice and sharp, and while I liked it a lot, the parsnips could have stood on their own without it.
We’ve been lucky enough to get some beautiful red cabbage from our winter CSA share, and since it’s winter braising it seemed like the right way to go. This probably serves 4 as a side dish.
Place bacon in a large Dutch oven or other large, heavy-bottomed pot with a lid over medium heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned and most of the fat has rendered.
My verdict: I’ve made this twice recently and the last time was the best. Might have been because I used some homemade chicken broth, but it was silky smooth and delicious! It’s not a quick side dish, but it’s easy and worth the time.
At my house, if there wasn’t a Yorkshire pudding Christmas dinner was a bust. My mother always used a well-worn copy of The Joy of Cooking for hers and it worked no matter how many glasses of champagne had been downed.
Adjust oven rack to center position and preheat oven to 450°. Divide drippings (or other fat) evenly between two 8-inch cast iron or oven-safe non-stick skillets. Preheat in the oven until the fat is smoking hot, about 10 minutes.
My verdict: Pretty spectacular! The secret is to make the batter ahead of time and chill it at least overnight. Besides making the puddings essentially fool-proof, it’s one less thing to do while you’re opening gifts and preparing a big meal.
