Brussels Sprouts with Parmigiano and Panko

Take 1 lb brussels sprouts, trimmed of the bottoms and any yellow leaves. Simmer in a heavy covered pan with about one inch of lightly salted water for about 7 minutes.

Drain, and toss with about a tablespoon of olive oil.

Shred 3/4 cup of parmigiano reggiano, and mix with an equal amount of panko breadcrumbs, with a teaspoon each of Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Mix this around with the sprouts, and bake for 10-15 minutes, uncovered, at 350.

Photo credit: essgee51

Pot Roast

Although the chill weather seems to be fading fast, I wanted to try my hand at this winter classic. I combined a sort of mish-mash of recipes -- Mark Bittman's from "How To Cook Everything", Alton Brown's, and my Mom (I called her to ask her how she used to make it back when I was a kid). What I was after was that perfect falling-apart richness that you scarcely need a knife for, and it pretty much worked.

• A pot roast, about 3 lbs. The cut was chuck round? I think. It was a big piece of cow, nicely marbled.
• 1 large onion, roughly chopped
• One head of garlic, peeled and smashed
  
• 5 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
• Two medium/large potatoes, chopped
• 2-3 cups of red wine - I used about a third of a large bottle
• Cumin
  
• Salt and pepper
  

Rub the meat all over with 1/2 teaspoon of cumin and 1/2 teaspoon of Kosher salt. Preheat your oven to about 350, and heat up a cast-iron skillet that has a heavy lid. Pretty damn hot, I'd say -- I left it until it was nearly smoking over medium-high heat. Pour in about a tablespoon of vegetable oil, and sear the roast on all sides. Once nicely browned all over (this is for flavor and color) remove and put aside. In the same pan, sautee your onion and garlic with a bit of Kosher salt, until softened. Put the roast back in the pan, cover with the veggies, add the wine, and cover tightly. If you're using my proportions, and have a 12" skillet, this should juuuuuust fit.

Cook in the 350 degree oven for approximately 3 hours, and test for doneness. Does it smell wonderful? Does it pretty much fall apart at the sight of a fork? It's good. Eat now, or save until the next day to reheat -- it also lends itself to being stretched with additional potatoes, peas, etc. Economical and versatile, perfect for this kind of meal.

The Worst Pies in London

Well, not the worst pies by any stretch, and not in London either. Inspired by a meat pie that my Mom made to have over my time spent in Pennsylvania at Christmas, I whipped this up last night. It was tasty, but I went too thick on the dough, which I think I would have preferred thinner.

For the crust:

• One double batch of the crusty pie dough from Bittman's "How to Cook Everything"

For the filling:

• One NY strip, minced into small (~1cm) cubes
• One medium sized veal kidney, likewise minced
• One medium onion, chopped
• One medium apple, minced
• Salt, pepper, thyme and a little flour.

And that's about it -- just seal up the pie, and coat with a light egg-wash. Bake at 350 for about 90 minutes. As I said, next time I am going to go easier on the dough, and perhaps add carrots and/or peas.

Cream of Mushroom and Potato Soup (With Chicken)

Wow, I haven't posted in too long. Well, this is as good a post as any to break my silence with -- I thought it turned out really well

• 5-6 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
• About twice as much vegetable stock as would be required to cook them in
• A bundle of fresh herbs, tied in cheesecloth for easy removal
• 1 lb white mushrooms, stemmed, cleaned, and finely chopped in the Cuisinart, then cooked in 1 tbsp butter along with a minced shallot
• 2 chicken breasts, boneless, and marinated in lemon, olive oil, and fresh dill (marinated for at least a couple of hours).
• A pint of heavy cream or half-and-half
• 1 tbsp flour, for thickening if necessary
  

Cook the potatoes in the vegetable stock (I home-made mine, but that's another story) until quite done. Add the mushroom mixture and flour puree with an immersion blender (or, I suppose in a regular blender until creamy. Add the cream, and let it get all hot again -- just below boiling.

In the meantime, simply pan fry the lemony-dilly chicken until nicely browned, but not cooked through. On a cutting board, slice them thinly, and add them to the soup. They add flavor to the soup, and vice versa. Check them for done-ness periodically, and when they're done, so is the soup. Serve with a dollop of sour cream, if you have any.

Filling, warming on a cold evening, and quite rich.

Chicken Salad

Well, with the remains of our Thanksgiving Chicken (the white meat at least, the dark was long gone, thanks to two hungry people who love those parts) I made what I think of as a classic chicken salad. We've had it two nights in a row, once on pumpernickel swirl toast and last night on soft buns, which we both preferred. It gave it a more picknicky feel, somehow. Anyhow:

• Jeez, I don't know how much chicken. Basically the meat from the breast of a roasted 5 lb chicken, more or less. Dice fairly finely.
• 2-2 1/2 stalks of celery, also diced finely
• 1 large onion, diced finely
• 1 cup ( or more, totally up to you) of mayo. I used Hellman's, having had a complete Mayonnaise Fail trying to make home-made.
  
• 2 cloves of garlic, finely minced
• 4-5 pickled Gherkins, finely minced
  
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1-2 teaspoons Chili powder
• 1 teaspoon dried dill (fresh would be better, but gimme a break, it's December)
• Squeeze of juice from half a lemon
  
• Ground pepper

And that's about it. Combine it all in a big bowl, and put in the fridge, covered. It will be nice immediately, better later that day, and much better the next evening.

Tomato Relish

Ok, that's not really accurate, but it's as close as I can come to describing it. We had a pint container of cherry tomatoes (one of those clear plastic vented deals) that we bought, like, weeks ago. I noticed it on the counter again, and discovered that they were all perfectly good! So, I washed them, and threw them in the food processor along with various ingredients and left it in the fridge overnight. We ate it last night with yellow corn chips, and it turned out darn well if I say so myself.

• 1 pint small cherry tomatoes
• 2-3 tbsp freshly shredded Parmesan cheese, maybe more
  
• 1-2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp balsamic (I also used some Sherry vinegar)
• Some pepper
• Squeeze of half a lemon
  

Buzz it all in your mini food processor, and let sit overnight. This might also be good on little toasts, bruschetta style. Thoughts for next time -- chopped Kalamata olives? A couple of anchovies? I'll definitely be trying this again.

Brining a Chicken

Got a 4-5 lb. bird from the poultry stand at Eastern Market, which you can read all about here:

The brine was basically:

2-3 tbsp kosher salt
2-3 tbsp light brown sugar
Several teaspoons cracked pepper, plus a scant handful of whole peppercorns
1/2 tsp dry Coleman's mustard
1/2 tsp red chili powder

Take a pot and put your chicken in it, and fill with water until it is almost submerged. Remove the chicken and put it back in the fridge. The water remaining is how much brine you will be making!

Put all the dry seasonings in the water and boil for five-ten minutes. Remove from the heat and add several cups of ice cubes to cool it down. Once it's cool, put the chicken in (should be submerged) and fridge it anywhere from 3 hrs to a whole 24 like we did.

Makes for juicy, flavorful chicken. Enjoy!