The Continuing Adventures of Alex and Cati*

You’ve never had brussels sprouts if you haven’t had roasted brussels sprouts.  Years ago, brussels sprouts were probably the only regularly encountered food I didn’t like (pretty much everything else was ok).  They were bitter little stinky cabbages with rubbery little leaves, and I didn’t like them at all.  When Cati moved in, she got me to hate them less (heck, I even grew to like them).  We used to boil them, and that’s not bad as long as they are fresh (never frozen).  

Not long ago the Co-op started carrying local organic stalks of the little beauties.  One of the ladies I was working with in the cheese section one evening suggested that I try roasting them instead of boiling, and I was intrigued.  Roasted/grilled asparagus is better than steamed, so it seemed likely that the improvement would translate.  Incidentally, she is the executive chef at a rather large restaurant in downtown Albany.  So now we roast ’em, and the flavor is incredible.  They are like a healthful and delicious version of french fries.  The aroma that comes off while cooking them this way is remarkable.  Cook up some local, organic, free-range chicken (and some aioli), and you have a meal fit for a king. 

For the brussels sprouts, pre-heat the oven to 400F.  Coat the brussels sprouts in some olive oil and place them on a cookie tray.  Sprinkle on some coarse sea-salt, and add them to the oven for ~30min.  Vigorously shake the cookie-tray (or flip the bulbs with tongs) every 7 minutes or so to roast evenly.  Remove, let cool, and enjoy. 

We enjoyed the brussels srpouts with some chicken from Misty Knoll Farms (remember them?).  We just lightly breaded the chicken and pan-fried. 

It was a relatively easy and delicious meal. 

Cati and I had a great weekend.  We saw a very good movie, went to Saso’s, went to a wedding, and even tried that new burger joint franchise Five Guys. (the burgers were meh, at best; nothing special really).  I didn’t take any pictures at all, so photo-blogging about it all is pretty pointless, no?  Below is a collection of some nice meals that I DO have photos of:

I made “everything chicken” a couple weeks back according to this recipe.  I am a bit ashamed to admit that I discovered this recipe from seeing it on TV as made by Rachel Ray [cringe].  She strikes me as a loud townie who, for some reason, constantly speaks in superlatives; but oh well, she can cook.  See photos below:

I also made “pasta a la suegra” (a recipe from my lovely mother-in-law) to go with the everything chicken.  The recipe is:

• 4 oz. pasta of your choice.  We prefer whole wheat or spelt pasta over the white-flour stuff.   
• one egg
• one triangle of laughing cow cheese
• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• 2-4 cloves garlic (you make the call)
• 1 Tbsp of dried basil
• salt to taste

Mix all ingredients using an electric hand-mixer.  Boil pasta in salted water until desired firmness.  Dump pasta into a colander and shake to remove water.  Add pasta back to empty pot on low/med heat and immediately add mixed ingredients.  Keep stirring as cream sauce thickens with the pasta.  It’s pretty tasty.  We had some sliced tomatoes with dinner, but I bet a nice green salad would have been good too. 

A few more weeks ago, I made more borscht and some turkey grilled-cheese sandwiches to go along with it.  Hey, what can I say?  We’re root-crop people. 

I am also pleased to report that Cati and I found whole wheat pizza crusts so we have been making our own pizzas lately.  The pizza below is topped with pizza sauce, dried garlic, basil, rosemary, greek olives, tomatoes, mozzarella, capers, and a pair of eggs.  Good stuff. 

Isn’t this exciting?