Roasted Brussel Sprouts

Brussel sprouts always sounded pretty gross to me.  Then, several months ago I tried them - laden with butter, oil & garlic.  They were excellent!  These should be a little healthier - and hopefully still just as tasty!


1 pound Brussels sprouts, rinsed, ends trimmed
1 Tbsp minced garlic (about 3 cloves)
1 teaspoon lemon juice
2 Tbsp olive oil
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Place Brussels sprouts in a cast iron frying pan (or a roasting pan, but a cast iron frying pan will work great for this recipe). Toss in the garlic. Sprinkle Brussels sprouts with lemon juice. Toss with oil so that the sprouts are well coated. Sprinkle generously with salt (at least a half teaspoon) and a few turns of black pepper.

Put Brussels sprouts in oven on top rack, cook for 20 minutes, then stir so that the sprouts get coated with the oil in the pan. Cook for another 10 minutes. Then sprinkle with Parmesan (if using) and cook for another 5 minutes.

The sprouts should be nicely browned, some of the outside leaves crunchy, the interior should be cooked through.  

Add more salt to taste. (Salting sufficiently is the key to success with this recipe.)

Nancy's Take:  Well, they taste better with more butter, oil and fatty goodness!  But, these were pretty good.  I really liked them re-heated in the microwave.  I'd definitely make them again.  I did not have cheese, but I'd try sprinkling it on next time.  The girls did not try them - no surprise there...

Dave's Take: Let me first make this full disclosure.  I don't like brussel sprouts.  It would have taken a miracle, a name change, and the removal of the brussel sprout from this recipe to give it a chance.  But with that said, I did choke down about 3 or 4 so I could write this review.  The seasoning did in fact help.  But even more would have been better.  I can't, for the life of me, imagine asking for additional servings of brussel sprouts... ever.

West African Chicken and Peanut Stew with Chiles, Ginger, and Green Onions

Just the name of this dish made me want to try it.  It is actually a South Beach Diet recipe.  But, it looked yummy to me.  I don't know what to expect, but it sounds yummy!  Probably to be served with rice - not that SB Diet people eat rice........

1-2 T olive or canola oil (the recipe called for 2 T, but I think you could use less)
1/4 cup finely diced red onion (could also use regular onion)
1 T finely minced fresh ginger root
2 tsp. finely minced jalapeno

salt to taste (I used about 1/2 tsp. Kosher salt)
1 tsp. chile powder
1 cup chicken stock (chicken broth from a can is fine)
1/2 cup chunky peanut butter (use natural peanut butter without added sugar for South Beach Diet)
2 T tomato paste
1 T cider vinegar
3 cups diced, cooked chicken (I used Costco Rotisserie)
fresh ground black pepper to taste
3-4 green onions (scallions) thinly sliced

Finely chop the red onion, ginger, and jalapeno, and roughly chop the chicken. Heat oil in a heavy pan, add finely diced onion, ginger, and jalapenos, season with salt, and saute about 2 minutes. Add the chile powder, stir into other ingredients, and saute about 1 minute more.

Add chicken stock, peanut butter, tomato paste, and apple cider vinegar, stir, and bring to a slight boil. As soon as it starts to boil, lower heat to a very gentle simmer, add roughly chopped chicken, gently stir to combine, and let simmer 10-15 minutes. (Resist the urge to stir it very much, or the chicken will shred apart, which you don't want here.)

While mixture simmers, wash, dry, and slice green onions. After 10-15 minutes, gently stir again if the oil from the peanut butter has separated. Serve hot, with a generous handful of green onion slices on each serving.

Nancy's Take:  I normally don't cook with peanut butter - I swear!  This was a good dish.  Not a favorite, but good.  I'd make it again - but not too often.  It went well with rice and peas.  And, the kids liked it.... which is always a plus!!

Dave's Take:  This was pretty good.  I don’t think I would ask for it, but if Nancy planned it for dinner and told me we were having peanut chicken stew I’d not complain.  The consistency was good for a stew.  Not too thin or too thick… just right.  I think Nancy didn’t add a jalapeño pepper because I forgot to get that from the store.  I wonder how that would have changed the dish.  Next time (and I think there should be a next time) we need to make sure to add the jalapeño.

Jambalaya

It is almost Fat Tuesday - which means Jambalaya!!  This is a great recipe to make on Sunday and have throughout the week for lunches.  So yummy and not too tricky to make.

3 cups chicken broth                                           
3-4 pound whole chicken - I used a chicken from Costco         
2 medium onions chopped                                        
3 cloves minced garlic                                         
2 tablespoons coarse salt                                      
28 ounces canned whole pealed tomatoes                         
1 tablespoon allspice                                          
1 tablespoon thyme                                             
1 teaspoon basil                                               
1 teaspoon oregano                                             
1 teaspoon hot sauce                                           
1/4 cup vegetable oil                                          
1 1/2 cups celery                                              
1 green bell pepper chopped                                    
2 pounds kielbasa or andouille sausage, sliced - turkey sausage works fine

2 cups long grain rice                                          

1 pound medium shrimp peeled, deveined and tails removed - I omit the shrimp often...
1 red bell pepper chopped                                      

In a large dutch oven, combine chicken broth, tomatoes, allspice, thyme, basil, oregano, and hot sauce over medium heat. Bring to a simmer, breaking up the tomatoes with the back of a wooden spoon.

Meanwhile, heat 3 tablespoons vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add celery, chopped onions, bell peppers, and minced garlic. Cook until softened, 5 to 7 minutes; add to Dutch-oven.

In the same skillet, heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil over high heat; add sausage, and cook until heated through, about 5 minutes. Transfer to Dutch-oven. Add shredded chicken, rice, and salt; simmer, covered, for 15 minutes. Add shrimp, and simmer, covered, until rice is tender, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat; let stand for a few minutes, and serve.

Carnitas

3 pound pork roast

5 teaspoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
12 ounces Beer

• Place pork roast in bottom of slow cooker.
• Toss the pepper, salt, jalapeno and garlic together.
• Spread around and over roast.
• Pour beer over everything.
• Cover and cook on high 5-6 hours until pork is tender and fork pulls easily.
• Serve with warm tortillas, your favorite toppings and salsa.

Nancy:  This was great!!  So super easy and so wonderfully delicious!  I'll definitely make it again - and the kids are already asking for it!  They seem to want everything taco style lately!  I even found really tasty whole wheat tortillas we've been enjoying.  I'll try to spice it up a bit next time.  I did not have a jalapeno, so we did not include that in the recipe.  From the looks of this blog, we eat a lot of pork!  That was not until this blog started - not sure what's going on that I keep making it, but my kids are loving it!

Dave: What a welcome change to taco night.  The pork was tender and the girls DEVOURED it.  They ask for seconds and finished.  I really liked it too.  The carnitas along with avocado, salsa, cheese, beans, and rice made great tacos.  The one thing I would suggest for next time is that the carnitas when all by itself was a bit bland.  I think some spices (not too much but some) would go along way, just like the ground beef usually has some taco spices.  I don't think this should permanently replace ground beef for taco night, but alternating or switching it up with this carnitas recipe every now and then would be a good thing.

BBQ Pulled Pork

4 lbs pork roast (shoulder or butt)
2 large sliced onions
1 cup ginger ale
1 bottle favorite BBQ sauce - I bought based on the label I liked best - used a bottle of spicy and sweet because I had to make a larger roast to serve more people...
Barbecue sauce, for serving

Place one onion in crock pot. Put in the roast & cover with the other onion. Add ginger ale. Cover/cook on LOW for about 12 hours. I had to start mine on high due to time constraints... Then cooked on low... Just don't check on it too often - you lose a lot of heat every time you open the crock pot.

Remove the meat, strain and save the onions, discard all liquid. With two forks, shred the meat, discarding remaining fat, bones or skin. Most of the fat will melt away.

Return the shredded meat and the onions to the crock pot, stir in the barbecue sauce. Continue to cook for a few hours on LOW.

Serve w/ buns or rolls and bbq sauce. Leftovers freeze well.

TIP: freeze ready-made sandwiches - a scoop of meat on a bun, well-wrapped. To reheat, remove wrapping, wrap in a paper towel, and zap 1-2 minute in microwave.

Note: Shoulder or butt are recommended because the meat shreds very well. I used a Boneless Boston Butt – and it was great! The bone is no big deal – but buy more than you think you’ll need, as the bone is weighty.

Note 2: If you have a newer or bigger crock pot, you may need to revise times downward, esp. after the bbq sauce is added.

Note 3: Turn the roast over after it's cooked a while, to ensure more even cooking.

Nancy's Take: Yummy! I really liked it and have nothing bad to say about it! I think it would be yummy on a flour tortilla with crispy onions and maybe pickles! But, a real winner – my entire family enjoyed it. It also reheated very nice. I might make a batch and have Dave take it to work for lunches periodically.

Dave's Take: This was a winner. The pork was extremely tender, the onions added a tangy sweetness and the sauce was a hit. It was a combination of both a sweet and hot BBQ sauce. And that made me wonder, how much of this execution was actually determined by the selection of the sauce? I bet you could have very tender pork and everything could be great but if you choose the wrong sauce I bet you could spoil the whole thing. But, not today!! Nancy told me that her selection of sauce in the supermarket was based entirely on the label and its marketing presentation on the shelf. There was an old black gentleman and Nancy said “that guy looks like he knows how to make BBQ”. And low and behold, he did. I would recommend this recipe along with a mixture of mild and spicy Stub’s Texas BBQ sauce.