Brussels Sprouts Poached in Cider with Onions and Apples
I have to be honest and admit that this is really not my favorite of all the things I've ever cooked. I prefer brussels sprouts steamed lightly and then sauteed in butter and salt, with smoked gruyere grated over them before they're done, but that's primarily because, hey, smoked gruyere, how can it be bad?
These were good and definitely more interesting & subtle than the gruyere variety, but I still pined for the richness missing with the... well, the missing fat. There's really not much in here.
This is from Georgeanne Brennan's France: The Vegetarian Table. You'll probably see a theme with my cooking night recipes: the Vegetarian Table books are a handy reference whenever I need an explicit ethnicity of food, since they have a good selection of all dishes (appetizers, soups, small plates, entrees, desserts, etc.) from each culture. That said, some are better than others. I have yet to make anything mind-blowing with Italy and France, but America (no surprise, since it's penned by Deborah Madison), Thailand, and North Africa are real gems.
Oh! One last thing about this recipe: when I made it, I doubled it for cooking night, and ended up having to cook it in my wok, so the ingredients were not all directly touching the bottom of the pan and I had to stir it a lot, so I expected the timings to be off, but they were way off. Seriously, scanning the recipe, the cooking times are, in order, 3-4 minutes, 3-4 minutes, and 10-15 minutes. For me it was--no exaggeration--more like 10-12 minutes, 10-12 minutes, and 50-60 minutes. No joke. The sprouts still were a tiny bit tougher than I wanted after that long, too. Don't let that discourage you, just beware that you will need to be confident in your eyeballing and tasting abilities to potentially make up your own timings.
Brussels Sprouts Poached in Cider with Onions and Apples
For me, this dish conjures up the Norman countryside in late autumn and early winter when the last fall apples are still on the ground beneath the trees, but the first cider has already been pressed. The rolling hills have mist hanging about them until late into the morning and you sense, as you drive along, that if you have the good fortune to be invited into the kitchen of one of the stone farmhouses that dot the countryside, you will surely be offered a small glass of warming homemade calvados.
1 lb brussels sprouts
2 Golden Delicious or other sweet apples
2T butter
2T olive oil
1 yellow or red onion, chopped
1 1/2c apple cider
1/2t salt
1/2t freshly ground black pepper
2 star anise
1/4c balsamic vinegar
Trim the stems from the sprouts and cut each sprout in half from the top through the stem end. Halve and core the apples, peel them if you wish, and cut them into 1/2-inch cubes.
In a skillet or heavy-bottomed saucepan large enough to hold all the ingredients eventually, melt the butter with the olive oil over low heat. When they begin to foam, increase the heat to medium and ad the onions and apples. Saute until the apples have softened and the onions are translucent, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the sprouts and saute, stirring gently, for 3 or 4 minutes. Add the apple cider, salt, pepper, and star anise. Cover and reduce the heat to low. Simmer until the sprouts are easily pierced with a fork, 10 to 15 minutes.
Using a slotted spoon, remove the contents of the pan to a warmed serving dish, discard the star anise and cover to keep warm. Increase the heat to medium-high and cook until the pan juices are reduced by half. Add the vinegar and cook for 2 to 3 minutes longer, stirring and scraping the pan to loosen any bits that may be stuck to it.
Ed: I actually found the vinegar to be too much, maybe because my completely different cooking times had already reduced the cooking liquids down substantially. I'd recommend not adding all the vinegar at once, but rather adding and tasting as you go. You do want it to be very vinegary, to be clear, since it is just a dressing, and not meant to be drank on its own, but not so vinegary it drowns the other flavors!
Pour the hot pan juices over the sprouts mixture and serve immediately.
These were good and definitely more interesting & subtle than the gruyere variety, but I still pined for the richness missing with the... well, the missing fat. There's really not much in here.
This is from Georgeanne Brennan's France: The Vegetarian Table. You'll probably see a theme with my cooking night recipes: the Vegetarian Table books are a handy reference whenever I need an explicit ethnicity of food, since they have a good selection of all dishes (appetizers, soups, small plates, entrees, desserts, etc.) from each culture. That said, some are better than others. I have yet to make anything mind-blowing with Italy and France, but America (no surprise, since it's penned by Deborah Madison), Thailand, and North Africa are real gems.
Oh! One last thing about this recipe: when I made it, I doubled it for cooking night, and ended up having to cook it in my wok, so the ingredients were not all directly touching the bottom of the pan and I had to stir it a lot, so I expected the timings to be off, but they were way off. Seriously, scanning the recipe, the cooking times are, in order, 3-4 minutes, 3-4 minutes, and 10-15 minutes. For me it was--no exaggeration--more like 10-12 minutes, 10-12 minutes, and 50-60 minutes. No joke. The sprouts still were a tiny bit tougher than I wanted after that long, too. Don't let that discourage you, just beware that you will need to be confident in your eyeballing and tasting abilities to potentially make up your own timings.
Brussels Sprouts Poached in Cider with Onions and Apples
For me, this dish conjures up the Norman countryside in late autumn and early winter when the last fall apples are still on the ground beneath the trees, but the first cider has already been pressed. The rolling hills have mist hanging about them until late into the morning and you sense, as you drive along, that if you have the good fortune to be invited into the kitchen of one of the stone farmhouses that dot the countryside, you will surely be offered a small glass of warming homemade calvados.
1 lb brussels sprouts
2 Golden Delicious or other sweet apples
2T butter
2T olive oil
1 yellow or red onion, chopped
1 1/2c apple cider
1/2t salt
1/2t freshly ground black pepper
2 star anise
1/4c balsamic vinegar
Trim the stems from the sprouts and cut each sprout in half from the top through the stem end. Halve and core the apples, peel them if you wish, and cut them into 1/2-inch cubes.
In a skillet or heavy-bottomed saucepan large enough to hold all the ingredients eventually, melt the butter with the olive oil over low heat. When they begin to foam, increase the heat to medium and ad the onions and apples. Saute until the apples have softened and the onions are translucent, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the sprouts and saute, stirring gently, for 3 or 4 minutes. Add the apple cider, salt, pepper, and star anise. Cover and reduce the heat to low. Simmer until the sprouts are easily pierced with a fork, 10 to 15 minutes.
Using a slotted spoon, remove the contents of the pan to a warmed serving dish, discard the star anise and cover to keep warm. Increase the heat to medium-high and cook until the pan juices are reduced by half. Add the vinegar and cook for 2 to 3 minutes longer, stirring and scraping the pan to loosen any bits that may be stuck to it.
Ed: I actually found the vinegar to be too much, maybe because my completely different cooking times had already reduced the cooking liquids down substantially. I'd recommend not adding all the vinegar at once, but rather adding and tasting as you go. You do want it to be very vinegary, to be clear, since it is just a dressing, and not meant to be drank on its own, but not so vinegary it drowns the other flavors!
Pour the hot pan juices over the sprouts mixture and serve immediately.
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