Fig and Bacon Brussles Sprouts

Ive finally found a recipe that makes brussles sprouts delicious.

Actually thats a lie. What this recipe really does is manage to combine figs and bacon cooked together to perfection, the flavor juxtaposition of which is so amazing you forget there is brussels sprouts on the plate as well. Chewy sweet figs coated in salty bacon fat is surprisingly great. Bacon alone makes sprouts edible but this is a whole other league of yum. Dont take my word for it go try it.

Jacob made a variation of this the evening we were baking the chocolate bacon cake and found ourselves with a lot of left over bacon to play with. Those brussles sprouts were swimming in bacony goodness and then ramped up with some fig vinegar. They were good but I wasnt in love with them.

So when I went to cook these sprouts Jacob was a little dubious quipping, “didnt I make this same thing a couple weeks ago?” I defended my recipe choice claiming it would be amazing and totally different while in reality the only reason I was trying this was I had CSA brussel scprouts and wanted an excuse to buy figs. All I was hoping was that I wouldnt fail epically.

The joke was on us both. We started nibbling on the sprouts while waiting for the random curry I was also making to finish. Both of us had the same reaction of stopping to stare at one another wide eyed and a bit impressed. They only got better as the figs had time to get more and more chewy. Then he had the inspired idea to add some apple vinegar which made the sprouts somehow even tastier. I think the slightly sweet fruity vinegar worked out better in the dish than the balsamic vinegar that the original recipe calls for.

Playing in the kitchen with someone who really knows food is amazing fun, but making a professional foodie something that is rewarded with yummy noises and that delighted look of stunned satisfaction is somehow even better. Bacon and figs...who knew?

Fig and Bacon Brussels Sprouts

2 tablespoons olive oil
6 ounces of bacon, chopped
1 pound brussels sprouts, trimmed and quartered
1 cup dried figs, stemmed and quartered
1/4 cup water
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar

Pour oil to a large skillet over medium heat. Add chopped bacon and cook, stirring occasionally until it starts to crisp, about 8 minutes.

Add sprouts, figs and water to pan. Sprinkle with salt and pepper then cook undisturbed until sprouts are tender, about 10 minutes. Increase heat to medium high and continue to cook until any remaining liquid evaporates.

Add vinegar to taste just before serving.

Original recipe from Mark Bittman in the New York Times.

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Sunchoke Fries and Zataar Chicken

Sunchokes also know as Jerusalem artichokes are an interesting little root vegetable.  In their raw form they look like the evil cousin of ginger root, there is no chance they will win a prettiest food contest thats for sure.  And they taste like an artichoke heart had a love child with a particularly waxy potato.  In other words oddly delicious.  Its a fun way to get your artichoke fix without the bother of steaming and dissecting an artichoke.  They also have a GI of about 50 so they arent a great option for the diet but theyre a better option than the evil carby potato and are a great treat for when youre on the weight maintenance phase and miss making homemade steak fries.

Until the other night Ive only ever had them in delicious root vegetable mashes in fancy restaurants which I love but have never tried to recreate.  When it came time to prepare the sunchokes however I was not in the mood to experiment, I just wanted something fairly quick and tasty to eat.  So I turned on the oven, cut up the sunchokes, seasoned them and hoped for the best thinking they would probably do well baked like any other vegetable to make a sort of french fry.  And they came out great.  I also threw together my favorite no effort chicken and had a great meal that was easy but also very extraordinary. 

So if you ever see sunchokes in the store or more likely at the farmers market give them a try.  Especially if youre a lover of artichokes, these are the next best thing.

Zataar Chicken

2 pounds skinless boneless chicken thighs

1 tablespoon oil

salt and pepper, to taste

2 tablespoons zataar seasoning 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  In a square glass baking dish coat the chicken with the oil then toss the spices on the chicken until somewhat evenly coated.  Bake in oven about 30 minutes or until the chicken is done all the way through.

Zataar is a blend of thyme, sumac and sesame seeds.  Its fairly easy to find and worth looking for because its very flavorful and a nice seasoning for Mediterranean dishes.

Sunchoke Fries

handful of sunchokes, well scrubbed and cut into thin slices

2-3 tablespoons olive oil

salt and pepper, to taste

1 or 2 tablespoons rosemary

Heat oven to 375 degrees.  Spread sunchokes out on cookie sheet large enough to accommodate them all in a single layer.  Drizzle the sunchokes with enough oil to keep them from sticking to the pan, tossing them in the oil to coat.  Sprinkle salt, pepper and rosemary on the sunchokes to your taste.  Toss them again so the spices are evenly distributed and the sunchokes are spread out enough to not overlap much.  Bake for about 20 minutes or until the vegetables are tender in the middle and crispy on the edges.

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