Balsamic Roasted Brussels Sprouts

By Paul Briand

The challenge of cooking Brussels sprouts is to prepare them in such a way that they don’t taste like Brussels sprouts.

I have not been a big fan of these miniature cabbage look-alikes, despite their abundance of vitamin A, vitamin C, folic acid and dietary fiber. I just don’t think they taste very good, given the old school tendency of boil-and-serve.

So my son David had me try his recipe, which endeavors to transform the taste of the sprouts with the sour/sweet interplay of balsamic vinegar and honey. It was, indeed, a transformative experience.

David eyeballs a lot of his proportions, so we tried to approximate measures here as best we could. This recipe serves two.

Ingredients
10 ounces of Brussels sprouts
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons honey
Salt and pepper

Directions
1. Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees;
2.Prepare a baking dish with a coating of olive oil;
3. Trim the nubs of the sprouts and cut each sprout in half lengthwise;
4. Arrange sprouts cut side down in baking dish;
5. Splash vinegar over the sprouts, making sure each sprout gets a splash;
6. Drizzle honey over each of the sprouts;
7. Add salt and pepper to taste;
8. Bake for 30 minutes or until the bottoms have browned and the tops have caramelized.

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Butternut Squash and Bacon Mac n' Cheese

By Paul Briand

Let me say at the outset that his recipe is awesome.

I found it, as I usually do, just trolling around various food and recipe sites, finding it at BrownEyedBaker.com.

I love mac ‘n cheese. I love bacon. Throw in the squash as a reasonably healthy addition? Sold.

The squash really adds an element of flavor and texture that makes this dish worth the work (and the many pots and pans) that go into it.

Some notes: I tried to reduce the sodium content by using low-sodium bacon (yes, there is such a thing, though bacon lovers might ask, “Why bother?”). I used a whole onion. And I used orecchiette as my pasta, which I’ve used before in other mac ‘n cheese recipes.

Ingredients
12 slices thick-cut peppered bacon, cut into ½-inch pieces
½ butternut squash, finely diced
½ yellow onion, finely diced
Salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 cups whole milk
8 ounces Gruyere cheese, shredded (about 2 cups), divided
8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (about 2 cups), divided
16 ounces cavatappi pasta (or shaped pasta of your choice)
1 cup plain breadcrumbs

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Butter a 9x13-inch casserole dish. Heat a large pot of water over high heat for the pasta and cover;
2. In a 12-inch cast iron skillet (or other heavy, stainless skillet), fry the bacon until crisp;
3. Remove the bacon to a towel-lined plate to drain. Pour off all but 2 tablespoons of the bacon grease;
4.  Adjust heat to medium-low and add the butternut squash and onion to the bacon grease. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the squash and onion are browned and cooked through. Once cooked, use the back of a wooden spoon to mash up the mixture (it doesn't have to be completely smooth - leave some chunks in for texture);
5. Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook the pasta according to the box directions for al dente pasta then drain;
5. While the pasta is cooking, make the sauce. In a large saucepan;
6. Melt 4 tablespoons of the butter over medium heat. Once the butter has melted, whisk in the flour and cook for about 1 minute, until the flour starts to brown;
7. In a slow, steady stream, whisk in the milk. Allow the sauce to come to a simmer;
8. Stir in 6 ounces each of the Gruyere and cheddar cheeses, adding a handful at a time and stirring with a wooden spoon until completely melted before adding the next handful. Season with salt and pepper and turn off the heat;
9. Add the cooked, drained pasta, bacon and butternut squash mixture to the sauce. Stir with a wooden spoon until everything is completely combined and evenly distributed;
10. Pour the mixture into the prepared casserole dish;
11. Melt the remaining 4 tablespoons butter. In a small bowl, mix the melted butter with the breadcrumbs;
12. Sprinkle the macaroni and cheese with the remaining shredded cheeses. Sprinkle the breadcrumb mixture on top of the cheese;
13. Bake until browned and bubbly, about 15 to 20 minutes. Allow to sit for 10 to 15 minutes before serving.

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Crispy Old Bay Wings

By Paul Briand

This is the recipe I settled on for the tailgate chicken I brought to a family reunion last weekend at the Air Force-Army football game.

It was a three-part event: the gathering/buffet Friday night at the hotel in Newburgh, N.Y., the tailgate before the game itself at West Point, and the tailgate after the game. There was a fourth part - the gathering Saturday night back at the hotel - but by then the chicken, all six pounds of it, was gone.

I needed something that was portable, whose flavor would stand up when served cold, and wasn’t messy. This recipe, which I found on the Old Bay seasoning home site, did the trick.

Some notes on the recipe: I didn’t serve it with the optional dressing, though that certainly would have added an element of flavor and it would have cooled down the heat that some people taste with Old Bay. Also, I made six pounds of boneless/skinless tenders: I didn’t double the recipe, I made two separate batches.

After I rinsed the tenders, I patted them dry with paper towel, then tossed them with about a teaspoon of canola oil before then tossing them with the breadcrumb mixture. Lacking skin, it helped crisp up the tenders once they got into the oven.

Ingredients
1/2 cup plain dry bread crumbs
2 tablespoons Old Bay seasoning
3 pounds chicken wing pieces
Blue cheese or ranch dressing (optional)

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees, mix bread crumbs and Old Bay in large resealable plastic bag;
2. Add chicken wings in batches; shake to coat well;
3. Arrange chicken wings in single layer on large foil-lined shallow baking pan sprayed with no-stick cooking spray. Discard any remaining bread crumb mixture;
4. Bake 30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through;
5. Serve with blue cheese or ranch dressing, if desired.

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Black Bean and Sweet Potato Turkey Chili

By Paul Briand

This recipe had us at sweet potato.

My wife Jane and I are big sweet potato fans. And, since you can never have enough chili recipes, we decided to give this recipe, which I found at OurBestBites.com, a whirl.

There’s a lot that goes into it, which makes for a fair amount of prep. But the end result is well worth it, especially at 160 calories per serving for those of you who care about such things.

A couple of observations: You’ll need a very large slow cooker (or pot). If not, halve this. If cooking in a pot on a stove (as I did), you may not need all the beef broth as shown. I ended up using about half.

Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil, divided
1 medium onion, diced (any color)
4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 bell pepper, diced
1-2 jalapenos, minced
20 ounces ground turkey breast
8 ounces mushrooms, minced (about 2 heaping cups)
2 teaspoons cumin
2  teaspoons kosher salt
½  teaspoons pepper
1  teaspoon oregano
1  teaspoon chili powder
1 1/2  teaspoons smoked paprika
1 1/2 lbs sweet potatoes, peeled and diced into 1/2 inch cubes*
1 28 ounce can tomatoes (not drained)
2 15 ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
32 ounces beef broth (one box/carton)
1 15 ounce can pumpkin puree (make sure you’re not using pumpkin pie filling :)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

Directions
1. Heat a large skillet to medium-high heat. Add 1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil and add onion, garlic, bell pepper, and jalapenos. Saute for about 5 minutes, until veggies are tender and fragrant.  Add to slow cooker or pot;
2. In same skillet, heat remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil. Add turkey and mushrooms and stir to combine;
3. Sprinkle in cumin, salt, pepper, oregano, chili powder and smoked paprika. Add turkey mixture to slow cooker;
4. Add sweet potatoes, tomatoes, beans, broth, pumpkin, cinnamon, and cocoa powder to slow cooker and stir to combine;
5. Place lid on pot and cook for 4-6 hours on high, or 8-10 on low, let stand with lid off for 10-15 minutes before serving;
6. If using a pot on a stove, cook over medium low heat for about an hour, stirring occasionally. It will thicken as liquid steams off;
7. When the sweet potatoes are tender turn off heat and serve with favorite toppings.

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Crispy Baked Asian Chicken Wings

By Paul Briand

My search for tailgate food continued with this recipe, which I found at JustaTaste.com.

Here’s the background: My extended family on my mother’s side is meeting for a combination football/reunion at West Point in early November for the Air Force-Army football game.

I’m looking for a chicken wing dish that 1) can feed a lot of people, 2) will still taste good cold, 3) have a lot of flavor.

This week I tried this recipe and, while tasty enough, probably won’t work cold because of the coating that involves hoisin and blackberry jam … yes, blackberry jam.

Hoisin is like an Asian barbecue sauce and, combined with the jam, produces a coating for the chicken that is yummy but very gooey.

I think next week I’ll turn my attention to a dry rub of some kind for the chicken wings. My sense is that a non-sauce coating for the wings will still have the taste, but travel better and stand up to being served cold.

Ingredients
2½ pounds chicken wings, tips removed, drumettes and flats separated
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon Chinese 5-Spice or other Asian spice blend
1/3 cup hoisin sauce
¼ cup blackberry jam

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and rinse wings and drumettes and pat dry;
2. Transfer wings to a large bowl and toss with vegetable oil and spice blend until well coated;
3. Position wings on baking racks in a single layer ensuring that wings aren't touching;
4. Bake, rotating pan half-way through, until fully cooked, 45 to 50 minutes;
5. Remove wings from oven and transfer to a large bowl;
6. Whisk together hoisin and blackberry jam in a small saucepot over medium-low heat until warm;
7. Drizzle wings with sauce, tossing until well coated. Serve immediately.

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Sweet and Sour Chicken II

By Paul Briand

A big family reunion is coming up in early November. It involves a football game -- Air Force at Army. It involves tailgating. And it involves a lot of food.

So I’ve been on the hunt for a dish to bring that will 1) feed the masses and 2) still taste good at room or cool temperatures.

This is a Sweet and Sour Chicken recipe I found at Mel’s Kitchen Cafe. My thought was to try it at home using the chicken breasts in the recipe, then adapting the recipe for wings and drumsticks to bring to the family fest.

I’ve given this recipe the Roman numeral II because of a previous sweet and sour chicken recipe on these pages.

I liked it, but I’m not so sure about the transition to a tailgating environment. I liked the sourness of the apple cider vinegar; my wife did not … at all. I’m not sure whether this will make the cut. There are a couple of more recipes I want to try.

Ingredients
3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Salt and pepper
1 cup cornstarch
2 large eggs, beaten
1/4 cup canola oil
Sauce:
3/4 cup granulated sugar
4 tablespoons ketchup
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon garlic salt

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees;
2. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. While the oil is heating, cut the chicken breasts into 1-inch pieces. Season with salt and pepper;
3. Place the cornstarch in a gallon-sized storage bag. Put the chicken into the bag with the cornstarch and seal, tossing to coat the chicken;
4. Whisk the eggs together in a shallow pie plate. Dip the cornstarch-coated chicken pieces in the egg and place them carefully in a single layer in the hot skillet;
5. Cook for 1-2 minutes and then flip each piece over to cook on the other side until nicely golden but not all the way cooked through;
6. Place in a single layer in a baking dish and repeat with the remaining chicken pieces;
7. Mix the sauce ingredients together in a medium bowl and pour over the chicken in the baking dish;
8 Bake for one hour, turning the chicken once or twice while cooking to coat evenly with sauce. Serve over hot, steamed rice.

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Garlic Roast Beef

By Paul Briand

As I was picking through the meat cooler at the grocery store the other day, I realized I had never cooked a roast before.

And the roast looking back at me from the cooler seemed the perfect starting point to remedy that situation.

The trick to a good roast is to a) not overcook it and b) have enough fat on the roast to render the juices necessary for a good gravy.

I accomplished the latter, but the roast was a little overcooked, despite my judicious use of a meat thermometer. I like it rare, this was medium.

But here’s a basic recipe for roast I found at the Simply Recipes website. I liked it because of the addition of the garlic.

Ingredients
3 to 3 1/2 lbs of Boneless Rump Roast (pick an end cut with a layer of fat if you can)
Olive oil
8 slivers of garlic
Salt and pepper
For the gravy:
Red wine, water, and or beef stock
Corn starch

Directions
1. Start with the roast at room temperature (remove from refrigerator 1 hour before cooking - keep it wrapped). Preheat the oven to 375 degrees;
2. With a sharp knife make 8 small incisions around the roast. Place a sliver of garlic into each incision;
3. Take a tablespoon or so of olive oil and spread all around the roast. Sprinkle around the roast with salt and pepper;
4. Place the roast directly on a roasting rack, fatty side up, with a drip pan underneath it;
5. Brown the roast at 375 degrees for half an hour. Lower the heat to 225 degrees. The roast should take somewhere from 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours additionally to cook;
6. Pull the roast from the oven when the inside temperature of the roast is 135 to 140 degrees;
7. Let the roast rest for at least 15 minutes, tented in aluminum foil to keep warm, before carving;
For the gravy:
1. Remove the dripping pan from the oven and place on the stove top at medium heat;
2. Add some water, red wine, or beef stock to the drippings to deglaze;
3. Dissolve a tablespoon of cornstarch in a little water and add to the drip pan;
4. Stir quickly while the gravy thickens to avoid lumping. Add a little butter if there is not a lot of fat in the drippings;
5. Add salt and pepper to taste.

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