Baked Brussel Sprouts with Sriracha and Honey Sauce

As a child my mother would utter the words brussel sprouts and a sense of horror would take me over. What I knew of as brussel sprouts then (boiled to death then topped with butter - ewe) and how I think of them now are vastly different.

This is my new favorite brussel sprout recipe. It. Is. Awesome.

I cannot take credit for developing the sauce as I found the original recipe at Food52. Upon reading it I knew it would be WONDERFUL. I did have one worry though. I've been trying to NOT deep fry things (I've been losing weight thank you very much!) So I decided to bake them.

Here's what I did.

Inspired by the fried version over at Food52.

Serves 4-6

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Ingredients:

1lb of brussel sprouts

1 red bell pepper cut into long toothpick slices

olive oil

large flake kosher salt

Spicy sauce:

1/2 Tablespoon Sriracha hot sauce

1.5 Tablespoons of honey, heated

juice of 1/2 a lime

zest for half a lime

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Cut the bottom hard portion off of the brussel sprouts.

Cut the sprout in half lengthwise and if large cut into quarters. I like to cut the hard center of the sprout out as well. (You don't HAVE to.) I then peeled the leaves to the heart and I left the heart in tact, tossing all together in a large bowl. This takes a while. You may want to wait to turn the oven on until you're halfway through preparing the sprouts.

Add the red pepper slices. I drizzled the olive oil, a little at a time, tossing the bowl contents until everything has a thin coating. I leaned on the side of less than more as you can see in the photo to the right. They aren't drenched. There was no olive oil running off the brussel sprouts into the jelly road pan. Sprinkle the kosher salt flakes over the pan.

Bake for 15 minutes. If you bake them longer then will dry out and crisp up, but I liked them at the 15 minute mark.

Mix the remaining ingredients in a bowl and set aside. Note: I heated my honey so that it was runny and it mixed together easier.

Once the sprouts are cooked, pour them into a large bowl. Pour the sauce over them, a little at a time and serve. Be prepared to hear yummy noises from around the table.

Today as I began to write this post, I read the comments on the post at Food52 and in the comments she posted this link for another version of the baked idea from

Brooklyn Bread Press.

At some point I'll try the deep fried version... but my baked version is awesome!

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Spicy Parchment Hake with Mixed Vegetables

We adore fish around our house. The feller comes a running when he smells it cooking as do the cats waiting for their special treat. As part of Clean Out the Coffers March, I went through the bits and pieces that were left in my hydrator for this one. There's a list of additional vegetables you could easily use or substitute with if you had them lying around.

It's a fast dish to make, with cutting of the vegetables taking the most time. I made this, 4 servings, start to finish, including the 25 minutes of cooking, in 50 minutes. This is the sort of dish where I'll prepare the vegetables in the morning, refrigerate them and throw it together upon walking through the door at the end of a long day. Served it with steamed rice and a nice Sancere. Fabulous!

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Serves 4

Ingredients:

Spicy Sauce:
3 tsp kecap manis (sweet soy sauce*)
2 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp sriracha hot chili sauce
2 tsp soy sauce
2 tsp fresh squeezed lemon juice (bottled may be substituted)
2 tsp Shaoxing Chinese cooking wine*

Vegetables & Fish:
1 leek, cut into matchsticks, soaked in cold water to remove sand/grit
1 red bell pepper, cut into matchsticks
2-3 scallions, white and green parts cut lengthwise into matchsticks

1 small zucchini, thin lengthwise slices
6pc (1/2 bunch) Chinese choy sum
4 filets (2 pounds) wild Hake fillets (cod would be a good substitute)

sesame seeds
fresh ground pepper

lime zest
large flake kosher salt

Steamed Rice (I use a rice cooker)

Special Equipment:

2 jelly roll pans (Cookie sheet with sides)

parchment paper

Preheat oven to 350F.

Mix all of the sauce ingredients together well and set aside.

Cut a rectangle of parchment paper 3x the length of the fish fillet. Place parchment on the jelly roll pan. In the center of one half of the parchment, place one quarter of each vegetable in a pile on the parchment paper. Place a fillet of the fish on top. Pour on one quarter of the sauce, spreading over the fish fillet. Sprinkle sesame seeds over the top of the fillet and grind on some fresh ground pepper.

Fold the Parchment in

half. Starting at the folded corner, fold/roll small sections of the parchment upwards, one on top of the next, all around the three open edges. (I'll take a photo of what it looks like next time, I can't believe I didn't this time!) Once all edges are rolled, take the edges at the both ends of the folded side and tuck them under to hold the parchment in place

and keep it from unrolling.

Bake in parchment for 25 minutes. You can either serve in the individual parchment packets or slide it all out onto a plate. Before serving, grate on some fresh lime zest and sprinkle on some large flake kosher salt to taste. (Less is more with the salt.) You may also want to mix some additional kecap manis and sriracha hot chili sauce if anyone wants more of a sweet kick to dip in.

I serve with a side of steamed rice.

A few additional/ substitutable vegetables include:

pea pods

summer squash

shredded carrot

asparagus

green/yellow bell pepper

bok choy

* May be found in your local Asian market or may be ordered online from your favorite Asian supplier.

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Sausage Minestrone Soup

Continuing with Clean out the Coffers March, this is a delicious clean out the fridge soup! It makes a substantial amount. There is just enough of the sausage to give a great flavor. I made it for dinner and enjoyed it during lunches the next few days while sharing it with friends and even sent a bowl home for a friend's sick brother. I'm sure the garlic alone will do him some good!!

The smells coming from your kitchen as it cooks will certainly bring folks to the kitchen asking when will it be done!

This version was inspired by this Minestrone recipe on Food52.

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Serves 8 to 10

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil

3 hot italian sausages links without their casings

3/4c onions, chopped (I used shallots as I was out of onions)
10-15 cloves garlic

1 35 oz. can of diced tomatoes (mine was diced with basil)
6 cups water

1 15 oz. can of cannellini beans, rinsed well
1 15 oz. can of chick peas, rinsed well
3 teaspoons fresh thyme, chopped
2 teaspoons fresh rosemary, chopped
3 teaspoons fresh oregano, chopped
1/4-1/2 teaspoon of the chili powder of your choice (I used 1/4 teaspoon extra hot chili powder)
1/2 head of cabbage (4 cups, sliced/shredded), I prefer nappa cabbage

1 9 oz. box of frozen green beans (fresh is OF COURSE A-OK!)
1/2 cup orzo
3/4 cup red wine (I used Malbec)
1-2 teaspoons kosher salt (start with 1 and add to your taste)
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground pepper

Shredded Parmesan Romano (garnish)
cilantro/parsley, chopped (garnish)
scallions (garnish)

In a dutch oven, heat the olive oil until hot and add the sausage. Cook sausage breaking up as it cooks. Remove the sausage from pan once cooked and set aside. In the same pan, add the onion (shallots) and garlic, cooking over medium heat until the onions grow translucent. Feel free to add a little water to loosen the browned sausage bits as the onion cooks.

Once cooked, add the can of tomatoes, water, cannellini beans and chick peas along with the fresh chopped herbs and the spices. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to low and simmer for 25 minutes.

Add the remaining ingredients, including the sausage, and cook for 15 minutes until the orzo is just cooked. This will be a rather thick soup. Not quite I stew, but a thick and hearty soup.

Serve in bowls with shaved Parmesan Romano, chopped cilantro/parsley and scallions on top.

The vegetables above can be changed out for others including peas, pea pods, zucchini, summer squash, pinto beans, kidney beans etc.

The wine adds a little richness to the flavor of the broth, but you can omit if you haven't any handy. (Or my preference, pop a bottle open and use the rest for dinner!)

Drop a comment by letting me know how your version of this came out!

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