brussels sprouts

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Bacon Brussels Sprouts Mac + Cheese

March 16, 2011 in Food, recipe by traveleatlove | 14 comments

File this post under NOT part of my healthy spring challenge! Flavors of bacon and smoky gouda, tangy Kerrygold Reserve Cheddar, caramelized until falling apart Brussels sprouts, and hearty whole wheat pasta come together for the perfect union, Bacon and Brussels Sprouts Macaroni and Cheese. Because, well, it’s still cold out, and comfort food never goes out of style!

Last night I had an AIWF Board meeting so I spent some of my working/job hunting time cooking dinner so that it would be ready at 9:00 when I got home.

First up were the Brussels sprouts, which I tossed in olive oil and roasted at 400 degrees for about 25 minutes. They ended up looking a little burnt, but the flavors were more caramelized than burnt, and the centers were so soft and gooey.

I set the Brussels sprouts aside to cool while I grated the cheese, about four ounces of Kerrygold Reserve and three ounces smoked gouda.

You’ll notice that the gouda is reduced fat. That was a mistake; I would never buy reduced fat cheese on purpose!

After grating the cheese, I cooked up four slices of turkey bacon. This is from Trader Joe’s, and it is pretty amazing, especially with a fried egg and cheese on an English muffin. Nom.

While all of this was going on, I was boiling half a bag of whole wheat rotelle pasta.

I chopped up the bacon and Brussels sprouts.

And then I started on my sauce. As with the Guinness beef stew, I started with a roux of butter and flour, then added several cups of skim milk. See, there are some healthy aspects to the recipe!

To the milk and roux I added the cheese and then the cooked pasta, stirring in the bacon and Brussels sprouts last. The mix, as you can see here, was a little milky still, so I grated a bit more smoked gouda and stirred it in.

I let it simmer for a little longer, and then ate a bowl for lunch with a side of beets and kale. I originally planned on topping this with buttered bread crumbs and baking it, but I opted not to at the end. There’s probably enough cheese and butter in this baby. Smile

Happy Wednesday! I decided yesterday that my birthday weekend is starting tomorrow with the 60 degree weather predicted. Bring it!

Technorati Tags: bacon, brussels sprouts, cooking, dinner, easy, Food, macaroni and cheese, recipe, whole wheat pasta

Tags: bacon, brussels sprouts, cooking, dinner, easy, Food, macaroni and cheese, recipe, whole wheat pasta

Tico, Boston

February 24, 2011 in Uncategorized by traveleatlove | 10 comments

So many appealing small plates, so little time! A chilly Tuesday night dinner with friends was enough to warm me up and to guarantee I will be back to Tico very soon.

Tico is the new venture of Chef Michael Schlow and as luck would have it, a restaurant that is directly across the street from my former office, a place I spent 2.5 years. As luck would also have it, a wine and cheese store opened IN the building I used to work in after I quit, but I digress.

Over a few tweets about the opening of Tico, Daisy, Justin, Megan, Michelle, Tania and I talked about a group dinner that finally came to fruition on Tuesday night. Tuesday also happened to be National Margarita Day, so we started off with a round of margaritas. Tico unfortunately does not have a drinks menu set up yet, but they make several different types of margaritas like the blood orange margarita below. It was delish.

Once we had all arrived, we were seated at a nicely sized table, perfect for sharing small plates. Tico definitely gets two thumbs up for space. Though it is a large restaurant, tables are not close together, and I didn’t really notice anyone else while we were dining.

After browsing the menu, we finally decided on tacos and small plates to share. And then the food started coming.

Crispy Fried Manchego cheese with spicy pomegranate honey sauce – This was one of my favorites. Tender bites of fried cheese with a sweet, syrupy sauce made for that perfect salty/sweet contrast.

Brussels sprouts with bacon, kumquats, mint and jalapenos- I also loved these. I don’t remember seeing any kumquats, but the Brussels were cooked to perfection, and really bacon and Brussels sprouts are always right.

Shrimp toast with avocado, pickled jalapenos and lime – This was my least favorite dish of the evening. In theory, it sounded like something I would love, but it was not very hot and the toast was kind of oil-soaked. I would pass on these next time.

Crispy fried chicken with fennel slaw & spicy buttermilk dressing- Of all of the tacos we tried, I expected to like these the least but loved them, especially the spicy buttermilk dressing. It had a kick! And I love crunchy fennel. This was a great combination of flavors. One thing to note about all of the tacos was that I was not crazy about the tortillas. They were cold and a little too thick. Other than that, Tico tacos rock.

Creamy Gigante Beans with chorizo and green onion- Another surprising favorite, the gigante beans were SO flavorful and tender with nicely spiced chorizo.

Crispy Sweetbreads with masa harissa, endive, blood orange and hazelnuts- I passed these up but am sad I didn’t try the harissa as it is one of my favorite sauces.

Crispy Fish, pickled onions & red jalapeno- These were another hit. For East Coast fish tacos, they were quite good.

Octopus with yellow peppers, citrus, and Aleppo pepper- I also loved this (seeing a trend?). The octopus was tender and flavorful, the citrus really giving it a nice punch and likely responsible for how tender the octopus meat was.

Snap Peas with orange zest, Tabasco butter and “crunchies” – More citrus, more yum. These snap peas were nice and crunchy with a little kick.

Spicy Shrimp, bacon and avocado – The avocado and bacon made these, in my opinion. The shrimp were good, but the other components definitely made them a repeat order.

“Creamed” Corn with Bacon, Chiles and Thai Basil- Though not very creamy, this was another great dish. I love corn, I have come to love bacon, and this was actually nice and light.

And then came dessert!

I actually chose a warm car ride home over staying to eat dessert, so I snapped a couple of quick photos, grabbed a bite of the bright, tart, creamy lemon sabayon, and left my dining companions to devour the desserts, which looked beautiful (and left me wanting dessert for the rest of the night!).

I had such a fun time with bloggers who have become friends, and Tico definitely impressed me. There are quite a number of dishes on the menu that I need to try, the price was right ($40/per person for all that food + a drink!) so a return visit with the husband is in order very soon. Now if they could just get that drink menu up on their website so I can obsessively plan each part of my meal. . .

Come on, I can’t be alone on this! When you are going out to dinner, do you look at the menu beforehand (multiple times like I do!)?

Technorati Tags: bloggers, Boston, brussels sprouts, dessert, Food, margaritas, Michael Schlow, octopus, Restaurants, tacos, Tico

Tags: bloggers, Boston, brussels sprouts, dessert, Food, margaritas, Michael Schlow, octopus, Restaurants, tacos, Tico

Fear of Frying

January 19, 2011 in Food, recipe by traveleatlove | 18 comments

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Some foods are just fantastic when fried. Potatoes, mozzarella cheese, and even pickles can benefit from a roll in some batter and a dip in boiling oil.

Fish cakes, like the ones I made last night, are another food that, even when lightly pan fried, taste just a little bit better. Unfortunately, my fear of frying got the better of me, and I baked them.

It turns out that they didn’t need to be fried, even only slightly browned, they were fresh and healthy without all of that extra oil.

I started with a cup of teeny tiny potatoes, tossed into boiling water until they were nice and soft.

I also got some water boiling to steam the last of the Alaskan cod from the Foodbuzz Alaska Seafood recipe contest. They sent me a serious amount of cod, and it lasted very well in the freezer over the months. I cooked all of the cod from frozen, as Alaska Seafood mentioned in the materials that they sent me, and I was always surprised how good frozen fish could taste. In this case, I used my steamer basket to cook the cod until it was flaky.

I whipped up the seasonings on the side, a cup of panko bread crumbs, some salt-free dill and lemon seasoning, and a few spoonfuls of Dijon mustard.

When the fish and potatoes were tender, I added them to the bread crumb mixture, then mashed my heart out with a potato masher.

Once the mix was a bit cooler, I added two whole eggs and thoroughly stirred everything up. The cod cakes went into a 400 degree oven for about 15 minutes and ended up nicely browned. They reminded me a lot of Morton’s crab cakes which are full of crab meat and not fried. It turns out some things are good fried, but they are even better baked Smile

Served with a simple side of roasted Brussels sprouts and mushrooms left over from my chicken dish the other night, this was a great meal for a night when I wanted something healthy and warm. Since we are going on vacation to Ireland soon, I am doing my best to get in lots of workouts, vegetables, and water. Once I get to Ireland. . . well, all bets are off. It’s called Supermac’s, it’s Ireland’s higher-quality answer to McDonald’s, and it is fabulous.

Random story and question: The other day, when I was running, I saw a Manwich can hanging out of someone’s busted open trash bag. It brought me back to childhood and the Manwich commercials. My mother would never buy Manwich despite my desperate requests for it. We also never ate Hamburger Helper or sugary cereals like Cookie Crisp.

What food/s did you really want to eat when you were younger but were prohibited by parents? Have you tried them as an adult, and if so, did they live up to expectations?

Technorati Tags: baked not fried, brussels sprouts, cod, cod cakes, cooking, easy recipes, fish, Food, healthy, healthy cooking, healthy recipe, mushrooms, protein, recipe, roasted vegetables