If you were wondering "So...someone concede defeat in this cooking throwdown or what?" The answer is technically no. I would never concede defeat willingly. But the lapse is all my fault. Well, I think Chopper has some blame to share as well, but he has diligently sent me 3 different recipes over the past two weeks, so, really mia culpa.
After the pasta ponza week, Chopper came back at me with what was personally my greatest cooking obstacle: Chef Erik's Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Asparagus.
Seriously? Brussels Sprouts? [which, until moments ago I would have sworn did not have that many Ss...]
An engrained, though not actually tested, resistance to the sprouts as well as an ardent dislike of blanching anything, led to me putting off testing out this recipe.
Until tonight.
The occasion? Why, I have 3'000 words to write by tomorrow at noon, obviously. So best spend my valuable time cooking and watching Criminal Minds. They are never going to give me a degree if they know what's good for them.
Anyhow, I didn't have asparagus, and I didn't sacrifice my lone red pepper to the cause (I was very skeptical that I would be packing up leftovers for later), so I really did ad lib the recipe. While I was tossing the sprouts and zucchini with olive oil, I missed a call from my dad - you know, oily hands and all. I returned his call after sticking the dish in the oven, talked taxes briefly, and mentioned in parting "well, I gotta get back to these god damn brussels sprouts. I'm not looking forward to this - I don't think I've ever even had brussels sprouts." (which yes, I realize is just blatant and ignorant vegetable bigotry), when my dad, an only occasional cook, chimed in "I used to put them in stew all the time." Ok. So I HAVE had brussels sprouts before. But from that random exclamation, my dad suggested something really fairly sage; according to Papa B, the sprouts have a fairly strong and sometimes bitter flavour, which is complimented very well with bacon and caramelized onions. Sold. Well, half sold: I don't actually have bacon on hand, but I have been keeping some reserved bacon fat from way back when Chop and I did the Cauliflower Soup recipe. So I caramelized some onions while I waited for the sprout mixture as well as - check it - the tomatoes for my pasta ponza. That's right - I doubled up on the throwdown recipes.
Check, Chopper.
I also let a not infrequent inclination come to pass while caramelizing the onions; I added wine. I had made some risotto the other day, and so had an open bottle of red wine. Since my dad had said that the sweetness of the onions complimented the sprouts, I figured adding a dash of wine to them would only make them better. And then, just to be safe, I added another dash. And some to the sprouts themselves.
Brilliant. The onions actually make the dish. Turns out - I don't hate brussels sprouts. There's my serving of humble pie. But I don't love them - they just worked out well with my Dad's sage wisdom.
Still no camera - tragic, because this meal was so colourful! I have made some adjustments to how I prepare the pasta ponza, upping the ratio of tomatoes to pasta, making it particularly colourful. Add in the charred green of the sprouts and zucchini and the plum-brown of the onion and I have quite the pretty plate. Which I haven't even finished devouring!
Hope everyone is having a more sane week than I am!
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