Bacon and Garlic Brussels Sprouts- You Won't Regret Making These

I'll be lucky if anyone is actually reading this post, because brussels sprouts have a bad reputation.  I tried them for the first time just a few weeks ago, and before that I was pretty afraid of them.  My mom never made us brussels sprouts growing up, and as far as I can remember the only time I ever encountered them was in the elementary school cafeteria where I though they resembled little alien brains.

So, I'm sure you're thinking "If you thought brussels sprouts resembled little alien brains, what in the world made you decide to try them?"  Well my friends, they are so cute and tiny and I figured that everything deserves to be tried once, so I bought a bag from the frozen vegetables aisle at the grocery store on a whim and decided I'd give them a shot.  And let me tell you, I'm glad I did.  Vegetables are all about how you prepare them.  I'm sure if you just steam some brussels sprouts and throw them on a plate, they aren't going to taste very good.  However, brussels sprouts are basically miniature heads of cabbage so they absorb flavor very well and it's really easy to add a ton and make these little tiny "alien brains" taste delicious.

Have I convinced you to give them a shot yet?

Brussels Sprouts  

What you need:

Brussels Sprouts (fresh or frozen)

4-5 slices bacon

1 shallot

3 cloves garlic

What you do:

Slice bacon into bite size pieces, chop the garlic and dice the shallot.  Cook the bacon in medium pan, add the shallots and garlic then the bacon is about halfway done.  Once you can begin to smell the garlic add the brussels sprouts.  Sautee the brussels sprouts until they are tender.  I cook the brussels sprouts whole, but in the future I will slice them in half length wise to let more flavor seep into sprouts.

Easy Breakfast Burritos

There is something about fall and winter that makes me crave breakfast.  For most of the year I'm not a huge breakfast fan.  I'll have some fruit or a quick smoothie, but I rarely wake up in the middle of July and say "Mmm... I really want a big breakfast this morning."  In the fall and winter though, when it's colder, I start craving a big traditional breakfast.  Eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, waffles.  It's all good to me.

Several weeks ago was the first day of the college football season.  And in case you didn't know, Cole probably loves college football even more than he loves me.  And if not, it's a very close second.  Don't believe me?  Go check out his college blog here and then come back.  Don't worry, I'll wait.

Okay welcome back.  Anyway, since we were up early to watch all 3 hours of College Gameday I thought I might as well make us breakfast.  I knew I needed to make something that Cole could eat with one hand so he could still write down all the picks, and I knew it needed to be delicious because, well, who wants to eat something that tastes like crap?  Not me.  So I decided on breakfast burritos.  The best part about this recipe?  It is delicious.  The second best part about this recipe?  It makes A TON and you can freeze them individually so you can grab one running out the door to work during the week.  Also, this recipe is more of a method.  You can put whatever you want in there.  For mine, I like to go heavy on the "extras" but that's because I don't like eggs too much.  Yes, I know that I'm weird.  I've accepted that.

Breakfast Burritos

What you need:

Eggs

Potatoes

Bacon

Sausage

What you do:

Cook the sausage, and set it aside in a large bowl.  Cook the bacon and cut it up into small/medium sized pieces and put in the bowl with the sausage.  Drain off most of the bacon grease, but leave just a little bit in there for the potatoes.  Cube up several potatoes, season with salt, pepper and garlic powder.  Cook the potatoes in the bacon grease until they are nice and soft and slightly crispy on the outside.  Add the potatoes to the bowl with the bacon and sausage and mix everything together.  Scramble the eggs.     

Then you just put some eggs in a big burrito style tortilla, add some of the filling, top with a little bit of salsa if you want, roll up the burrito and enjoy.   

Just as an example; for my burritos I used 9 eggs, 5 medium sized potatoes, 2/3 lb sausage and 2/3 package bacon and I made 10 burritos.  It should have made 12 but I made two really, really big ones at first on accident.

And like I said before, you can freeze the leftover burritos.  Just wrap them individually in saran wrap and put them all in a ziploc freezer bag.  You can pull them out and microwave them individually. 

 

"Polish" Salmon and Risotto

I'm not sure if this recipe is really Polish or not.  I just know that it's delicious, and that I got the recipe from my friend (who is Polish).  Regardless, it's delicious.  Since we were making this for a Saturday stay-at-home date night I paired the salmon with a tasty leek-pancetta-pea risotto and artichokes.  Artichokes are probably my favorite vegetables.  It makes me so sad that they are kind of on the expensive side because if they weren't I would have them a couple times a week.  But since I'm not part of the 1% (even though my boyfriend likes to tell me I am because I have things like multiple sets of sheets and kitchen towels) I'll settle for having them a couple times a month when they are in season.  And, as I have said before, making risotto really is a 2 man job.  You need a partner who can help you stir when your arm gets tired/when you get bored.

"Polish" Salmon

What you need:

1 side of salmon (skin-on)

Salt and pepper

1/2 stick butter, approx. (I used smart balance because sometimes I try to be healthy)

2 T fresh dill (or to taste)

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 T lemon juice

2 T dry white wine

1-2 bay leaf (cracked into pieces)

What you do:

Heat oven to 400*.  Rinse of the salmon, pat it dry and season it liberally with salt and pepper on both sides.  Place the salmon skin side down on a large piece of aluminum foil inside a baking dish.

In a small bowl mix together the butter, lemon juice, wine, dill and garlic. Spread the butter mixture over the salmon and distribute the bay leaves over the top of that.  Bring the edges of the foil up and crimp them together so it makes a loose tent/pouch.  Bake for 15 minutes.  

Leek-Bacon-Pea Risotto

What you need:

6 cups chicken broth

1 1/4 cups Arborio rice

1/2 cup dry white wine (not going to lie, I just use whatever wine I'm going to drink that night)

1/4 grated parmesan cheese

1 T fresh lemon juice

1 leek, thinly sliced (white and light green parts only)

2 slices of bacon cut into small strips

1/2 cup frozen peas (optional, but highly recommended)

What you do:

In a small pot bring the chicken broth to a simmer.  Meanwhile, in a large straight sided skillet cook the bacon until it's medium brown (but not crisp) then add the leeks and cook for another couple of minutes until they are softened.  Add the rice and stir until translucent around the edges.  

Add the wine and stir until it is evaporated.  Add 1 cup of chicken broth and stir until it's absorbed by the rice. 

Keep adding the chicken broth like this, 1 cup at a time, until the rice is al dente and the risotto is nice and creamy (you may not need all the chicken stock).  Stir in the peas after you add in the last cup of chicken stock.  Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the parmesan cheese.

When it comes to artichokes, I am a traditionalist.  I just steam them until the leaves are tender and serve them with mayo to dip in.  Deeeeelicious.  

Sorry this picture is not the greatest, you're lucky you got a picture at all because I was dying to eat this by the time it was on my plate.  In fact, I was all set to dig in and stuff my face when Cole was like "WAIT! You need a picture for your blog!"  Anyway, there were no leftovers from this so I'll consider that a successful dinner in my book.