Christmassy salad with roasted Brussel sprouts, gingerbread spiced flank steak and glögg syrup dressing (gluten-free, dairy-free, kosher)

Roasted Brussel sprouts, gingerbread spiced flank steak and glögg syrup dressing - this salad is festive enough to make an appearance at a Christmas table!

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You know what peeps? It's December 1st! Which means in exactly a month we'll all be done with Christmas stress and we've rang in the New Year! I'll be waking up to the first day of 2017 in the arms of my Gothenburger in Hotel Kamp, the fanciest hotel of the whole country - how about you guys?

Well... okay. In all honesty these weeks leading up to Christmas do seem to bring out a lot more in people than just stress-driven, anxiety-ridden monsters: it really is the season of good will. That's something I'd like to have around all year long, God knows we'll always have something to stress about anyway!

And as it goes, my life-long nemesis; Brussel sprouts have made their appearance in the shops. And somehow they managed to weasel their way into my basket, too. I've hated it all my life, but o tempora, o mores - how the times have changed!

Last year before Christmas I finally came to realize that bugger can actually be turned into something genuinely good! For the recipe that lead to this epiphany, check out the blog post for Brussel sprouts, bacon and chestnut bake.

I've also been smuggling some Brussel sprouts into my holiday season in the form of this side dish (with bacon, you ask? Well, of course!) and an Irish classic: colcannon.

Rather Christmassy is this recipe, too. Brussel sprouts roasted in the oven with red onions, paired with another seasonal treat: pomegranate seeds, pistacchios and flank steak that got its dry rub from gingerbread spice mix (!)

And to top it all off, some glögg syrup dressing. Ho, ho, ho! 

As a main course for 2, as part of a Christmas table for 4

Christmassy salad with roasted Brussel sprouts, gingerbread spiced flank steak and glögg syrup dressing:

Roasted Brussel sprouts:

1 box (300 g) Brussel sprouts

3 tbsp oil

1/2 tsp granulated garlic

salt, pepper

1 large red onion (or 2 small ones)

Gingerbread spiced flank steak:

500 g flank steak

2 tsp gingerbread spice mix

salt, pepper

for frying: a couple of tbsp of butter and/or a couple of tbsp oil

To serve:

seeds from 1/2 pomegranate

a handful of toasted and salted pistacchios, roughly chopped (about 1/2 of 125 g bag)
2 spring onions

Glögg syrup dressing:

6 dl ready made glögg

2 tbsp(brown) sugar

the zest of 1/2 orange, in a strip

2 tbsp mayonnaise

pinch of salt, black pepper and allspice

Start by making the glögg syrup - this way it'll have tie to cool down. 

Measure glögg, orange zest and sugar into a small pot. Boil over high heat until it has reduced to syrupy consistency and you're left with about 1 dl (10-15 mins). Remove the orange zest and cool. Then whizz it in a blender (or whisk by hand) with mayonnaise to a smooth dressing. Season as needed.

Heat oven to 225° (in a fan oven 200° should do). Trim the Brussel sprouts and remove any unsightly yellow/ brown outer leaves. Cut lengthwise in half. Spread them in an oven dish, add oil and spices and toss until well coated. Roast for 10 minutes (the cut side u if you want them to get a nice colour). In the meanwhile prep the remaining ingredients.

Peel the pistacchios and chop roughly, Deseed the pomegranate. Chop the spring onion. Peell red onion(s), cut lengthwise in half and then roughly into chunks.

Pat the meat dry. Rub the spice mix into the meat on both sides. Season generously with salt and pepper. Using butter and/or oil, fry over a hot pan 3-4 inutes per side Transfer from the pan and leave to rest, covered in foil, for 10 minutes. 

After roasting the Brussel sprouts for 10 minutes add the red onion and continue roasting for another 7-10 minutes, depending on the desired doneness.

Spoon Brussel sprouts and red onion onto the serving dish. Sprinkle spring onion, pomegranate seeds and pistacchios (leave some for decorating) on top of them. Cut the flank steak (against the grain) into thin strips and place on top of the salad. 

Serve with the dressing.

For wine pairing I would go for something medium bodied, with soft tannins and ripe berry notes, such as a New Zealand Pinot Noir or California Zinfandel, such as this gem from Sonoma.

Wishing you all a happy Holiday season!

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SHARING IS CARING!

Chestnuts roasting in Hell - Brussel sprout, bacon and chestnut bake

Now, I love chestnuts. I love their nutty, potato-like taste and texture and I love how versatile they are. Crème de marron, chestnut paste, is my favourite filling for crêpes when in Brittany. But if possible I love them even more in savoury dishes: in France they were often serves as an accompaniment for game. Cooked with lardons, bien sûr!

So, sure, I'd love to be able to eat them more often. Nut that I can, though (see what I just did there? A little nutty joke!)

See, at least in South of Europe these babies are available cooked and peeled. And as you know, I'm not one to pine after vacuum-packed ready-made stuff when the fresh one's are in season and readily available in any old corner store. But these are an exception. These buggers are a pain to prepare.

The operation itself isn't much of an operation at all. You just cut a cross-shape incision into the chubby side of the chestnut, place them on  a tray the cut side up and roast at 200º for 15 or so minutes. Then, while they're still warm, you peel them: both the woody exterior shell and the brown skin on the inside. But at least with the specimen sold here there are simply no guarantees of what's lurking on the inside. 

I can tell you however, that after you've spent 3 days roasting 4 batches and peeling those little devils so that your fingers are bleeding (quite literally too) "helpful tips" such as "the skin comes easily off when using good quality chestnuts" don't feel terribly helpful at all.  

Every single time I've tried roasting my own, most of them have been either old and dry, rotten or just... inedible in 500 other ways. So, if possible, save your nerves and buy the vacuum-packed ones. Do not skip the recipe though as it is good.

Since bacon makes... well, everything better, I paired chestnuts with that. And as it is the Brussels sprout season, I threw some in too.  A little garlic to give it a bit of a kick and lemon zest to freshen it all up. And hey ho, ho ho ho!

As a side this this feeds 4

1 pkt (140 g) bacon or pancetta

1,5 tbsp butter

400 g Brussels sprouts

1 tsp garlic powder

250 g roasted, peeled chestnuts, halved

salt, pepper

to serve: 1/2 lemon zest, finely grated

Cut the bacon in cubes and fry, starting on cold pan and bringing the temperature up so they start rendering the fat and crispen up. Once they're done, remove with a slotted spoon. Depending on the bacon fat left in the pan, add butter and fry the halved, trimmed sprouts until a little caramelized. Then add garlic powder and chestnuts. 

Continue cooking for a couple of more minutes, season with salt and pepper and place in an oven-proof dish. Continue cooking at 200º for 15 minutes (tossing if needed halfway through), add the bacon and continue cooking for another 5 minutes until the sprouts are done. 

Check the taste, season if needed and sprinkle the lemon zest on top. Serve with a roast. And this roasted garlic and cashew sauce!

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Colcannon to the rescue!

I don't think I've ever managed to have an overdose of the Christmas foods. Especially ham. By Boxing day at latest my Dad had to bake a new ham as Someone had managed to devour the previous one. But in case you've not been as fortunate and are currently struggling to come up with ways to turn that ham into something new and exciting (for 4th day in a row) here's a treat from ye goode olde Ireland: Colcannon!

Initially this was a dish that was particularly popular in the autumn as the kale was in season. At its most frugal that's pretty much all this was: mashed potatos and kale (or cabbage).  On a good day this has evolved to contain ham (or bacon) along with some leeks (or onion). This time I recycled Brussel sprouts left over from the Christmas dinner into it along with some roasted garlic left over from the herring in garlicky mustard dressing. And mustard of course: ham ♥ mustard!

This isn't a camera-loving photogenic diva, but does the trick alright - this is just the thing to restore one's powers after yet another long night of craic that this festive season seems to be full of...)

Serves 4

12 (small) potatos

1 dl hot milk

150 gr butter

salt, white pepper

1 tsp mustard

2 large roasted garlic cloves (for instructions please see here)

1/2 leek

300 g Brussel sprout leaves or a bag of kale (or cabbage)

about 400 g boiled ham or gammon 
(a couple of dl cream)

Boil or steam the potatos. Mash with butter and milk (add more if needed), squeeze in the paste from the garlic cloves, add mustard and season. For extra rich colcannon add some cream. Finely slice the leek and sauté in butter until soft. Add ham and sprouts or kale and continue cooking until piping hot. Combine with mash.

PS. A tip I forgot from the original post is browning the butter first in a pan - this gives it (and the mash) a wonderfully toasty, in its nuttiness almost toffee-like depth and lifts the mash to a whole new level! In this case less butter is also needed.


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From devil's testicles to dog's bollocks

Apparently the average Brit consumes around 7000 calories over their Christmas lunch. I kid you not - that came from a credible source that wasn't necessarily even Daily Mail (of course it was). Sprouts are as essential part of the spread as they are hated. One of the nicknames this poor little veg has earned itself is Devil's testicle. 

I must admit, it's not even in my top 500 of fruit and veg - I don't even think I've touched one since having them force-fed to my at the nursery. But I wouldn't be much of a food blogger if I weren't convinced something edible can be made out of them; something that isn't bland, watery and genuinely depressing. And armed with bacon, I set out to prove it. And what do you know - I have a newly found respect for these Barbie-sized little lettuces. Bread crumbs fried in garlic oil give this side dish garlicky depth but also a nice, crunchy texture. Roughly chopped nuts would do the trick as well for those of you abhorring carbs. Or gluten (though seriously, it is Christmas after all!)

For four

300 g Brussel sprouts

100 g (smoked) bacon cubes or lardons or pancetta

salt, black pepper

A handful of bread crumbs from about 2 slices of toast (mine were whole meal for extra nutty flavour)
2 large garlic cloves
oil

If possible, use old bread that's already no the hard side. If not, use the oven to dry the crumbs. Blizz the bread slices in the blender and dry them at 100°. Scoop out the hard core from the sprouts and remove the leaves. Fry bacon in a pan starting with moderate heat so it won't burn but starts rendering its fat allowing it to get crunchy. Then add the sprout leaves and fry until done.

Peel the garlic cloves and bash them with the back of the knife. Pour some oil into another pan and, over moderate heat fry the garlic. Then discard them (their purpose is just to infuse the oil) and fry the bread crumbs in the oil. Drain on kitchen towel and scatter over the sprouts.

And in case these fail to win the diners over, stay tuned for tomorrow's recipe for colcannon - a fantastic way to recycle all the Christmas lunch leftovers!


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