December 21st: Dijon chicken and Dijon Brussels Sprouts

I was hoping to have more than one fabulous Brussels sprouts recipe to share this month, and luckily, tonight's meal makes it two. I re-tried one earlier this month from epicurious: Chicken, Brussels sprouts and cranberries, but even varying the recipe a bit from the first time I made it, it is not a keeper. Tonight's meal though: oooohhhh, success! Conversation between me and Olivia as we ate:


O: "I could drink this sauce."
K: "Because it's so yummy?"
O: "Yeah."
K: "I agree."


From smitten kitchen: Dijon chicken and Dijon Brussels Sprouts. Essentially the same sauce for both your chicken and your sprouts. I didn't make anything else to go with supper, so it's a good thing Greg wasn't here, because I ate part of his portion too. I could not stop; it was just too delicious.

The only thing I would change is cooking the Brussels sprouts for just a bit shorter than the recipe indicates, unless you like 'em mushy. I don't.


I would have made more, but I also had to make blondies for my work Christmas potluck tomorrow and two pans of hashbrown casserole (recipe to follow in a few days) for our Christmas Eve eve party. A girl can only do so much. And I was single parenting tonight. Plus all my other nightly requirements. Egad. Maybe I'll sleep in Nova Scotia. Can't come soon enough. O agrees!

December 7th: Golden Potato Casserole and Creamy Brussels Sprouts and Snap Peas

Wednesday night and it was time to buy and decorate our Christmas tree. Greg and Olivia did the decorating while I whipped up a fabulous meal.

First up: Golden Potato Casserole, an old favourite from December 2003's Chatelaine. For those of you who received a compilation of my favourite recipes for Christmas in 2003, this is in it. For the rest of you, I've included it below:


Golden Potato Casserole


6 large Yukon Gold potatoes
3 garlic cloves, peeled
6 green onions
2 cups (500 mL) sour cream (depending on size of potatoes, may not need full amount)
1 1/2 cups (375 mL) grated old Cheddar cheese, divided
1 tsp (5 mL) salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp (5 mL) paprika


Peel potatoes, then slice in half. Place potatoes and garlic in a large saucepan. Cover with water. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium. Boil gently, partially covered, until fork-tender, 20 to 25 minutes. Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly coat a 9x13-inch baking dish with butter.


Meanwhile, thinly slice green onions. Drain water from cooked potatoes and garlic. Return potatoes and garlic to pan. Mash, leaving lumps. Stir in green onions, sour cream, 1 cup cheese, salt and pepper to taste. Turn into prepared dish. Smooth top. Cover with remaining 1/2 cup cheese and sprinkle evenly with paprika. Bake, uncovered, in centre of preheated oven until cheese is melted and potatoes are hot, 30-40 minutes.


Makes 10 servings.


Although we've had this recipe around for years, I don't make it often. I’m thinking I need to do a cook off between this potato recipe and Cheddar Mashed Potatoes; I suspect the latter might win. Today’s recipe is really good, but super rich (a whole tub of sour cream may be too much!) and slightly on the salty side - so I've reduced the salt in the recipe above. It was well received by the fam.

To accompany, I made Creamy Brussels Sprouts and Snap Peas from December 2011's Chatelaine. One of my favourite things about December – and there are so many! – is that Brussels sprouts recipes abound. Everywhere you look, people are suggesting ways to eat one of my favourite vegetables. I can remember, even as a kid, loving Brussels sprouts (Mom, is this a figment of my imagination? I’m sure I did.). My kid definitely has my gene. Bypassing all the melted cheese-mashed potatoes on her plate, what she liked best were the Brussels sprouts. I’m so proud. Even though she commented on the sauce being spicy, she still ate them all and asked for more. She wouldn’t eat the sugar snap peas, which is ridiculous, because she loves them, but oh well.

This recipe is almost identical to an earlier one I like to make for Thanksgiving, but this one has a spicy kick to it and doubles the veggies with the inclusion of sugar snap peas. I made the full sauce recipe for only half the vegetables, so I’m not sure what it would be like if I cooked it according to the recipe proper, as we like our food super saucy. We used the extra sauce as gravy on our potatoes. I subbed 10% cream for the 35%, and will be doing that from now on. Rich enough. Oh yum. Other than the chicken broth in the Brussels sprouts sauce, this meal was vegetarian, but so rich and filling; it was completely satisfying.

And yes, not to fear, I plan to try out some more Brussels sprouts recipes as the month progresses; should I find something fantastic, I will be sure to share!

Olivia puts the crowning touch on the tree!

December 8th: Sausage, peppers and peas + Brussels sprouts and bacon

Crazy Chatelaine had this sausage recipe (from December 2010's Chatelaine: Sausage, peppers and peas) calling for one sausage, but making 4 servings. Granted, it was intended to be a side dish. I wanted it to be my main, so I upped the sausage number to 5 (a whole package), and added half a white onion. I didn't use chorizo, but rather German sausages, which meant the cooking time was a bit extended from what the recipe recommends. With no fat or flavouring other than what the sausages supplied, this was a delicious meal. To accompany, I made one from Epicurious: Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Lemon and Bacon. This was a re-try from some past time (can't remember) and I don't know that I loved it quite as much this time. I do love Brussels sprouts though, so can't say too much against it. I skipped the salt called for in the recipe, as I think the bacon supplies quite enough.

All three of us loved this meal. Is this a weird thing though? I felt unsatisfied by the fact that everything in the meal was pre-chopped. It seemed like toddler food, and I wanted to be a big girl and use a knife. Hmm.

October 9th: (mostly) vegetarian Thanksgiving feast

Verdict:
Keepers: sweet potato mash and Brussels sprouts in cream sauce

Thanksgiving weekend calls for rich, homey comfort foods. The challenge: how to cook such a meal without including meat. Why, you ask? Why not! I've been looking forward since last year to re-trying two recipes from October 2009's Chatelaine: Sweet potato mash with crunchy pecan topping and Brussels sprouts in Parmesan cream. These two recipes combined are rich enough, and work enough, that no fancy meat is required for this meal. Accompanied by roasted beets, fried zucchini and boiled yellow beans, we had a fall harvest meal in the making!

We spent our Saturday of the Thanksgiving weekend in the usual way: hike in Gatineau Park, ice cream at La Cigale and a rich feast to finish the day!

The Brussels sprouts recipe is not actually vegetarian, but could be altered to be so easily. The sweet potatoes taste like sweet potato pie minus the crust. The whole ensemble was so delicous I ate till I thought I would burst; I just could not stop! My only mistake was with the beans: I cooked them to a perfect tender-crisp state, drained them and set them back on the hot burner, which I forgot to turn off. By the time I realized my error, they were burnt and stuck to the bottom of the pot. We ate a few off the top and tossed the remainder. But really, what would Thanksgiving be without a mistake or two?