Japanese Dinner

Tuna croquettes (マグロのコロッケ)
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Baby potatoes fried in duck-fat with gomashio ♥ Truffled foie gras
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Oyako Don (親子丼)
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Miso soup with acorn squash & ginger
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Greens with calamansi vinaigrette
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Homemade Japanese pickles — carrot; watermelon radish; ginger ♥
Winter vegetables in tare sauce.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The CC was "traditional" — American, Filipino, French, Indian, Italian, Japanese. (Thai couldn't make it sadly.)

Lamb chops with rosemary & anchovies
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Brussel Sprouts with parmesan & pomegranates
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Stuffing with chestnuts & sage
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Champagne with pomegranates
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"Fruit Salad" with apples, tangelos, pomegranates

Thanksgiving Menu

Lamb chops with rosemary, anchovies & lemon
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Saffron Roasted Potatoes
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Brussel Sprouts with Parmesan & Pomegranates
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Champagne with Pomegranates
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Russian Cookies

Brussel Sprouts with Parmesan & Pomegranates

Every year when Thanksgiving rolls around, the CC remembers a little too late that he has forgotten to post this recipe. This year he's determined not to repeat the same old error.

This is simplicity itself and yet amazing.

Ingredients

(serves 2)

20-24 brussel sprouts
olive oil
salt
pepper

1 cup coarsely grated parmigiano-reggiano

1/2 cup pomegranate seeds

Note 1: Under-salt the brussel sprouts a little because the parmesan is salty too.

Note 2: This recipe is actually better at room temperature or just warm rather than hot. You can make it ahead of time.

Note 3: Not kidding when saying that it serves 2. The CC has continuously increased the amounts over the years and there are never any leftovers!

Recipe

Shave the brussel sprouts with a mandoline. If you don't have one, cut them real fine with a knife.

In a shallow vessel — a wok works great! — heat up some olive oil. When hot, dump in the shaved sprouts, salt and pepper, and sauté until they are done.

Take off the heat and toss with the grated parmesan.

Top with pomegranate seeds right before serving. Adds both a visual punch and a sweet crunchy counterpoint to the umami and salty flavors.

Orecchiete with Brussel Sprouts, Anchovies, Preserved Lemons & Hazelnuts

It may be counter-intuitive but winter is the season for citrus fruits. Of course, they all come from warmer climes than New York.

The CC is always reminded to update his batch of preserved lemons because of all the great Meyer lemons that are to be found in the markets.

So it's also time to use up some of them with this truly great recipe. You get umami from three separate sources — the anchovies, preserved lemons and the parmigiano-reggiano.

Also, the lemons are just mellow enough so they don't have that aggressive lemony flavor and yet they still have the all the fragrant citrus notes. This makes the dish easy to pair with wine which is difficult in the presence of aggressively sour flavors.

Lemon, black pepper and rosemary are a magical combination. Lemon and parmigiano-reggiano is also a magical combination.

The citrusy, resinous and umami notes pair perfectly while the hazelnuts act as the crunchy textural counterpoint to the dish.


Ingredients

18 brussel sprouts (halved)

1 onion (sliced into thin rounds)
1 whole preserved lemon (pith removed, cut into thin strips)
2 anchovies
1/2 cup hazelnuts

1 tbsp. finely chopped rosemary

olive oil
salt
black pepper
parmigiano-reggiano

2 cups orecchiete

Recipe

Pre-heat the oven to 350°F.

Roast the hazelnuts for about 12 minutes. They have a tendency to burn so make sure you don't overdo it. Remove from the oven. Process in a food processor until they are broken and uneven but not crushed to a powder.

Toss the halved brussel sprouts into the oven. Roast for about 18-24 minutes until they are just slightly brown but not charred.

After this, you need to time these two steps together:

Cook the pasta until al dente. Roughly 12 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat up some olive oil. Toss in the onions and let them fry for about 6 minutes until languid. Add the anchovies and fry for a bit. Add the brussel sprouts, rosemary, salt and pepper and toss together. Add some pasta water to make a thin sauce.

When the pasta is done, toss everything including the preserved lemons together.

Top with the hazelnuts, parmigiano-reggiano, and more black pepper.

Little Cute Brussel Sprouts

"They were ready for their closeup!"

Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Spicy Sriracha

If you love spicy stuff, you'll go crazy over this.

This is the whole package -- nutritious, easy to make, spicy, umami-laden, complex, addictive.

(Source: here, and here.)

Ingredients

2 lbs brussels sprouts (halved)
oil

4 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp water
2 tbsp sriracha sauce
3 cloves garlic (crushed)
2 limes (juiced)
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp vinegar
1/2 cup mint (chopped)

Recipe

Toss the brussel sprouts, with oil, and salt and roast at 400°F for about 20-25 minutes until lightly browned. If you remember, this is Maestro Maillard in action.

Meanwhile, mix together the rest of the dressing. Toss with the sprounts and serve over rice.

Whole Wheat Pasta with Brussel Sprouts and Anchovies

This recipe has a lot of steps but all it requires is patience. Additionally, it's really amenable to parallelization so it's quite easy to do quickly.

This has a strong aggressive flavor with plenty of umami so it holds up well with whole wheat pasta.


Ingredients

2 cups whole wheat pasta
1 lb brussel sprouts
2 large red onions (sliced into thin rounds)

4 anchovies
1/2 cup hazelnuts
2 tbsp tomato paste

2 tbsp rosemary/thyme/tarragon
2 tbsp vinegar

olive oil
salt
black pepper
parmigiano-reggiano

Recipe

Pre-heat the oven to 375°F. Roast the hazelnuts for about 10 minutes but make sure they don't burn!

Meanwhile, halve the brussel sprouts, toss with olive oil, salt and vinegar, and roast them in the same oven for about 30 minutes until lightly browned. Alternately, you can pan-fry them lightly in a wok if you have one.

Make the pasta in heavily salted water.

Meanwhile, crush the hazelnuts either in a mortar and pestle or in the food processor. Make sure that they are uneven, and have large bits not turned into a powder.

Fry the onions languidly until they are limp. Toss in the anchovies, and the tomato paste. Fry for a short bit, add the herbs, salt and pepper, and a little water. Finally, add the toasted brussel sprouts.

Toss with the pasta, the vinegar, and the hazelnuts.

Serve with grated parmigiano-reggiano, and lots of black pepper.

Rigatoni with Brussel Sprouts & Anchovies

Whole Wheat Pasta with Caramelized Onions, Brussel Sprouts & Hazelnuts

Yeah, it's exactly as sex-on-a-plate™ as it sounds.

Three tricks:

Fry the onions first and and brussel sprouts after that, slowly and properly (probably take you 15+ mins.)

Toasted breadcrumbs are sprinkled on top right before serving.

The hazelnuts are toasted and crushed before sprinkling.

Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Walnuts

Well, the CC was never fond of brussel sprouts until he actually figured out how to make them well.

Well, the chief problem with cooking anything of the brassica family is that overcooking will make it smell bad, taste like nothing, and flabby to boot.

No taste; bad smell; no texture. How much worse can it get?

Moral? Don't overcook.

There's a simple way to handle it. Boil some water, and when it has come to a boil, dunk them, and cook for no more than 3 mins. Cool; cut each in half; then roast them.

Verdict? Very gobblicious.

Ingredients

1 lb brussel sprouts
balsamic vinegar (we used a fig vinegar)
walnuts (coarsely broken/chopped)
salt and pepper

Recipe

Boil the brussel sprouts as above. Cut them in half.

Lay them in a baking pan. Sprinkle with olive oil, salt and pepper. (Alternately, you can mix them with the above in a bowl, and then lay them out.)

Sprinkle with balsamic vinegar, and chopped walnuts.

Roast at 425°F for about 20 mins. Check if they have caramelized. If not, roast for another 5 mins or so.