Brussels Sprout, Chickpea, and Haloumi Sandwich

Aaaaaand, I’m back. We’ve moved back to our permanent property, into our new house, and I’m finally using my new kitchen. Regarding moving into a new house during the holiday season, I only recommend it if you’ve been waiting way, way too long for said new house to be completed. Otherwise, the whole process is much better suited to a time when you’re not missing all the celebrating and relaxing going on all around you. But, we’re so glad to be back. Waking up in the morning and looking out the window at our own yard and our own plants and trees is a delight. As soon as I got somewhat organized in the kitchen, I located my always-growing, to-try stack of recipes. The stack gets shuffled and reordered from time to time, and I lose track of what’s in there. After spending a few minutes flipping through the pages, I found some gems I couldn’t wait to make. First, I whipped up the Mafaldine with Shrimp and Lemon from last March’s Living magazine. Next, I found the open-faced sandwich shown here that was from the October/November 2012 issue of Donna Hay magazine. My first thought was: which farms have local Brussels sprouts right now? The following morning, I saw a post on Facebook showing what was available at Boggy Creek Farm—including Brussels sprouts. Off I went, and I got there just in time to nab the last little basket of them. I found the green onions I needed at Springdale Farm. And, I wasn’t sure I’d find local mint at this time of year, but Springdale did still have some growing. This was going to be a fresh and lovely sandwich. 

The parts of this recipe are a mix of home-cooked and store-bought. I bought the sourdough bread and the hummus, and the chickpeas came out of a can. And, I made a few minor changes. The intent was to pull the leaves from each Brussels sprout, but these were fresh, tightly bundled, little heads I had brought home. As I cut the ends from each sprout, I collected any leaves that fell to the side and left the remaining sprouts intact. The sprouts and leaves were boiled briefly in salted water and then drained and rinsed in cold water. The canned chickpeas were rinsed and drained as well before being sauteed with garlic and chile flakes. After about 10 minutes, the chickpeas take on a darker, golden color and get crispy on the edges. You should mash some of the chickpeas as they cook as well, and the mashed ones get the crispiest. The next item to prep is the haloumi, and it was sliced and fried in olive oil until browned. The cooled Brussels sprouts were added to a mixing bowl with sliced green onion and chopped mint. Chopped cucumber was to have been added as well, but I skipped it. I wanted to make this all about the Brussels sprouts. Lemon, olive oil, and salt and pepper were added to the bowl, and the mixture was tossed to combine. To assemble the sandwiches, I toasted slices of sourdough, spread each piece with hummus, topped the hummus with the sauteed chickpeas, layered on haloumi slices, and spooned the Brussels sprouts mixture on top. 

This is a knife-and-fork kind of open-faced sandwich but deliciously so. After my first bite, I was so glad I located and included the mint. It added a brightness and freshness to the lemony vegetable salad. And, haloumi. No explanation required. It continues to be one of my favorite ingredients. Overall, this was a great combination for a vegetarian sandwich. I have several new books to cook from as I continue to break in my new kitchen and try to remember where I’ve put everything. Stay tuned for more food coming soon. Happy New Year! 

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Brussels Sprout Hash

An egg is probably the world’s most versatile ingredient. And, thinking of all the things you can do with whole eggs, yolks, whites, quail eggs, and duck eggs, I think an egg might also be the world’s most delightful ingredient. Lara Ferroni’s latest book, Put an Egg on It, supports those claims and offers delicious uses of eggs of all sizes. I recently received a review copy. She writes that her fascination with topping all sorts of dishes with an egg started when she encountered New Mexico-style stacked enchiladas topped with a fried egg. But, you’ll find more than just fried eggs as the crowning touch in this book. First, there are cooking instructions for the basics including soft-, medium-, and hard-boiled; sunny-side up and over easy or hard; scrambling; poaching; pickling; and meringue. Of course, there are great suggestions for adding a sunny-side up to things like Salsa Roja Chilaquiles, Kimchi Fried Rice, and the Egg-Topped Deep-Dish Pizza. And, then there are things like Blasted Cauliflower with chopped hard-boiled eggs, Roasted Eggplant Puree with Harissa and grated hard-boiled egg, and Creamy Green Goddess Wedge salad with shredded hard-boiled eggs. All of the recipes are fun and very approachable whether for breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner, dessert, or cocktails. Speaking of fun, the meringue “eggs” are faux fried eggs made with a dollop of orange curd, and the Maple Meringue filled Doughnut Holes have been calling my name since I first flipped through the book. Also right away, I was drawn to the breakfast bowls each topped with an egg because they look a lot like what I usually prepare for weekend brunches. A few pages later, I came upon the Brussels Sprout Hash. I don’t know why I’d never thought to make a hash of Brussels sprouts before. I’ve made hash with just about every other vegetable which left me feeling silly for overlooking Brussels sprouts. They’re so pretty when they’re thinly sliced, I couldn’t wait to get chopping.

This makes for a low-maintenance brunch dish since everything is cooked in one skillet. First, a sprig of rosemary was fried in olive oil. Our rosemary plants have been taking over our yard thanks to the recent rain, so I love getting to snip off sprigs every chance I get. The rosemary fries for just a minute and is then set aside to cool. Minced onion and garlic were added to the pan next and cooked until softened. The fried rosemary leaves were pulled from the stem, chopped, and added to the skillet. Next, shredded Brussels sprouts were added to the cooked onion and garlic and sauteed until tender and starting to take on some color on the edges. Then, it was time for the eggs. Little wells were scooped into the Brussels sprouts, and an egg was cracked into each. The skillet was covered, and the eggs were left to cook for a few minutes. 

Brussels Sprout Hash will now take a spot in my rotation of brunch options, but it would also make for a quick and easy dinner meal. With so many different ideas for incorporating eggs into dishes, I’ll be grabbing this book for inspiration for meals at any time of day. Or instead of planning a meal, a cocktail like the Lime Meringue Margarita might be the next recipe I have to try. 

Brussels Sprout Hash 
Recipe reprinted with publisher's permission from Put an Egg on It.

If brussels sprouts had been served this way when I was a kid, instead of being little balls of gray, bitter mush, I might not have missed out on twenty-something years of one of my favorite fall vegetables. How sad! 

Makes 4 servings 

2 tablespoons grapeseed or olive oil 
1 (5-inch) sprig fresh rosemary 
1⁄4 cup chopped onion 
2 cloves garlic, minced 
4 cups shredded brussels sprouts 
4 eggs 
Salt and freshly ground pepper 

Heat the oil in a medium, lidded cast-iron skillet over medium heat. When it’s shimmering, add the rosemary. Cook for about 1 minute, then remove the sprig, setting it aside on a plate to cool. Add the onion and garlic and reduce the heat to medium-low. Cook until the onion softens, about 5 minutes. Add the sprouts and increase the heat to medium-high. Chop up a bit of the fried rosemary leaves (discarding the woody stem) and add them to the pan. Stirring frequently, cook until the sprouts are golden on the edges, about 5 minutes. 

Use a large spoon to create 4 wells in the sprouts and carefully pour an egg into each. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until the eggs are set. 

To serve, using a large spoon, carefully scoop from under each egg, gathering a bit of the sprout hash as you go. Season with salt and pepper to taste. 

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Baked Rigatoni with Brussels Sprouts, Apples, and Gorgonzola

The very first post of 2012 should be sort of healthy, shouldn't it? Consider this a gateway dish to ease into the healthy January phase. It is a dish of baked pasta and there is Gorgonzola cheese in it, but there are also nutritious, little Brussels sprouts and chunks of apples. Unlike most baked pastas, there's no thick, rich bechamel sauce coating every bite. Instead, the pasta and Brussels sprouts are tossed with crumbled blue cheese, or whatever easy-melting cheese you prefer, and some of the water in which the pasta was boiled. It's lighter than you might expect. The dish came from the Mark Bittman blog, but I couldn't help making a couple of changes. The original was made with figs, but there's a note that pears, apples, and cranberries would all do the job of adding a little sweetness. I had some apples in the refrigerator waiting to be used, so they were my choice. I also opted to saute the Brussels sprouts rather than boil them as suggested because I can't resist browned edges on Brussels sprouts. Clearly, this can be customized in countless ways, but with the basic pieces in place, you'll get a quick dish that delivers a great range of flavors.

Since everything cooks quickly before being mixed and placed in a baking dish, you should chop everything you need before starting. While the rigatoni cooked for a few minutes, and it shouldn't be cooked until done but only half-way, I sauteed Brussels sprouts that had been trimmed and halved. I also added some minced shallots to the saute pan. When the Brussels sprouts were nicely browned, I added two small, chopped apples. Most importantly, don't forget to save some of the pasta boiling water before draining the rigatoni. Then, toss the half-cooked rigatoni with the Brussels sprouts and apples and stir in the Gorgonzola crumbles. Add a few tablespoons of the pasta water and stir to combine. The pasta mixture should then be placed in an oiled baking dish and popped into a 400 degree F oven for 20 minutes. If it appears the pasta is becoming too dry in the oven, add a little more pasta water after 10 minutes of baking. When you remove the dish from the oven, top the pasta with chopped, toasted almonds.

Edges of the rigatoni pieces on top turned brown and crispy in the oven, and underneath, the pasta and Brussels sprouts were tender for a tasty contrast. The cheese melted into all the nooks and crannies, and the apples did their job of adding sweetness. There were bitter, savory, and sweet flavors, creamy cheese and nutty almonds, and I can't think of anything this dish was missing. It was a great way to begin the year, and I hope your 2012 is off to a good start as well.

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