Brussels sprouts purée

Brussels Sprouts Puree.

Brussels sprouts and me had always had a hate hate relationship. I hate hate hate them. Why?? Well They looked cute, and are actually really pretty on the stalk.

But the taste was bitter, and the way my mom served them in a white sauce was not very interesting.

One night I had them roasted with garlic and bacon, OMG it was a good, really good. What is not better with bacon? Months later one of my danish friends served this dish for me, and it was love at first bite. I didn't need any steak, just pass me some more brussels sprouts purée.

This dish was created by Claus Meyer.

Ingredients:

Purée

• 700 g brussels sprouts
• 50 g butter
• sea salt
• black pepper (freshly ground)
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Dressing

• 1/2 lemon (lemon juice and zest)
• 3 tablespoons canola oil
• 1/2 teaspoon honey
• sea salt
• black pepper (freshly ground)

Salad

• 2 shallots (or some thin sliced red onions)
• 1/4 cup Italien parsley
• leaves from the brussels sprouts.

Directions

Purée

Rinse the brussels sprouts, Cut off the brown ends of the brussels sprouts and pull off any yellow outer leaves. Save some of the green outer leaves for the salad. Set them aside in cold water.

Boil a pot of salted water. Cut out the brussels sprouts into quarters and blanch for about 2 minutes until they are tender, but not overcooked.

Put the still hot brussels sprouts directly in a blender and puree them with cold butter, salt, pepper, honey and lemon juice.

Salad

Mix up the dressing.

Chop the shallots finely and chop the parsley roughly. Drain the water from the brussels sprout leaves, and wipe them dry. Mix the shallots, brussels sprout leaves, parsley with the dressing.

Serve the salad on top of the puree.

The purée can be served hot or cold with a nice steak or roast. This could be a great side for Thanksgiving.

Quinoa Tabbouleh

Quinoa Tabbouleh

Quinoa Tabbouleh is one of my favorite salads. It's easy to make and to make ahead. Try it with chicken or some grilled lamb.

Serves 4 persons. 

Ingredients:

Quinoa:

• 200 g quinoa
• 4,5 dl water
• salt (to taste)

Salad:

• 300 g corn (fresh when in season)
• 10 small scallions
• 1/2 english cucumber
• 250 g cherry tomatoes
• italian parsley

Dressing: 

• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• cayenne pepper
• salt

Directions:

Rinse the quinoa. Bring quinoa and the water to a boil in a medium saucepan over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until quinoa is tender, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and add salt to taste. Let the quinoa stand, covered, for 5 minutes. If any more water remains, drain it. Let the quinoa cool.

Cook the corn and cut it of the cob, if you use fresh corn. Set aside to cool.

Whisk lemon juice with cumin, garlic and oil. Season with salt and cayenne pepper to taste.

Chop the scallions, cucumber and tomatoes.  Mix it in with the quinoa, and drizzle the dressing over.

Enjoy. 

Fennel salad

Fennel salad

Fennel salad - who comes up with things like this?

One of my danish friends gave me a book on salads by Claus Meyer called Salatværksted (Salad workshop). A great book with salads for every season. One of the first I had to try was this Fennel Salad. It's light, crispy and phenomenal with Salmon. What it lacks in color, it has tenfolds in taste.

• 4 small or 2 medium fennels

Dressing: 

• 1/4 cup Lemon juice
• 1/4 cup Olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon Garlic (finely chopped)
• 2 tablespoons Sugar
• Salt 
• Pepper (freshly ground)

Direction:

Wash the fennels, cut it very thin on a mandolin. Put the fennel slices in ice cold water. 

Thinly sliced fennel and the dressing.

Mix the ingredients for the dressing, season with salt and pepper.

Drain and wipe the fennels dry with kitchen towel. Mix the fennel with the dressing and season with salt and pepper.

Enjoy