Brussels Sprouts with Chicken Pasta

Now you know that I don't like brussels sprouts.
But my husband loves them so as long as they are in season and cheap I will be buying them.

Last week I deviated from my menu plan and made a pretty tasty pasta dish incorporating brussels sprouts. Definitely good for repetition.

It went a little like this:
Take one bag of brussels sprouts, clean them and throw them in a pot with boiling water for about 10 minutes. Drain and set aside.

While the brussels sprouts are cooking, heat up a grill pan and cook three chicken breasts for about 10 minutes (5 minutes per side). Season your chicken breasts as per your liking - I marinated them half an hour before cooking in lemon juice and crushed garlic with a dash of honey.

Let the chicken breasts rest while you get the pasta cooking in a big pot of boiling water - follow the directions on your packaging. I made spaghetti which needed about 9 minutes until nicely cooked.

While the pasta cooks take a big pan and heat up a dash of olive oil. Now add a finely chopped onion and sauté for a couple of minutes. Slice three rashers of bacon and add to the onions. Slice the chicken breasts into strips and add to the pan. Throw in the brussels sprouts too and give it all a nice stir before adding about 50ml of low fat cooking cream (feel free to add more). Mix it well and make sure the heat is turned off so that you don't curdle the cream. Season with salt and black pepper.

Add the drained pasta to the pan and mix well.

Serve with parmesan cheese and enjoy!

 Hope you have a great week ahead!

Hearty Pasta with Brussels Sprouts, Cheese and Potatoes

Nigella is fabulous.
I always find inspiration from her to make delicious things.
On new years eve I made her hearty pasta dish.
Well, it was almost the same as hers except without using her exact ingredients. Not because I did not try to find them... but simply because the grocery store did not have them in stock. It was very busy that day and after going to three, I kid you not, three stores in search of ricotta cheese I simply gave up and improvised.
It was delicious and I have witnesses!
I have a feeling that this will become one of my 'go-to' dishes.

Here is the link to Nigella's recipe.
Here is my improvised ingredient version:

Ingredients

500 gram brussels sprouts (trimmed and halved)
200 gram baking potatoes (peeled and in 2-3cm dice)
500 gram penne
1 pinch of salt (for vegetable and pasta water, to taste)
125 ml creme fraiche
200 gram really, really, really old cheese (grated)
50 gram unsalted butter (soft)
1 tablespoon garlic oil (one clove of minced garlic in olive oil)
4 sage leaves (shredded)
100 gram grated parmesan

Method

Preheat the oven to 200°C, and fill a large pot with water to cook the sprouts, potato and pasta.
When the water boils, salt it generously, tip in the prepared sprouts, the potato dice and the pasta and let the water come back to the boil, then cook for about 8–10 minutes, or until the potato is tender and the pasta al dente. Just before draining, remove 2 cupfuls of the cooking liquid and put to one side.
Tip the drained pasta, sprouts and potato pieces into a roasting tin (approx. 25 x 36cm), or a lasagne dish (approx. 23 x 34cm), then add the creme fraiche and grated really, really, really old cheese and a cupful of cooking water, and toss well to combine. Add more liquid if you feel the pasta is too dry.
Warm the butter and garlic oil in a small saucepan and, when melted and beginning to sizzle gently, add the shredded sage and fry for about 30 seconds before spooning or dribbling the butter and crisp sage over the pasta bake. Sprinkle with the Parmesan and bake in the oven for 20 minutes, by which time the surface will be scorched a light gold. Let it rest for at least 15 minutes before eating.

Brussels Sprouts with Pancetta

I'm sure I must have mentioned before that I am not the biggest fan of brussels sprouts. My husband keeps buying them and I eventually have to cook them.

There must be lots of ways to make them taste really good... my latest experiment seemed to have made it pretty tasty.

Bring a pot with hot water to the boil and add the brussels sprouts. Cook for about 10 minutes until tender. Drain the water and place the pot back on the heat. Add the brussel sprouts and some finely sliced pancetta. Stir together for a few minutes and add a knob of herb butter. Season as per your preference. Serve to one happy husband.

Pork Tenderloin

I decided that I should probably cook something other than chicken in my fancy oven ;-)

So as I walked through the grocery shop isles I found a nice piece of pork tenderloin (varkenshaas).

I vaguely remember preparing one years ago and it turned out dry and not that good.

Determined to remedy this I bought the pork and headed home.

A quick search online and I found a recipe that seemed easy enough for a sweet marinated pork fillet. The website is called 'love food' so I had high hopes.

It turned out beautifully tender and Heidi loved it too.
The trick is probably marinating the pork, which for once I managed to do.

I served the pork fillet with gravy, roasted pumpkin and brussels sprouts with pancetta.
Happiness.

Here is a copy of the recipe with my changes in italics:

Ingredients

800 g (28.2oz) Pork fillets, trimmed (I used 400g pork fillet) 

1 tbsp Olive oil (I used slightly less)
Marinade:

1 tsp Cornflour

350 ml (12.3fl oz) Chicken stock (I used half a cup hot water)

3 tbsp Freshly squeezed orange juice (I used 1,5 tbsp)

1 tbsp Light soy sauce (I used regular soy sauce)

2 tbsp Maple syrup (I used about 1 tbsp)

1 tbsp Olive oil

1 tsp Grated ginger (I used a dash or two of ground ginger)

2 Garlic cloves crushed (I used 1 clove)

0.5 tsp Chinese five spice (I left this out)

Mix all the marinade ingredients in a large plastic container, add the pork and turn in the marinade to coat all over. Cover and pop in the fridge overnight. (I marinated it for 3,5 hours)

When ready, pre-heat the oven to 180°C (fan), 200°C, gas mark 6.

In a non-stick frying pan add the olive oil, brown the pork fillets on all sides over a high heat. Then transfer to a roasting tray and roast for about 20-30 minutes. When they are ready, wrap in foil and rest for 5 minutes or so.

Meanwhile, mix the cornflour with 2 teaspoons of water and add to the marinade. Using the same frying pan, pour in the marinade mix and let it boil for about 10 minutes. Add the stock and let it reduce down. Sieve. Slice the pork fillets diagonally and pour the sauce over.

Serve with a squash and sweet potato mash and some steamed bok choi or my recipe for sexy spinach. Season on your plate.

For babies and kids; they really like the sweetness but its probably better to keep their portion sauce free.