Brussels and Bacon Stir Fry and Curried Sweet Potatoes

Until tonight, I didn't realize what a cooking rut I've been in. I used to make up weird shit for dinner all the time, but as of late my inspiration has been waning.   Last week, I pulled off a version of Eat.Live.Run's Brussels Sprouts; this took less than 10 minutes, and I actually prefer their texture when cut into a kind of chiffonade.    How had I never thought to slice up brussels sprouts?  Shahab, whose childhood was robbed of a proper vegetal nemesis, didn't try them until he was like 25, and now brussels are his favorite vegetable.  But who has time to roast brussels sprouts for an hour after getting home? Because of the commitment necessary to make them edible, we don't eat them very often.  Enter this meal: a kind of douchey, but delicious, fusion version of sprouts and finally feel like I am out of my culinary rut.   

While Eat.Live.Run countered the bitterness of them with the sweetness of brown sugar and caramelized pecans, the three baked sweet potatoes in the fridge somehow inspired me to try a Southeast Asian version using turkey bacon and light coconut milk to add faux richness to the conspicuously healthy sprouts.  Overlooked as an Asian ingredient, sweet potatoes seem to be invented to be eaten with things like coconut, ginger, and curry rather than brown sugar and marshmallows.  So I decided to take a Thanksgiving staple and turn it Asian.  The caramelized bacon, garlic and sprouts set off the super luscious and rich potatoes, and the sesame adds a nice nutty flavor.  In all, it took less than a half hour, and that's partly because peeling baked sweet potatoes is tedious and sloppy.  I didn't actually measure the spices, but I estimated in the recipe below.    

Ignore the onion, and pretend like you see sesame and curry

Ingredients:

Brussels-Bacon Stir Fry

15-20 Brussels

3-4 cloves of garlic

6-8 slices of turkey bacon (we keep a pork free house)

1 tsp Smoked Paprika

2 tsp soy sauce

2 tsp sesame seeds                                                                                                                

Coconut Curry Mashed Sweet Potatoes   

3 sweet potatoes
3/4 cup light coconut milk

2 tsp curry powder 

1 tsp salt  
                                                                                 

If you are starting from raw sweet potatoes, you should start by boiling or baking them.  Since Shahab baked up a ton of potatoes on Sunday, I got to skip this step.  

While the bacon is going, Slice the brussels into very thin slices, being careful not to go too close to the base, as it gets more bitter.  Don't worry if it stays in circles; as it sautes, it will break up.  Then, mince the garlic and set aside in a bowl. 

Now that I see the picture, maybe real bacon is better. 

Take the bacon off the heat, and when cool enough, slice up and put in the bowl with the sprouts.

Put the cooked sweet potato in a medium pot with the 3/4 cup coconut milk, curry powder and salt.  Heat and mash and you know. 

As the sweet potato heats, dump the garlic, then the sprouts and the bacon to the same saute pan in which you cooked the bacon.  Add smoked paprika and sesame seeds.  Saute for 5 minutes or so, then add as much soy sauce as you like, and saute for another 2-4 minutes, or until it is bright and tender.  

                 Top with another sprinkle of sesame seeds and sriracha.  This made 3 or 4 servings for us. 

Weekend Brunching: Pop-up Brunch at KTCHN 105

There was a time when catching up with friends meant long drawn out dinners over many many bottles of wine, or hanging purses on tiny hooks below the bar and mingling and reminiscing till the wee hours of the morning. It was a time when weeknight fun and early mornings were of no consequence to us, and bed times and hem lines were blurred along with our visions. The greasy diner breakfasts, which were eventually consumed after these nights, more out of necessity than any epicurean delights. Now, I am in no way saying our carefree days are over, I'm still in my 20's for god-sake, what I am alluding to is the fact that nights like this are becoming fewer and far between. I am also not saying this is necessarily a bad thing, for as I mourn the loss of my early 20's rablerousing, I find myself comfortably nestled in my new station in life as a late (well later) 20's weekend brunch-er.

This past weekend, after having gone far too long without a good catchup gab session, my dear friend Molly and I decided to meet for brunch. I did a quick yelp search for restaurants downtown and was intrigued by the reviews for a brunch spot I had never heard of. KTCHN 105. The concept of a roaming pop up brunch sounded intriguing but the photos of previous brunch fare really sealed the deal for me. Waffle BLT with pears? Yes. Yes please. After finding out that their pop-up loft location was up and running every weekend in November I promptly made a reservation.

After hugs and greetings early (ish) Saturday morning we sat down to eat. The space, located in a loft apartment near the produce section of Downtown LA, is cute and homey. My eyes were immediately drawn to a Bloody Mary bar with jars or fresh celery, pickles, olives and peppers. I of course couldn't resist the appeal and ordered their house Bloody Mary (they also serve a Bloody Maria made with, you guessed it, tequila) Molly ordered a Mimosa made with fresh OJ. Menus were opened. The rotating menu meant none of the dishes I had read about on the yelps were available, but you know what? It all ended up just fine.

Ok foodies, here is where this story gets interesting.

The drinks came, and I don't want to oversell or simplify this but, hot damn! It was a good Bloody Mary. Not just a good BM (hehe) but It was without a doubt the best Bloody Mary I've ever had. Simple, spicy, refreshing and strong. I was warned to NOT bite into the habanero pepper that was rustically speared and placed inside my drink, which I obliged. I quickly noticed however, that not only was the pepper a lovely accoutrement, sandwiched between two pimientos, it also was functional in that it helped me gage the spice level and let me pull out when the heat got too intense (please feel free to expound your own sexual innuendos here).

Ok Ok FOOD. Molly dear ordered the egg sandwich, 2 eggs, baguette, potatoes. Pretty straight forward, but sounded great. After some indecisiveness I ordered, or rather was persuaded by the delightful waitress to order the beat hash. Along with our mains, we ordered the fruit trio as an appetizer.

As we were eagerly chatting and catching up, the fruit plate was dropped in front of us and looked absolutely beautiful. This is the point in the story in which I must apologies, as I haven't really given into the whole taking pictures of your food at restaurants craze, but since I am part of a food blog, I should maybe think about getting over myself and changing my ways. That being said, imagination will be key for this bit; the fruit trio consisted of minted melons atop a creamy yogurt sauce, homemade granola in a creamy sweet coconut milk, and sweet grits with berry fruit preserves. All of it was amazing and the flavors all very layered and delicious. We both agreed the highlight of the plate were the amazing sweet grits that almost tasted like a rice or tapioca pudding.

After more chatting and communing, brunch arrived. Again, apologies for the lack of pictures, but please take my word for it, the plates were dressed beautifully. Mine, a huge mound of roasted beets, crispy homestyle potatoes, soft scrambled eggs with goat cheese, horseradish creme and wilted dressed spinach. A lovely brioche roll with homemade lemon clotted cream and preserves accompanied. Molly's, looked equally delicious, two beautifully baked eggs on a crispy bread with a beautiful mound of those perfectly done and seasoned potatoes.

As we dug in the chatter stopped momentarily to let the flavor wash over us. Delicious. Transcendent, even. All the components of my dish worked together and built off each other. A party in my mouth, if you will. It was evident that a lot of thought and many steps and labor were involved in constructing each of our dishes and the results were much appreciated by both myself and my fellow bruncher. As the drinks were finished off and the bill (given to us with two fresh cookies) handled, I couldn't help but feel completely fulfilled by my morning, it was truly, lovely. As I got in my car refreshed and nourished by both my meal and my interaction with my friend, I thought to myself, 'If this is growing up, I think I like it.'

KTCHN 105 will be serving brunch through November 27th at;

1250 Long Beach Ave.

Los Angeles, CA 90021

Also please check out the website as they also do cocktail and cooking classes.

*Picture taken off of Yelp.

Autumn Walnut Apple Pie

This healthy variation of an apple pie puts the fruit front and center and the ginger adds so much flavor that you won't even care that there is a granny shower cap where your lattice top should be.

Heres what you need:

3 Apples- (I used Pippin since they came in my CSA) Slice them thin so they get coated and cook well

Ginger- just a pinch

Cinnamon- about 1 tsp

Nutmeg- 2 pinches ;)

Whole Wheat Flour- 1 TBSP

BrownSugar- To your liking... I added about 1.5 TBSP but more or less according to your sweet tooth and the apples used.

Walnuts- 1/3 cup chopped

Pie Crust- If you're savvy make it from scratch. I got this pre-made and rolled crust from Whole foods... it came with two so stay tuned for pie experiment #2.

Pre heat the oven to 400 degrees!!!!

Once you're all chopped and measured, mix all ingredients minus the crust of course and coat the apples thoroughly. Lay pie crust into round baking pan and leave edges hanging over. Arrange apples in as fancy of a spiral and you can concoct. My patience and hunger failed me on this step. sprinkle the heavenly remaining mixture of sugar, spice and everything walnut atop your delicate lil design and fold over edges. Get creative or go for the shower cap as I have done. Pop that little gem in the furnace (bottom rack) for 30-35 min until apples are tender and crust is golden.

Let cool...If you can and nosh away! After all... It's only 180 Cals per slice (roughly 1/8th of the pie)

Credit: Self Magazine November 2011 "Best of the Worst"

Eggplant Rollatini

Eggplant rollatini is damn good, and this recipe (I haven't really had any others) is actually pretty good for you. It has a lot of steps, and takes a little over an hour but it's awesome when you want a light dinner thats actually allows you feel like you're eating a bunch of cheese... something I. am. about.

There are a lot of different components, please see picture on the left, that you have to get together to well... put it all together. But I think it's pretty worth it. The recipe is adapted, very slightly, from the WW website, mostly I use olive oil instead of cooking spray... cause it just tastes soooo much better.

Eggplant Rollatini, adapted ever so slightly from this:
http://www.weightwatchers.com/util/prt/recipe.aspx?Type=1&RecipeID=115741

a little bit of olive oil
2 medium raw eggplant, tops and bottoms removed, sliced lengthwise into 1/4" thick slices
2 Garlic cloves sliced thinly (or more)
2 cups canned crushed tomatoes
2 tbsp fresh basil torn

1/4 cup(s) minced onion

1 small zucchini, diced

1 garlic clove, chopped

1/2 cup part skim ricotta

2 tbsp fresh basil chopped

about 1/4 cup shredded Parmesan

1 large egg

salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 450 degrees and coat a cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray

Lay eggplant in a single layer on prepared baking sheet and lightly coat tops with cooking spray. Bake, flipping once, until golden brown, about 10 minutes per side. Remove from oven and set aside.


To make sauce, place oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add sliced garlic; sauté until it begins to brown, about 1 to 2 minutes. Add crushed tomatoes; stir to combine and reduce heat to low. Add torn basil, stir to combine and  simmer for 10 minutes. Cover, remove from heat and set aside.

To make filling, coat a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray; heat over medium-high heat. Add onion and zucchini; sauté until onion starts to brown, about 5 minutes. Stir in chopped garlic and cook 1 minute more; spoon onion mixture into a small bowl to cool. In another small bowl, combine ricotta, chopped basil, and 2 tablespoons of Parmesan; stir to combine. Add cooled onion mixture; stir to combine. Add egg, salt and pepper; stir to combine.

To make rollatini, reduce oven to 400ºF. Spoon 3 tablespoons of sauce in bottom of an 8- X 8-inch glass or nonstick metal baking dish and swirl to coat bottom with sauce. On a clean cutting board, place 1 slice of eggplant. Place 2 tablespoons of filling at the narrow end of eggplant and roll up; place in prepared baking dish, seam side-down. Repeat with remaining eggplant slices; arrange in a single layer in dish. Spoon remaining 1/2 cup of sauce and rest of Parmesan over eggplant. Bake until sauce bubbles, about 10 to 15 minutes. Yields about 2 pieces of rollatini per serving.

I had much smaller eggplant, which is why there are waayyy more rollatini's than there should be, but meh, it still tastes the same.