My new "special" recipe

I know that at Christmas time you are supposed to post sweet Christmas dream recipes, but I'm not really into sweets all that much. I will post some, but my new recipe that we cannot seem to get enough of is......ta da.....

Brussel Sprouts with bacon. Ok, I know that some people don't like brussel sprouts. I think that you should have that right, but first try them cooked right instead of mushy little tiny cabbages cooked until they just squish and slide in your mouth. It's a texture thing too you know.

Brussel Sprouts with Bacon

Choose your amount of brussel sprouts. For Thanksgiving I could only find one bag (16 oz I think) of the frozen and a box of the fresh. If you use the fresh make sure that you clean them well. Take off a few of the outer leaves until you have a fresh compact sprout. Cut the end of the stem off and slice them in half through the stem (top to bottom). Frozen ones leave whole.

With the 2 lbs of sprouts, I used about a 1/2 pound of bacon. I use scissors to chop it into little pieces. I find that it's much easier to cut into little pieces with the scissors than it is with a knife. I fried the bacon until almost crisp. Drained some of the fat off, but left some because it helps them not to stick to the pan.

Add the brussel sprouts and a small amount (1/3 cup) of water to the pan. Cover with a lid and stir every 2 minutes or so. I take them out when they are just steamed through. I want to have the fresh ones be slightly firm, but still cooked. That way they still crunch. If you make it half frozen-half fresh, the fresh ones will be cooked a little more, so there's a difference in texture there.

Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper and serve. It's yummy!

Bread Salad

1 loaf French bread cubed in larger bite-sized pieces.
3 large tomatoes or 5 roma tomatoes or 1 pint grape tomatoes (depends on what is available)
1/2 of a large red onion
1 can sliced black olives
1 large cucumber
1 envelope ranch dressing mix
2/3 cup oil
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup shredded Italian cheese mix

Directions:
First you need to toast the bread so...you can either toast it in slices on a grill before you cube it, OR you can just put it on a baking sheet after you have cubed it and toast it until most of them are a darker brown. You want them pretty toasty, so that they maintain some texture and shape in the salad.

Place the bread in a large bowl. Cut up the veggies in bite sized chunks. Make sure you leave the onions in larger pieces. If they are too small they fall to the bottom of the bowl and no one gets any in their salad.
Mix the veggies and bread together.

In a separate bowl mix the dressing mix, oil and vinegar. Pour over salad and let stand for at least 30 minutes and then serve.

Water chestnuts wrapped in bacon

1 lb. bacon
2 cans whole water chestnuts
1/4 c. soy sauce
1/2 c. brown sugar

Cut bacon in thirds.

Wrap a strip of bacon around a water chestnut and poke a flat toothpick through the bacon and water chestnut.

Continue wrapping water chestnuts with bacon until finished. Place each water chestnut that has been wrapped on broiler pan.

Broil until bacon is crisp.

At this point you have 2 choices: You can just dip them in a sauce made of the wet ingredients, or you can put them in a crock pot and cover them with the sauce and keep them warm. **I use the crock pot method.

I have also marinated them first in the stuff and then broiled them. They get caramelized that way in the oven.

The next time I try this, I'm going to cut wide layers of onion and cook them in the microwave in a little water until they are limp and pliable. Then I'm going to wrap a strip of onion (cut to size) inside the bacon before broiling. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Gorgonzola appetizers

So this is a little different, but it tastes really great.

I take smaller loaves of bread or sub sandwich buns and slice them at a slight angle to give wider slices. Don't slice length wise, but slice it like you would for a sandwich. I toast them slightly under the broiler, so they don't get chewy or mushy when you put stuff on them.

Then I take gorganzola cheese and sprinkle it on them. Add a small slice of canned pears (I reckon you could use fresh, but I'm from this little community that has a hard time getting great produce). Then I drizzle it with honey (mine is cranberry blossom honey, but I don't think that matters). Broil until the cheese starts to melt. Serve.

These were different, but they tasted so good that a couple of us stood at my toaster oven and ate them straight off the baking tray. I don't know if many actually made it to the table.

Tirimisu in a Chocolate cup

Crab Salad

If you get the chance.....

I attended a conference at the Kalahari resort in Wisconsin Dells this week. I will say this...if you get the chance to go there and eat the food....go. No, don't just go...RUN!!!!!
The chefs there know food, they know flavors and they know how to use them. The first night was appetizers of all kinds, lamb, nori vegetables in tempura batter, watermelon slices with a slice of cucumber on it and then topped with a butterflied shrimp. There was a cheese fondue with veggies and pretzel bread, antipasti, teryaki steak sushi, scallops in a sweet chili sauce, loaded mashed potatoes in a martini glass, stuffed mushrooms, cheeses, wines, chocolates.....it was wonderful. Our table was not the most adventurous bunch of people when it came to trying things, but I was. I tried it all.
The conference food was wonderful and then came the last night banquet. The opener was a crab cake and crab claw arranged on a tower of romaine lettuce with 3 different salad dressings decorating the plate. I could have eaten about 3 of them and been totally happy. The next course was a beef fillet, with a portabello mushroom base, lobster cannelloni with a lobster sherry cream sauce and a tomato half stuffed with asparagus. I am not ashamed to say that I ate it all.
Dessert was 3 or 4 types of chocolate layered in a tower. It was beautiful and tasted wonderful, but I loved the Tirimisu that they served us the day before in a coffee cup made of chocolate and topped with whipped cream in the shape of steam rising from the cup.
All in all, it was one of the great eating experiences of my life. I probably gained back the 11 pounds that I had lost (although I did take the stairs instead of the elevator and walked every chance that I had). I would love to go and learn from those who created that wonderful food. I wonder if they hold classes?
Have a great one!