OMG Amazing Brussel Sprouts

NOTE: picture stinks bc it’s from my cell, my hard drive is still crashed. Typing stinks cuz I’m on my cell.

Do you remember how NASTY brussel sprouts used to be? If your parents were like minea, they bought the frozen ones and just boiled them up!  Blech! There are so many better ways to make them!  My favorite way involves carmelizing them and adding a bit of cheese.  I’ve also learned that cooking them with sausage and adding some horseradish cranberry sauce works wonderfully.

Since moving to the South, I’ve learned that some greens truely benefit from animal fat. Collards are one, and brussel sprouts really are another.

Awesome Brussel Sprouts
1″x1″x1″ cube of pork fat, chopped into ~6 pieces (local, cut from pork shoulder from West Wind Farms) (sub w olive oil or butter to make vegan/ vegetarian)
1/2 small onion diced (local, Colvin Family Farms)
3 clove garlic
2 c fresh brussel sprouts, halved
1 tsp+ ground mustard
1/2 c white wine (local Pot Blanc from Blue Ridge Winery in the Old City)
Optional 1/8 c of cheese (rec: asagio or bleu local-ish Kenny’s Farmhouse)

In skillet/pan over Medium High heat, add chopped pork fat (or other fat), onion, and garlic.  Cook until onion goes translucent and starts to brown.  Drop heat to medium, add brussel sprouts and cover.  Let cook until sprouts start to tender (~4 min) and add mustard. Let cook until sprouts are almost done (should be bright green and starting to get tender). Deglaze with white wine.
Reduce.
Serve.

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OMG Amazing Brussel Sprouts

NOTE: picture stinks bc it’s from my cell, my hard drive is still crashed. Typing stinks cuz I’m on my cell.

Do you remember how NASTY brussel sprouts used to be? If your parents were like minea, they bought the frozen ones and just boiled them up!  Blech! There are so many better ways to make them!  My favorite way involves carmelizing them and adding a bit of cheese.  I’ve also learned that cooking them with sausage and adding some horseradish cranberry sauce works wonderfully.

Since moving to the South, I’ve learned that some greens truely benefit from animal fat. Collards are one, and brussel sprouts really are another.

Awesome Brussel Sprouts
1″x1″x1″ cube of pork fat, chopped into ~6 pieces (local, cut from pork shoulder from West Wind Farms) (sub w olive oil or butter to make vegan/ vegetarian)
1/2 small onion diced (local, Colvin Family Farms)
3 clove garlic
2 c fresh brussel sprouts, halved
1 tsp+ ground mustard
1/2 c white wine (local Pot Blanc from Blue Ridge Winery in the Old City)
Optional 1/8 c of cheese (rec: asagio or bleu local-ish Kenny’s Farmhouse)

In skillet/pan over Medium High heat, add chopped pork fat (or other fat), onion, and garlic.  Cook until onion goes translucent and starts to brown.  Drop heat to medium, add brussel sprouts and cover.  Let cook until sprouts start to tender (~4 min) and add mustard. Let cook until sprouts are almost done (should be bright green and starting to get tender). Deglaze with white wine.
Reduce.
Serve.

Technical difficulties

So close to regular posting! Yet… SO FAR! This week my computer, being the benificent, sentiant being that it can be, has decided the its harddrive must be rejected. Hopefully it will be fixed soon. Until then, I shall do what I can from my phone.

I was hoping it would at least wait till I was getting some ad revenue.

Spicy, Chipotle Pozole

NOTE: Because my hardrive died, you’re stuck w a cell phone photo.

So there’s this place here in Knoxville called Senor Taco. If you haven’t been there before, you should check it out. My friend Elo and I have been going there regularly (at least once a week) for three years now for their margaritas. Don’t let the Tuscan Countryside wallpaper-murals fool you, this place is Mexican through and through. Of course they have the typical quesadillas, tacos, and chili rellenos, but they also have some more authentic Mexican food involving tongue, whole fish, and stomach. Unfortunately, menudo (chili and cow stomach soup) and pozole (pork and hominy stew) are only served on the weekends, not always compatible for my craving of this rich, spicy soup with blossoms of hominy and chunks of fatty pork.

Oh, well, I guess I just need to make my own, don’t I? This soup is great for a chilly afternoon, and your kitchen will smell DELICIOUS!

Easy Fridge Kimchi

Other vegetables my CSA subscription box had WAY TOO MUCH OF were bok choy, napa cabbage, and daikon radish. And what do you do with them? I’m sure there’s plenty to do, but I was lacking in ideas. And then I found some kimchi recipes, tried some out, and ended up doing the following with ALL OF IT! I mix it with hot brown rice, toss it on the side of the plate when I cook up some veggies and an egg, and eat it out of the jar. Also, I just saw this recipe, which I want to try out soon. It’s a rather free-form recipe, as it’s supposed to just be made with what you have on hand

Want some fresh bread? Just Challah!

Back in high school I got into a bread-making phase. It didn’t last too long because my family couldn’t quite decide what type they liked and then my mother just discouraged it because we weren’t too eat so many carbs.

Well, I say poo on that! This bread is perfect for the winter, especially for the holiday season. It’s super easy to make, super rich, and super versatile! The dough can be frozen (just let it thaw for the afternoon before assembling loaf and allowing to rise again). The shiny crust (from the egg wash) makes this a gorgeous addition to any dinner table. Also, Challah bread, like the original recipe author stated, makes some of the best french toast ever!

Preserving squash for the winter

I figure that until I get a good set of posts up, I can probably post three times a week. The third post each week will concern preserving the bounty of your garden or farmers market. This past summer I bought a CSA subscription (Community Supported Agriculture) so every week I would return home with a literal box of produce, and every week I had squash. Patty pan, zucchini, and crookneck flooded my kitchen earlier in the summer. Acorn and butternut are currently filling my shelves.

My Grandmother’s Cookware

I cook using old pots. Very old, ancient pots. I understand that plenty of people have a cast iron skillet or two that have been handed down, but I have a whole set of antique pots with matching glass lids.

My grandmother received a full set of Guardian Service waterless cookware for her first wedding to my grandfather’s best friend. My grandfather met his best friend when they were both in the Air Force in WWII. The best friend was a pilot and my grandfather was his navigator. When the war was over, they returned to their respective fiancees and got married like so many other returning soldiers. The two couples kept in touch and attended many bombardier group reunions. In the 1980s, my biological grandmother and my grandfather’s best friend both passed away. Through the late 1980s and early 1990s, my grandfather and his best friend’s widow continued to get together and attend their events.

Baked Mac and Cheese with Butternut Squash, Sage, Carmelized Onions, and Red Sweet Paprika Peppers

Innaugaral … Inaugarul … Innaugural …

Inaugural Post!  Wow… that is certainly a rough start.  I’m going to attempt to post twice a week.  One post will be a recipe and the other post will be about something food-ish.  We’ll explore the parameters of food-ish as we go, but I certainly hope that it’s enjoyable.  Suggestions of Foodish Topics are always welcome, as are new banner images (That’s me cooking with the oversight of my cats, in Knoxville.  Yay MS Paint!).

So, enough dallying, let’s get going with some great Mac and Cheese! I made this yesterday, before I planned to restart this blog. Future pictures shouldn’t look like they’re from my cellphone.

Gexx Cooks: Knoxville Style! – An Introduction

Hello!

This post is a placeholder, an experiment, and an introduction.

My name is Gexx, I’m a South Knox resident who enjoys cooking. I also am very interested in local foods. One big reason for my locavore tendancies is simply that local foods create a smaller carbon footprint. Therefore, this blog will be used to share recipes. But not any recipes – they will follow a few rules.

Criteria for recipes that I post:

1) They will feature atleast one ingredient grown/raised/minimally processed within 100 miles

100 Mile Radius from Knoxville, TN

2) A conscious effort will be made to secure all ingredients from the most responsible sources.

3) They will include a picture. I tend to forget to take pictures until after I eat. Which doesn’t really help.

4) Someone else will also try it and give his or her approval before I unleash it upon the reading public (if available).