Brussel Sprouts w/ Smokey Bacon Sous Vide

Ok enough of the focus has been on the sous vide-ing of meat lately. Let's try our hand at one of my favorite veggies, brussel sprouts. Most people are either in the love or hate camp when it comes to brussel sprouts. My belief is you have either had them cooked properly or not. I can't think of another veggie I love more than a brussel sprout, or as they are called in the country side of Belgium, big city sprouts.

We start by cutting off the nub end and splitting them in half. Then we take some of our home smoked bacon, and crisp it up in a fry pan. Come on now this isn't a vegan blog, have to add some bacon.

While the bacon is crisping up give the sprouts some seasoning love of salt and pepper. Once the bacon is crisp, remove from heat and let cool slightly then add the bacon and its rendered fat to the sprouts with a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil. (Added the olive oil as there wasn't a lot of rendered fat from the bacon)

Now its time suck. Vacuum seal the mixture and place in your water bath. Sous vide is a great way to cook as all the vitamins, minerals and flavor are sealed in the food, there is no leaching of beneficial nutrients or taste. I set the temp at 185 F and let cook for about 2 hours.

While the sprouts bathe, I reduced a couple of tablespoons each of balsamic and sherry vinegar, over high heat into a nice thick syrup to drizzle over the finished veg.

Here is the finished product, they suffered a little color loss, but the flavor was great and they were not mushy at all. Since they were cooked in a sealed environment they were infused with the smokey bacon flavor, that made me wonder if there is a way to graft bacon into plants while they're still growing. Next time I do 'em I would lower the temp to 170 and pull them after an hour, just to maintain a little more color.

Dry brine for Turkey

So here we are that time of year, inviting the family over to watch football, eat a large bird and hopefully not hear about Aunt Edina's varicose veins. Let's focus on the bird for now, most likely a turkey. For the last decade or so people have been stressing the soak of their Tom Turkey. I am all for the brine when it comes to smaller cuts of meat, what I have against the turkey brine is the amount of space and time it takes to make it and keep it safe. If you have a meat thermometer there is a much easier way to go in creating a tasty and moist bird. And that's a dry brine. Basically all the stuff you put in a wet brine but without the water. Here are the ingredients for our dry brine.

1/3 cup kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon celery seeds
1 teaspoon granulated garlic
1 teaspoon granulated onion
1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
The zest of one lemon
1 sprig rosemary
3 sprigs of thyme

Add all your dry ingredients in a bowl and finely chop the leaf bits of the thyme and rosemary. And then add to the dry ingredients.

Then zest your lemon adding the zest to the mix and stir to combine. The mixture is now ready for your bird, idealy the dry brine would be applied 36 hours before cooking. A night in advance would be sufficient. Generously coat the exterior of the bird and interior of the turkey.

Keep refrigerated, turning the turkey over at least once to distribute seasoning. Remove the bird from refrigeration at least an hour before cooking. And roast at 375 F, until the internal temperature of the thigh reaches 165 F. Remove from oven and let rest at least 30 minutes before carving.

Basic Dry Rub for Chicken Fish or Pork

Being half Irish I understood why my Irish friend Rory, asked for a dry rub recipe. Not that Irish food is bad, but I have never heard it called spicy, or particularly flavorful for that matter. So here is a really basic, simple and delicious spice rub that works not just on chicken, but on fish and pork as well. For those on the Emerald Isle, don't worry its not spicy with heat, but rather delicious with flavor. The measurements don't matter as long as the ratio stays relative.

So start with equal parts of coriander seed and fennel seed, and half part cumin seed.

In skillet over high heat toast the seeds until they just start to become fragrant, releasing their essential oils. Be careful not to over toast the seeds, by over toast I mean don't burn them, they should become fragrant in a minute or two.

Place the toasted spices in a spice grinder, aka a coffee grinder, just make sure you don't grind your coffee in it, unless you like a little cumin in your coffee.

Grind into a powder and place into a bowl.

Measure out the same amount of kosher salt as the coriander seed, and half an amount of each granulated garlic and granulated onion. Then place in the bowl with the ground spices.

Mix all of the ingredients until evenly distributed. This dry rub is the perfect flavor enhancer for chicken, pork and most fish, and will keep for 3 months in a tightly sealed container. Coming soon a recipe using this rub on chicken.