August 2006 - Brussels Sprouts sautéed with Garlic & Sage

So, I have been unwell again, ugh. I had a dreadful earache and general blahness. The earache lasted for a couple of days and since I don't see the ear, nose & throat specialist for another 5 weeks there is a likelihood of more. I hope that the doctor will be able to help figure out what is going on in there. I am also rather sick of having such dreadful hearing in that ear. That certainly wasn't improved with drops and cotton wool stuffed in there.

Needless to say, all of this has left me not feeling much like doing much of anything. I have at least managed to get some stuff done today. Although really only the washing and cooking lunch. I very much need to clean up the kitchen. I had some mice in some of my cupboards. I think that I have managed to get rid of them now, or at least blocked up where they were coming in. Now I really need to clean out those cupboards because it smells yucky every time that I open the door. :-( 

There were several options that I wanted to make from issue # 52. The first was Jamie Oliver's Chicken with tomatoes, capsicums and couscous. This was a very easy dish and would have been lovely flavoured with chilli and cumin seeds. Jamie used cherry tomatoes (although I am sure you could use quartered regular) and a jar of roasted capsicums. I didn't have a jar of roasted capsicums, nor did I have enough capsicum to roast myself.

The next one that I considered was New Zealand's Natalia Schamroth & Carl Koppenhagen's Salmon fillet with beetroot risotto and fresh horseradish cream. This really sounded terrific. There were two reasons that I didn't makes this. Firstly, I have already done a beetroot risotto from one of the other issues. The second was that I have never found fresh horseradish here. I would love to try it as I have heard that it is so much better than the bottled stuff. I think that I may look into growing it myself. I think that I should be able to. Should I be able to do that I hope to come back to this recipe. 

One night when roasting a small chicken (size 9) I needed a side dish to go with it. I had some brussels sprouts in the crisper and some sad looking sage in the garden so I decided to make Sean Moran's Brussels sprouts sautéed with garlic and sage. I remember as a kid absolutely loathing brussels sprouts. I am not sure what my mother used to do to them but I always remember them being bitter and horrible. However, last year I made a Jamie Oliver dish where the brussels were blanched and then sautéed in butter with garlic and flaked almonds. I had bought some baby brussels and I was very impressed with the dish and I have been eating brussels ever since. This dish sounded really good too. The brussels I had were a bit larger than I would have liked but it turned out that they were fine. 

Brussels Sprouts sautéed with Garlic & Sage 

Ingredients 

• 6 brussels sprouts per person (this will depend on size) 
• Duck fat or olive oil 
• 1 - 2 garlic cloves crushed
• Few sage leaves chopped
• Pancetta diced* (Not in original recipe but a suggested addition)

Method

• Trim base of brussels and remove outer leaves. 
• Finely slice brussels. 
• Melt duck fat in a fry pan over a medium heat. 
• Add everything to the pan and sauté until tender.