Tag: brussel sprouts

Fish of the week: Barramundi

Fish of the week: barramundi!

We have been getting these beautiful barramundi fillets from the Sydney fish market.  They are really big and one is enough for a family of up to six people. When  I go to the fish market, I bring a big esky bag and choose fish to freeze and stock for a month.  The choice is not completely out of random but neither is it a planned thing.  It is the second time that I buy those large barramundi fillets, they are a treat really, but what a nice one!

Today, I am sharing a dinner menu and fish recipe from the last couple days.

The Menu (dinner)

Entree – Soft goat cheese and grana padano souffle

Main – Barramundi fillets on a bed of soft onions and brussels sprouts, served with green asparagus and hollandaise sauce and side salad

Dessert – Fruit (mandarin)

The souffles were beautiful, they rose so high! And of course collapsed afterwards!  The barramundi was delicious and with the Brussel sprouts and other greens a great combination.

Cooking  the barramundi

Did I have a recipe? No.  I don’t for those types of last minute dinner challenge.  This time I somehow managed to get a semi-passable photo of the dish before my plate become cold and the dish got eaten, so finally a recipe of a savoury dish!

barramundi fish fillet

Barramundi marries very well with lemon flavours and either on of the following: four spices, coriander ground, nutmeg.

Underneath the fish, I placed seven brussels sprouts cut very thinly, half of an onion cut very thinly, 2 garlic cloves cut thinly, 15 g of butter and a cup of water.  I salted the fish on both sides and when the butter was melted, placed the fish on top, added the juice of one lemon, a few small heads of parsley, a dusting of all spices mix and reduced the heat and covered to let cook slowly.

It took about 20 minutes to cook. In the meanwhile, I was frantically getting the asparagus steamed and the hollandaise sauce (also quite lemony) prepared.

For the full recipe, click HERE.

Grilled Barramundi fillets

A good fish is very good with minimum dressing.  barramundiA previous time, I simply seasoned it with salt, a dash of olive oil and coriander grounds on top and placed it under the grill.

Next time I will use something else than baking paper as a support…regardless it was also delicious.

Enjoy Barramundi!

Brussel sprouts : what are they? How to use them?

Brussel sprouts are in season in Australia and right now the volume of production is quite big.  You can not really miss them in stores or on markets.  So read on and maybe you will add them to your next grocery list.

Let me ask you, do you know anything about the production of Brussel Sprouts?

Many of the people I know do not like Brussel Sprouts, maybe because of terrible tin version used in school canteens when they grew up or just because the taste can be quite strong. I will give you a few ways with Brussels Sprouts which work quite well!

Just in passing….check the nutritious qualities of Brussel sprouts: high in vitamins A, B1, B7, very high in vitamins B9), you will find plenty information by googling around.   Surprising it has not yet been marketed as a superfood!

Where do Brussel’s Sprouts come from?

Brussel sprouts as their name suggests are associated with Brussel (Bruxelles) in Belgium, where they originate from.  The Brussel sprout belongs to the cabbage family and as such its structure is quite similar to it big brother the large green cabbage.

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Brussel Sprout plant seen from top (Photo: Jerome d’Hautefeuille)

In Europe, the areas of productions of Brussel sprouts are primarily the UK, Belgium, Holland and northern France.  Australia has a few small areas of production.

Brussel Sprouts grow along the stem of the plant in a helicoid distribution (it turns around the stem).  The stem can be quite high and reach over a metre height, this means quite a lot of sprouts per plant!

The photos below are courtesy of my brother who farms them in Northern France.

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Brussel Sprouts Plant Stems, in a field before harvest (Photo: Jerome d’Hautefeuille)

The production is labour intensive throughout the crop development.  At the start, seedlings are grown in nurseries, then have to be transplanted to full fields.  During growth, interventions are rather mechanical.  At the time of harvest, each plant is handled manually.  Each stem is cut by the harvester then inserted manually into a part of the harvester which cuts off each Brussel sprout from the stem.  The sprouts are collected by a conveyor belt, sorted (manually) in the upper section of the harvester.  They can then start their journey to the consumer.

Brussel Sprout Harvest Machinery (Photo: Jerome d'Hautefeuille)
Brussel Sprout Harvest Machinery (Photo: Jerome d’Hautefeuille)

A few ways with Brussel Sprouts

There are quite a few ways to use Brussel Sprouts, from raw whole in lunch boxes to cooked a number of way.

Raw use:
  • As such in lunch boxes

    20160427_070110
    Only one Brussel sprouts in the box today, sometimes it is 2! Sometimes, I am to late, some little hands (or bigger ones) have emptied the bag of sprouts in the fridge
  • Add a couple thinly sliced Brussel sprouts to your green salad, it will provide some crunch and a little tasty bite.
Cooked:

Brussel sprouts taste better when associated with other ingredients, they are especially good at absorbing the good flavours of fats such as butter and bacon but also some sharp flavours like balsamic vinegar.

A common use in Australia is the use in Asian dishes such as stir fry dishes or curry.  For those, it is nice when there is still a bit of crunch to the Brussel sprouts.  I would advice the bigger sprouts be cut in half.

The most common way cooked by my mother when I grew up, was steamed and then slowly, but really slowly, reduced with a nut of butter and some bacon dices (lardons) for quite a while, you want the bacon to be crisp and the sprouts slightly coloured.  The sprouts become very soft and melty and quite tasty.  I tried with my children, our au-pair and my husband, it was a success. Unfortunately, I forgot about the photo! As a result, the one below photo is from another blogger.

Brussel Sprouts and Bacon, photo from Morsels and Musings
Brussel Sprouts and Bacon, photo from Morsels and Musings

Another way, which was a random find while looking at ways to use ricotta in savoury dishes is in a mushroom and Brussel sprouts lasagna.  The sprouts are thinly sliced, then reduced in oil (but I should try in butter), seasoned with salt and pepper.  A dash of balsamic vinegar is added to the pan towards the end of the cooking.  I could have eaten the lot straight out of the pan!

lasagne champ chx Brux (2)
The Brussel sprouts precooked overlying a layer of mushrooms in the Brussel sprouts and mushroom lasagna

 

 

Brussel Sprouts Lasagna

A Brussel sprouts lasagna would not have been necessarily my first idea for using Brussel sprouts.  I like to steam them and slowly let them reduce very slowly in a frypan with bacon. Anyway, I was browsing the web for a way to use my ricotta and found a recipe with ricotta, Brussels sprouts and mushrooms.  I had all that handy.  It is delicious, you turn!

The recipe is from Jessica Merchant on her blog “how sweet it is”. The recipe is adopted here in metrics plus a few changes.

The steps are easy, cut and reduce Brussels sprouts, cut and reduce mushrooms, make a cheese sauce, assemble the lasagna, got it?

Serves 6

Ingredients:
  • About 1/2 kg of Brussel sprouts
  • Lasagna sheets (use the “instant cook” ones)
  • 3 cups of white cup mushroom thinly sliced
  • 2 garlic gloves crushed
  • 1.5 cups of ricotta
  • Pecorino cheese grated
  • olive oil, pepper, salt
  • 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

For the cheese sauce (béchamel sauce):

  • 20 g of butter
  • 2 tablespoon flour (white, plain)
  • 25 cl (250 ml) of milk
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Method:
  1. Preheat the oven to 180°C
  2. Slice the Brussels sprouts thinly, remove the stems.
  3. In a thick base fry-an, eat up a couple teaspoon of oil. Add the Brussels sprout and season with salt and pepper.  Mix.  Cook until the sprouts soften and become bright in colour, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes.
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Layer of the lasagna: bright Brussels sprouts and mushrooms
  1. Stir in the balsamic vinegar and cook for another minute. Remove the sprouts from the pan and set them aside in a bowl.
  2. In the same frypan, heat 1-2 tablespoon of olive oil, add the crushed garlic, then the mushrooms. Cook until soft and juicy, stirring from time to time.  It should take 5-10 minutes. Season lightly (salt & pepper).
  3. For the béchamel, melt the butter in a saucepan.  You must use a whisk here.  Once the butter is melted, add the flour all at once, mix and cook until it becomes slightly golden (a roux).  Add the milk slowly and mix with the roux to form a paste at first, then a more liquid sauce. Ensure the fire is on medium (no higher).  Keep stirring.  The béchamel will start to thicken. Add salt and pepper.   When thick, remove from the heat and set aside.
  4. To assemble the lasagna, add about 1/4 cup of the sauce to the bottom of the dish. Add a layer or lasagna sheets, then top with 1/3 of the Brussels sprouts and 1/3 of the mushrooms. Sprinkle on 1/3 cup of cheese and using your fingers, sprinkle on 1/2 cup of the ricotta. Drizzle 1/3 of the sauce on top. Repeat that layer two more times. Finish off the lasagna will any of the remaining cheese, the pecorino and the remaining sauce, evenly drizzled on top.
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My lasagna was generous in ricotta, top layer
  1. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the top is golden and bubbly. Let sit for about 10-20 minutes before slicing.

Serve with a side salad.

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Just out of the oven