À la légumes!

Tonight I was home alone, sans Dave, and I decided to take a trip to Paris - with some vegetables he doesn't particularly enjoy. These recipes come from my hero, Ina Garten, in her wonderful book, Barefoot in Paris.

Brussels Sprouts Lardons

I have made this delicious recipe before, but I'm documenting it here for the first time. If you aren't a fan of Brussels sprouts, which many people are not, this is a good starter recipe, because the meat and stock really softens the thick flavor of the sprouts.

First, brown cut-up pancetta (or bacon, or, in this case, Canadian bacon) in a pan coated with olive oil.


While the meat is browning, cut Brussels sprouts in half. Look how pretty they are.


Then remove the meat and add the sprouts to the leftover grease. After the sprouts brown, add the stock and boil for about 15 minutes.


After you cook down the stock, you can add the meat back in and heat through.


Maybe it's my newfound love of vegetables, or maybe it's Ina's pizazz, but I think this dish just looks gorgeous. Onto the next French-style vegetable:

Radishes with Butter and Salt

This is a very simple recipe that Ina said comes from a popular French children's snack. Simply serve salted radishes atop bread or crackers spread with butter.


It sounds really weird, but it was quite good. I especially liked the radishes on Rosemary & Olive Oil Triscuits. The peppery flavor of the radishes goes well with the softness of the butter and the herbs on the Triscuits.


If you follow the link for this dish, Ina shows you how to make delicious herbed butter. I've got to try THAT sometime.

So that's all folks - this was my first foray into a non-BH&G cookbook on this blog, and I hope you have enjoyed. More Ina to come.