Uchiko Brussel Sprouts

I'm baaaacckkk!!!

I have to sincerely apologize for being MIA for like actually an entire year.  But I come bearing gifts for y'all - a gift specifically in the form of the perfect replica recipe for Uchiko's amazing brussel sprouts.

If you live in Austin (and now maybe Dallas I think too), you have probably heard of Uchi and/or Uchiko and how "you totally have to get sushi there" - which you do - but the real draw is the brussel sprouts, trust me.  They are like crack.  I have gone to dinner with my girlfriends and ordered bowl after bowl after bowl of these babies.

So it's no wonder that while I was pregnant, and the rare times I felt like eating, I wanted these delicious nuggets of heaven.  However, Uchiko can be a bit...uppity? and denied me my lifeline through Favor and I was woefully unable to have them whenever I wanted. 

Now that I am post-partum and climbing back to my old self, I got in the kitchen and got to work.  I wanted these sprouts and I made it happen!  These are insanely easy and outrageously good - even my kids chow down. 

Uchiko Brussel Sprouts

Serves 2-4

Ingredients

• 1 lb. fresh brussel sprouts
• Vegetable oil
• Kosher Salt
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup maple syrup (the real stuff)
• Juice of one small lemon
• 1 tbs. minced garlic
• 1 tbs. Sriracha sauce (or more to taste)

Preheat your oven to 400°.

Trim the stems off the sprouts and halve them, top to bottom.  If the sprouts are large, cut them into quarters.  You want them to be bite sized pieces.  Rinse the sprouts with water in a colander and turn out onto paper towels to dry while the oven heats.

Line a rimmed baking sheet with a silicon baking mat (or foil).  Spread the sprouts out on your prepared baking sheet and drizzle with oil and season well with kosher salt.  Toss with tongs to coat the sprouts evenly.  Bake on the top rack for 45-60 minutes, tossing the sprouts every 15 minutes.   Bake until browned and crispy.

While the sprouts cook, prepare the sauce.  Combine the soy sauce, maple syrup, lemon juice, garlic and Sriarcha sauce in a small sauce pan and season with salt and pepper.  Cook over medium heat, bring to a boil and reduce the mixture to half, stirring constantly.

Remove the sprouts from the oven.  In a bowl, toss the sprouts in half the sauce.  Taste and add more sauce to taste.

Lemon Basil Broccolini

This is a super easy, quick green-veggie side dish.  As a momma, it is super important to me that my kids have a vegetable at every meal and this one is an easy go-to that adds a lot of nutrition and taste to their plates. It has also been a huge hit over the years with my vegan and vegetarian friends!

Lemon Basil Broccolini

Ingredients:

• 2 tbs. butter or olive oil
• 1 bunch broccolini
• Half a lemon
• 2 tbs. dried basil
• Salt and pepper

In a skillet over medium-high heat, melt your butter, or heat your oil.  Add the broccolini to the pan, season with salt pepper and half of the basil (or more to taste).  Using tongs, toss to coat. Juice the lemon half over the broccolini.  Toss again.  Season once more with salt, pepper and the remaining basil.  Continue to toss and saute until broccolini are desired tenderness.

Savory Sweet Potato Gratin

I think I am going to make this again for Thanksgiving on Thursday so I should have more pictures soon, but seriously this got gobbled up so fast and everyone loved it I never had a chance to get pictures!

Chanel had mentioned a few weeks before Friendsgiving this year that she wanted to do a sweet potato dish, but was tired of it always being so sweet and didn't want to do anything with marshmallows or brown sugar everywhere - I got what she was saying.  We both love sweet potatoes and they are sweet as they are and I can't turn down savory.

So I went on the hunt and starting turning options over in my head and we ended up with this slightly adapted recipe from the kitchn. I loved the addition of a mild and nutty cheese that wasn't Parmesan, the Jarlsberg was both those things and tangy - perfect!  A great tip when using a softer cheese like Jarlsberg, but don't want it to melt into gooeyness but rather be grated like a hard cheese, you can just freeze it first!  Toss it in the freezer at least a few hours before using and then grate it and it should come apart into tiny crumbs pretty well.

Savory Sweet Potato Gratin

Serves 8 - 12

Ingredients:

• 1 stick butter
• 1 large yellow onion (or two small), halved and sliced
• 3 lbs sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced into thin discs (as thin as you can, less than 1/4 of an inch)
• 1 tbs. ground sage
• 1 tsp. dried thyme
• 1 tsp. whole grain mustard
• 1/2 tsp. paprika
• 1/2 tsp. chipotle powder
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• Salt and pepper
• 1 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 3/4 cup Panko breadcrumbs
• 1 cup grated Jarlsberg, Gruyere or White Cheddar cheese
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan

Preheat your oven to 350° and butter an oval gratin dish (or 9 x 13 rectangle). Melt 2 tbs. butter in a skilled over medium heat and add the onions.  Season them with salt and pepper and caramelize them, stirring frequent for 20-30 minutes, until browned and sweetly fragrant, not burned.

While your onions cook, layer half the sweet potato slices in your gratin dish. You may need to make more than one layer to use half the sweet potato slices.  Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

After the onions have caramelized, add the sage, thyme, mustard, paprika, chipotle powder, garlic and cream.  Season with salt and pepper and bring to a simmer.  Stir until the cream is thickened, just a few minutes.  Remove from heat.

Using a slotted spoon, remove the onions from the cream sauce and spread the onions evenly over the sweet potato layer.  Once all the onions are in your dish, layer the remaining half of sweet potatoes on top.  Season with salt and pepper and pour the cream sauce evenly over the whole gratin.  The cream will not fill the dish, just spread it around as much as you can - don't worry.

Cover the dish with foil and bake for 15 minutes.  Remove the foil and return to the oven for another 15 minutes. 

Meanwhile, assemble the topping.  Melt 2 tbs. of butter, set aside.  In another bowl, combine the Panko, grated cheeses and salt and pepper.  Pour the butter over the bread crumbs and cheese and toss to combine.

Remove the gratin from the oven and sprinkle the topping evenly over the top.  Return the gratin to the oven, uncovered, for another 15 minutes, until topping is golden brown and crispy.

Goat Cheese Mashed Potatoes

I remember when Aaron first made these for me, I was super skeptical.  Like super skeptical.  Why are you putting goat cheese in my mashed potatoes? No no, only butter and cream and salt belong there. I guess I was imagining like crumbled feta or something because man, was I wrong.

I was hooked, for real. It may even be responsible for our marriage, they are that good.  I went back to New York for Christmas that year with my family and insisted on making them for my equally skeptical family - they were quickly converted.

All of my friends back here were won over pretty quick too.  They became a staple with any comfort food when I would make a big dinner for everyone.  If they aren't on the table at our Friendsgiving there might be a revolt.  So now I will share them with you.

Its not even hard, these are very simple but are rich and delicious.  Trust me.

Goat Cheese Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients:

• 4 large red potatoes (each about 3-4 inches long)
• 4 tbs. butter
• 4 oz log of goat cheese
• 1/4 - 1/2 cup heavy cream
• Salt and pepper

Quarter each of the potatoes and place in a large stock pot.  Fill the pot with water, one-inch above the potatoes. Add a generous pinch of salt to the water. 

On the stove, over high heat, cover the pot and bring the water to a boil.  Boil the potatoes, covered, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are fork tender.  Turn off the heat and leave covered for 15 minutes.

Drain the water from the pot, leaving the potatoes in the warm pot.  Add the butter to the potatoes and half of the goat cheese.  Mash the potatoes with a potato masher (for a "rough" mash) or using a hand mixer (for smoother potatoes). After the butter has melted completely, season with salt and pepper and add the remaining goat cheese.  Mix well.

Slowly add the cream, mixing as you go, until the potatoes are your desired consistency. Serve immediately.

You can sub chicken broth for the heavy cream if you prefer, or do a little of both.  Chicken broth will give it a more layered flavor, but can also make the potatoes runnier, so go slow!