Rockstar Veg - Deep Fried Brussel Sprouts

Ok, this may not be a long post but it is a cool one. If you have never tried this before, but want to, then run, don't walk to your kitchen fryer. Or your turkey fryer...

Simplicity at it's best. I probably had the most chill Thanksgiving ever this year. No guests. Just me and the Boo and the baby girl.

Now, I won't lie. Felt rather indulgent to have Tgiving all by ourselves. But that's not to say that we wouldn't have loved the company but this holiday, we wanted to hang in Hawai'i. We can plan our mainland visits whenever it suits so that's what we decided to do. And we loved every stinking minute of it.

But, that is not to say we didn't cook. Oh, we cooked... but part of what we discovered when planning our Thanksgiving dinner this year was how luxurious it really is to cook whatever the hell you want and know that there won't be the random dish that some random relative decided was good enough to bring in exchange for the really really good eats the rest of the family slaves away to make and share. Oh yea, there's always "one of those" in every family. But, it's all in the gathering and the total humor of it all, so still, I kinda missed that part.

Anyway, this year, since we could make whatever we want and didn't have to, out of obligation/devotion/madness, make anything we didn't want to, it was stellar!!

Dividing up the cooking in our house, easy. Planning the execution, iffy, but pretty easy and that's only because unlike me, my partner needs almost perfect isolation in the kitchen when he's doing his thing. I can cook in total chaos. Hold a solid convo and cook, no, but still, I can manage. Sergeant Perfection must have order. So, hell, I give him all the space he needs to focus like the Iron Chef he actually is.

Truth be told, I like his serious approach and he delivers and that kind of focus, I appreciate too. We are both curious cats so keeping out of each other's way is harder than it sounds when you want to see what the other is up to. It's professional curiosity, I tell him. And that's the truth. My Star Lord of the Kitchen Stadium. (He's that funny, too.)

We agreed on the whole menu. Agreed on the plan, the execution and worked the plan, as Star Lord expresses it. It was a dream and we both got such a kick out of how easy our dinner was. Almost sans stress entirely. Except he is a Cowboys fan, which we have to excuse and ignore. Other than that, total drama free, complete and utter indulgence.

My favorite thing this Thanksgiving turned out to be the Rockstar Brussel Sprouts. Who knew? Who knew you can make yourself sick eating brussel sprouts? It's a real thing, people. You can. As one of my closest friends pointed out: "of all things to make yourself sick over, you chose brussel sprouts? What the hell, Tinker Bell? I ate 2 pies, you ate 2 lbs of brussel sprouts. I hate you."

But dude, these brussel sprouts were kinda inspired by some hilarious episode of holiday Chopped or something. Guy's Grocery Games. No idea, but I remember saying, hey! That's a damn good idea.

That's just what we did. Fry the turkey. Drop the sprouts. Boom! By the time the bird had rested, the sprouts were perfectly done and boy, oh boy! FREAKING THE BOMB.

I added my own little twist, check this out:
White truffle oil
Fresh parmesan cheese
salt, pepper
minced garlic, optional

Just grated the parm, drizzled in a little truffle oil, salt and pepper and tossed the lot. Done. The garlic, we did the second time we made them in the same week. lol! Seriously, that good.

Dipping sauce (if you need it):
Reaper Aioli or
Thai sweet chili sauce or
your favorite sauce

We used peanut oil for our frying, as usual. I think the temp was right around 350-375 degrees F. I don't think it took more than 10 minutes but you definitely know they are done when they begin to caramelize and look like they may burn. They won't really but you will also see that the brussels will "bloom" like a little flower and open up it's outter leaves ever so slightly. Perfect. If you aren't sure, pop one out and eat it. But careful, they are hella hot right out of the fryer.

A few days later, despite overdoing it the first time, we made them again. Yes, that good... but this time we did it in our little kitchen deep fryer and again, total perfection. And I ate too many, but beside the point.

Now, we had other stuff for Thanksgiving like Star Lord's mother's oyster dressing. Turned out almost perfectly but like I said, he is the perfectionist, not I. I loved it but he knows the bar is kinda high and he also knew that I know if it's not the same as his Mom's. She is a serious, serious pro. Hm, kinda makes some sense, huh? ;)

All day we were both getting texts from Mama expressing concern about the whole process. It was hilarious. But she knows him well and sticking to the recipe ain't one of his strong suits. Still. It was de-freaking-licious. The only thing he said was, "Please don't tell Mama." lol! Ok, Groot. Secret is safe with me.

I have my own take on that recipe I'd love to try and I might just do it one random night next year...Roland, my brother in law's bff, does his mother's oyster dressing and it is also to die for. But his mom's has hot Cajun jalapeno sausage as well as oysters and I love that version, too. But if I tried to do that without a trial run on a less thankful day, it's asking for trouble in the Dirty South.

So, as usual, I did have a longish story for a short recipe. Oh well. C'est la vie au Hawai'i... Hope you enjoy this lovely turn on a classic Thanksgiving staple. I won't be going back to any other way of cooking them any time soon. And I just might make them again this week.

Bad to the Bone Naturally Fermented Sauerkraut

I won't even go into how much sauerkraut I can consume. It's like on a scale... and that's because my normal method of making sauerkraut involves fermenting my veggies in very large Harsch-style fermentation crocks made by Gartopf.

And I have obtained these beautiful vessels and made an enormous amount of sauerkraut over the years because Fall often brings an abundance of cabbage. Whether grown at home in the garden or picked up like irresistible vegetable magnets at some beautiful farmer's market veggie stand, I can never resist the urge to preserve it all for later consumption when fresh greens are less abundant.

10L and 15L crocks make a pretty decent amount of pickled anything, whether it's dill pickles, pickled hot peppers, sauerkraut, kimchi, whatever. It's a lot.  And when they are full, they are heavy. Like, you might strain yourself if you try to lift them. That kinda heavy...

For instance, if you have 15 or more lbs of cabbage, then the larger, traditional glazed clay crocks are the way to go. They aren't cheap and can run anywhere from $85 to over $200, but it's definitely how you want to make a larger batch.

But lo and behold, I stumbled upon this little fermentation container known as the Crazy Korean Kimchi maker. Or something like that. But this company makes them in every size you will ever need.

What I love about this one is that it is fridge-size. If you've ever made kimchi before, you know that it's a fridge or cool cellar, kind of affair. Me, I've always made my kimchi in a click clack style food container that I kept in the fridge. An airtight, container, mind you. Understating it politely, kimchi can be rather aromatic. Especially to those untrained in the ways of kimchi. lol! I love that kind of intense, sucker punch of flavor, for real but not really loving a cheesecake with a hint of kimchi...

Having said that, I love anything naturally fermented. I drink fermented tea, keep sourdoughs, brew beer, kombucha, dabble in charcuterie, cheese. You get the crazy picture... That is to say, I am fascinated by this old fashioned preservation method that has become all but lost and is now considered by most to be a hobby instead of a life or death necessity of feeding the family throughout the winter.

So when I saw this contraption a few years ago on Amazon while looking for a new glass kimchi jar, I had to have it. It seemed ingenious.

Easier to refrigerate and the best part of it is that it has it's own flexible airlock layer that naturally vents the fermentation gases. No weights and no mess or fuss with your fermented vegetables not staying beneath the fermenting brining liquid. That sometimes leads to mold or off flavors and this handy little all in one box does it all and does it very well.

Not one to settle for single-taskers in the kitchen, I wanted to test drive it with a few smaller batch ferments I needed to do recently. For one, I used it to speed up a chili pepper ferment for a microbrew of hot sauce. It was outstanding and the ferment was so perfect after 2 weeks, I could complete the hot sauce I was making with the fermented peppers.

On to bigger and better culinary experiments.

Here's the way I used it for making my first batch of bad-to-the-bone sauerkraut. And yes, at my house, that's now a thing....

Bad to the Bone Sauerkraut Ingredients:
cabbage, sliced thinly with a knife or mandolin slicer
pink Himalayan salt

Brining ratio, if necessary:
2 c water
2 tbsp distilled white vinegar
1 tbsp pink Himalayan salt

1. Slice the cabbage thinly and layer on the bottom of whatever vessel you are using for your ferment. It could be a ceramic or glass jar.
2. Sprinkle salt over the layer of cabbage. Don't have to go crazy here. A light touch will do. Pound with a cabbage muddler/pounder, if you have one and if you make kraut a lot, you will want one. I couldn't find mine, funny enough, so I used the meat pounder.
3. Pound the cabbage layer a bit and then add another layer of salted cabbage. Continue to pound each layer until the cabbage begins to release it's natural water. You will be surprised.
4. At this point, you should have enough natural juices to submerge the now tightly pressed cabbage but if not, add a simple brine using the above ratio until you can fully submerge the cabbage. This container I'm using has a silicone layer with a built in airvac loc and seal. It performs the same function as traditional fermentation weights or plates. If using a more traditional fermenting crock or jar, the cabbage needs to be submerged in its liquid using fermentation stones, weights, a plate, etc.
5. Seal the vessel. Mine above has a locking lid. My other crocks have large stone fitted lids and are sealed with water in a water channel that creates an airtight seal. You can also just use a cheesecloth, muslin or tea towel secured with a rubber band. You want to keep out bugs and insects as well as unwanted bacteria or other airborne contaminants.

When it comes to sauerkraut, like most any other fermented vegetables, it really is a matter of taste. How long you let the fermentation go, depends on how sour you like your ferment. If you are more on the milder side of that fence, then check your kraut after a week and then again after another week. I think I let mine ferment for about 4-6 weeks but because I'm a curious cat, I will check the ferment starting about week 2. I like a super sour kraut so 6 weeks is still a-ok in my book. 

Remember that in times past, our grandparents used to ferment for the entire winter months, keeping their kraut and pickles in really large crocks or barrels even, just pulling out only what would be eaten within a few days, as needed. You need the larger crocks for that, in my opinion, which I have, but I usually just put it all up in jars just in case something goes awry. Like... I forget to keep the water channel full to create the watertight seal and insets get in. That is just suck-o-rama. Super suck-o-rama.

Again, one of the reasons I'm a little smitten with the Crazy Korean Kimchi maker is that it is a smaller, more manageable batch and it solves all of the drama because it keeps everything out while letting the ferment bubble and burp safely away. That's true regardless of whether you are doing a room temperature ferment, a basement ferment or a fridge ferment, like kimchi where you need to stop the fermentation process at some point. 

Me, I just blow stuff up and this can help with that little problem of over-fermenting because it's small enough to store in the 'ol refrigerator. But even that, can sometimes go awry, as you may have heard... so experiment with wild fermentation abandon at your own risk. ;)

One more handy little gadget to mention before I leave you to your fermentation devices. And that, was a pun intended, because this little device has been my newest BFF in addition to the crazy Korean mentioned above. Pickle Pipes. Yup. Mine came in a pack of 4 and they have since become one of the most used pickling gadgets in the house.

The silicone lids fit with wide mouth canning jar rings and creates an airlock with zero hassle. That little nipple thingy has a hole in it like a child's bottle might but is small enough to only let gases out while preventing access to insects, etc. What I have found is that not only are they very useful for fermenting foods. But if you use them to store fresh peppers, it will literally extend the shelf life of your fresh peppers for WEEKS. That's right. I said weeks, my friends. I was harvesting peppers out of my garden over the course of several weeks in order to start a small batch of hot sauce, but at first, I didn't have enough peppers to start. 

I added my fresh peppers to my jar, no liquid of any kind, of course. Just the washed, fresh peppers. Sealed the jar with a pickle pipe and ring, just as is shown above and I was able to collect peppers over the course of several weeks, adding them to my jar until it was full. Then I started another jar and did that until I had 3 half gallon jars full. 

I couldn't believe my eyes, honestly. I swear to Julia, the peppers I had picked nearly 5 weeks prior were indistinguishable in quality from the ones i had freshly picked that same day. You could not see a bit of deterioration, no soft spots or rotten peppers. Perfect.  The peppers were refrigerated the whole time in my pickle pipe jars. Between the refrigeration and the pickle pipe, the combination allowed me to preserve my fresh pepper harvest over 6 weeks!!! Freaking incredible. So well worth it just for this sole purpose if you grow and eat fresh peppers on a regular basis.