Brussels Sprouts: My new favorite vegetable???

They say that Brussels sprouts are one of the top five most hated vegetables in the world. Not so at Haldane Elementary School. Last Wednesday Chef Mark Gandara visited Mrs. Hocker's and Mrs. Walker's 1st grade classes and cooked up two special dishes using brussels sprouts as the main ingredient. In Mrs. Hocker's class they made Braised Brussels Sprouts in apple cider sprinkled with local bacon. In Mrs. Walker's class they made Mashed Brussels Sprouts baked with parmesan and cream. After helping Chef Mark prepare the two dishes, just about every child tried them. And one little girl blurted out, "Brussels sprouts are my new favorite vegetable!"

Better start making them at home moms and dads! Here are the recipes:

MASHED BRUSSELS WITH PARMESAN AND CREAM

Serves 4

1 1/4 lbs Brussels sprouts

A little grated nutmeg

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 cup grated Parmesan

Preheat the oven to 325F. Remove any outer leaves from the sprouts. Cut them in half.  Cook the sprouts in rapidly boiling unsalted water for four minutes. Drain, then put them in a food processor, along with some salt and pepper. Process briefly until  coarsely chopped. Season with a small pinch of nutmeg. Stir in the cream and most of the cheese. Scoop into a baking dish. Scatter with the reserved Parmesan and bake for 25 minutes or so until golden.

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Master recipe for Braised Brussels Sprouts

Serves 4

1 lb small Brussels Sprouts cut in half and stem trimmed with a knife. Discard outer leaves removed by hand

1/2 tsp salt

Bring the sprouts, 1/2 cup of water, and salt to boil in a 2-quart sauce pan over medium-high heat. Cover and simmer (shaking the pan once or twice to redistribute the sprouts) until a knife tip inserted into the center of a sprout meets no resistance, 8-10 minutes. Drain well and season (with ground black pepper and either olive oil or butter) and use in the below recipe.

BRUSSELS SPROUTS WITH BACON and CIDER

(*note do not use maple-flavored bacon, it will give an unpleasant flavor to this dish. To keep the bacon crisp, add the cooked bacon to the Brussels sprouts immediately before serving)

3 oz (about 3 slices) bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

2 medium cloves garlic minced or pressed

1/2 tsp minced fresh thyme leaves

3/4 cup cider or apple juice

1/8 tsp ground black pepper

1 Recipe brussels sprouts (see above)

1. Cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium-high heat until crisp about 5 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the bacon to a plate lined with paper towels; set aside.

2. Add the garlic and thyme to the rendered bacon fat in the skillet (there should be 2-3 tbsp of fat) and cook until fragrant about 1 minute. Add the cider and pepper and cook until the liquid is reduced by half, about 4 minutes. Add the sprouts and cook until heated through about 1 minute longer. Sprinkle with the reserved bacon and serve immediately.

Mrs. Hocker's 1st grade class

 Mrs. Walker's 1st grade Class

Chef in the Classroom at The Garrison School: Potatoes! Potatoes! Potatoes!

For the month of October, celebrating National Food Day, the Garrison sixth graders had the opportunity to work with Chef Laurie Gershgorn of Healthy Culinary Creations and made four fabulous dishes using locally grown potatoes.

The class was broken up into four groups:
Group 1 made sweet potato muffins
Group 2 made home fries
Group 3 made potato salad
Group 4 made an "experimental" potato mash

Everyone got to measure, mix, cook and best of all taste their creations.

Garrison 6th Graders making sweet potato muffin

Garrison 6th graders making potato veggie home fries