Eva's Kitchen - Eva Longoria Parker [37]
spicy roasted brussels sprouts
My family knows that roasting is my favorite way to prepare Brussels sprouts (it’s one of my Thanksgiving specialties), so when my sister Emily found a version with kimchi in a magazine, she sent it straight to me. Kimchi, a staple in the Korean diet, is a delicious, tangy, fermented cabbage. It can be found in well-stocked grocery stores and in Korean markets. The flavor of the finished dish really depends on the kimchi, so find one you like.
If you don’t like a lot of spice, just roast the Brussels sprouts as directed here and leave out the kimchi. Roasted Brussels sprouts on their own are both sweet and savory.
MAKES 4 SERVINGS
6 cups Brussels sprouts, ends trimmed, halved lengthwise through core
3 tablespoons olive oil
Kosher salt and ground black pepper
1 16-ounce jar medium-spicy kimchi with juice
1. Preheat the oven to 425°F.
2. On a rimmed baking sheet, spread the Brussels sprouts. Drizzle over the oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast, tossing once, until the Brussels sprouts are brown and tender, 20 to 25 minutes.
3. Add the kimchi to the Brussels sprouts and gently toss to combine. Return to the oven and roast until the kimchi is heated through, 1 to 2 minutes. Serve.
garlic green beans
One of my chores when I was a kid was to “top and tail” and remove the strings from the green beans we’d harvested from the garden. The baskets of fresh-picked green beans sometimes seemed endlessly high and I often questioned why I had to go to all that trouble to remove something as harmless as tops and tails. Today I appreciate the simplicity of the task. I love fresh green beans so much that I miss them terribly when they’re out of season. You can cook the beans as long as you like; the longer they cook, the sweeter they get.
MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS
Kosher salt to taste
1½ pounds green beans, trimmed and halved if long
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
6 garlic cloves, minced
1. Prepare a large bowl of ice water and bring a large saucepan of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the green beans and cook for 30 seconds. Drain the beans and immediately submerge them in the ice water to stop the cooking. Let the beans sit in the ice water for a couple of minutes, and then drain thoroughly.
2. In a large skillet, heat the butter over medium-low heat. When the butter has melted, add the garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 2 to 3 minutes; do not let the garlic brown. Stir in the green beans and cook gently until crisp-tender, 10 to 12 minutes, or until softer to the bite—this is how I like them—20 to 25 minutes. You want to hear a gentle sizzling sound as they cook, but no more than that. Add salt to taste and serve.
FROM AUNT ELSA’S KITCHEN Placing green vegetables in boiling water for less than a minute and then plunging them into ice water—what professionals call blanching and shocking—keeps them very green and pretty. You can skip this step if you don’t have time to wait for the water to boil.
brazilian leeks
I think leeks are underappreciated by most and even intimidating to some people. They are featured in many recipes and restaurant dishes as an aromatic base flavor, but until my Brazilian friend Paolo served them to me this way, I’d never seen them as a proper side dish standing all on their own. They are part of the onion family and, as with onions, slow cooking will bring out their natural sugars. Patience is a real virtue here. Cook them too fast, over heat that’s too high, and they will burn. Slow, gentle heat will produce meltingly soft and sweet leeks that can be twirled on a fork like spaghetti. I love these with beef dishes such as Filets Mignons with Sweet Balsamic Reduction or Flank Steak with Lime Marinade.
MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS
4 leeks (white and light green parts only)
4 to 6 tablespoons olive oil
½ tablespoon unsalted butter
Kosher salt and ground black pepper