Food Find

I recently stumbled upon the blog 101 Cookbooks. A site started by someone who decided that she had too many cookbooks -- I think I have more than she did when she started -- is bound to be a site that I like.

I found a delicious recipe for Brussels sprouts yesterday. I realize that some may think that one could never use the word delicious to describe Brussels sprouts, but if you think that, I'd bet that you've never had fresh sprouts cooked correctly. I think that they are one of those adult tastes that most adults veer away from because they have horrid memories of nasty, bitter, overcooked sprouts that some old relative cooked and made you eat. Nobody ever remembers their own mother cooking those horrible mini cabbage bombs; even the cruelest mom wouldn't force her offspring to eat such unappetizing green things.

Shredded Brussels Sprouts and Apples turned out to be a perfect recipe for me. I did not use the tofu called for; (Warning: Vegetarians, close your eyes and skip to the next paragraph) instead, I used pork roast, leftover from the roast we had Sunday night. The combination of sprouts, apples and pork was great.

I didn't have real maple syrup in the house, so I used some pure Indiana Shagbark hickory sauce. It isn't quite as sweet as maple syrup, but it worked fine in this recipe.

I also didn't have any pine nuts in the cupboard, so I used a handful of pistachio and dried cranberry mix. The cranberries complemented the apples nicely, but the pistachios didn't seem to fit. I ended up picking them out by hand. The cranberries, though, added nice color to the plate.

Heidi's site is mostly vegetables, but occasionally she features some dessert recipes as well.

This site led me to another find: TasteBook. At TasteBook, one can design one's own cookbook, fill it with favorite recipes online, and then have copies printed and delivered. The ability to customize these books is really nice. I think that this would make a great housewarming present for someone with a new kitchen just begging to cook up something great.