I could write a book about cooking with my mother, but I’m
not going to. I’m going to stick with a blog post as The Kitchen of A. Darr tell-all
memoir would likely take years and all I have is the dwindling hours of the
work week.
I enjoy cooking with my mother for several reasons. One, we
often cook together in our kitchen at my childhood home, which is by no means the
granite countertop and stainless steel fortress so often ooo-ed and ahhh-ed
over on HGTV, but entirely functional, and with more counter space than any apartment
kitchen I cook in day in and day out. Second, her kitchen is always stocked. Fancy
sprinkles for roll-out cookies? Check! Flank steak and lamb chops in the
freezer? Mais oui! Cheese and charcuterie from every Western European country?
Boom. Third, the woman knows her stuff. I still call her on the reg, even if I’m
at my laptop, finger strokes away from a Google search, to get her opinion of
cook times, methods, and ingredient substitutes.
AD does not care what website she gets her recipes from, or
if her plate looks exactly like the picture.
AD stocks up on expensive ingredients, like olive oil and vinegars, and
the fancy cake mixes, at William Sonoma seasonal sales to use in both the
everyday as well as stuff Christmas stockings. A.D. keeps it simple and doesn’t
fuss over technique or elaborate table settings. Basically, my mother is a kitchen honey
badger.
I was home a few weeks ago and we cooked together. It’s take
a few years for us to be able to do this without one of us peacing out and
retiring to the living room couch in exasperation, but we can do it now. We
mulled over restaurant options, but after a quick pantry survey that yielded lamb
chops, brussel sprouts, and those delicious store-bought mashed potatoes (don’t
hate), we decided to cook at home.
True to form, A.D. Googled a recipe and came up with crusted
lamb chops with a pan sauce. I let her take the protein duties, as well being
responsible for heating the mash up in the microwave, and I took hold of the
brussel sprouts. I considered just roasting the sprouts, but I had also had a large martini before we started cooking, so I was feeling slightly more adventurous.
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| baa baa black sheep |
I started by trimming the sprouts, cut off the stems and
pulled off some of the outer leaves, and then chopped them in half. I got some
garlic and red pepper flakes sautéing in the pan and threw the sprouts in.
While they browned, I considered my next steps. I decided to speed up the cook
time. I poured some white wine (always within reach in A.D.’s kitchen) and poured
some in the sauté pan. After I let the alcohol cook off, I then threw a lid on
it---steamed sprouts! Took the lid off and tasted one, and realized they weren’t
quite right. Oooo, what makes everything better? Grated parm! Ah, and the oven
was on from the lamb chops! Put some grated parm on top and stuck the pan in the
oven. This browned the cheese and finished cooking the sprouts. Perfect!
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| Gettin crusted |
We had a fantastic meal. My Dad even broke out a nice bottle
of red--- classy guy!
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| Excellence is hereditary |
Brussel Sprouts
Cooked Three Ways
1 clove garlic, minced
½ tsp red pepper flakes
Brussel Sprouts, trimmed and cut in half
½ cup white wine
Grated Parmesan cheese
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Over medium high heat, heat a
couple tbs of olive oil in a pan and cook garlic and red pepper flakes for about
30 seconds. Add the brussel sprouts and sauté for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Pour wine in pan and let the alcohol cook off, about 30 seconds. Place lid over
sprouts and turn heat down. Allow to simmer for 2-3 minutes. Remove lid and
sprinkle parmesan cheese over sprouts, then stick pan in over for about 3
minutes, or under the broiler for just under a minute (watch it!). Enjoy!
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| Sproutz! |
