Holiday Sprouts: A Festive Valentine Side Dish from Cleo Coyle #ValentinesDay

Cleo Coyle: Blue cheeses brings a rich and sophisticated flavor note to recipes, especially when paired with the sweetness of ripe or dried fruits. The second time I realized this was many years ago while stuffing my face in a beloved New York eatery called Bryant Park Grill, where I completely blissed-out over a pear and Stilton salad. 

The first time I got a clue, I was in my early twenties, visiting a friend in England, who took me to a formal dinner at Oxford University. The dinner felt like something out of Harry Potter (without the magic wands and sorting hat :)). Then the close of the meal showed me true culinary magic, and I happily concluded that port and Stilton were my new best friends. 

The elegant finish to that formal English meal introduced me to the idea of pairing blue cheese with the flavor of sweet, ripe fruit. It's the same happy pairing I've used in today's recipe. 

As for my New York experience, here's a photo
of the beautiful restaurant where it took place...

New York magazine called Bryant Park Grill one of the best-situated and most attractive dining rooms in the city, and so it is. If you are planning a trip to Manhattan or even a romantic Valentine's dinner, click here or on the photo above to learn more about this lovely spot.

The 💗 Love Connection...

To learn more,
click here.

While Bryant Park Grill's famous pear and Stilton salad helped to inspire today's recipe, there is another connection between us: a literary one.

My husband and I have always loved the pretty city park location of this airy restaurant. We loved it so much, in fact, that we decided to use it as a featured setting in our 12th Coffeehouse Mystery HOLIDAY BUZZ. 

Not only that...

This restaurant stands right behind New York Public Library's great and glorious main branch, a landmark Beaux-Arts building that we featured in our 8th Coffeehouse Mystery HOLIDAY GRIND.

So you see, with both literary and culinary love connections attached to this side dish, we couldn't help but feature it for Valentine's week...

A RECIPE NOTE FROM CLEO 

Cleo Coyle has a partner in

crime-writing—her husband.

Learn about their books

by clicking here and here.

These fancied-up sprouts pair beautifully with almost any kind of main dish, and they're lovely served with wine or champagne. 

When I first shared this recipe (over ten years ago), I suggested it as a festive side dish for holiday dinners. But the coupling of sophisticated flavors makes it a great side for a romantic Valentine's meal, as well. 

Finally, although English Stilton is always an amazing choice, any blue cheese will work in this recipe, including Danish blue (aka Danablu), Italian Gorgonzola, or French Roquefort. And if you’re not a fan of dried figs, try substituting dried cranberries (or Craisins), which is an equally festive flavor. As long as you pair the blue with a sweet, dried fruit, you're on the right culinary track.

Where to buy Stilton?

Again, while any blue cheese will work in this recipe, if you're a fan of English Stilton and fancy a treat, click here to virtually visit my favorite cheese shop in New York City. Murray's Cheese Shop is located in the heart of Greenwich Village, where our Coffeehouse Mysteries are set, and they ship almost anywhere.

To download this recipe in a 

free PDF that you can print, 

save, or share, click here.

Click for the free recipe PDF.

Cleo Coyle's Holiday Sprouts
with Blue Cheese, Bacon, and Figs

Makes 4 servings

Ingredients:

3 slices thick bacon (or 4 slices thin)

1 large yellow onion, chopped 

1 10-oz package of whole Brussels sprouts (about 18-20 sprouts)

10 dried mission figs, roughly chopped (Or 3/4 cup dried cranberries.)
1-1/4 cups water
Crumbled blue cheese (any blue will do; English Stilton is my fave)

DIRECTIONS:

(1) Prepare sprouts and figs: Wash and dry sprouts and slice each in half. Chop dried figs. Set aside. (If you aren’t a fan of figs, try 3/4 cup dried cranberries or Craisins.)

(2) Brown bacon pieces: Cut bacon slices into small pieces. In large skillet, fry bacon pieces until browned but not crisp. NOTE: As soon as you move to the next step in this recipe, the bacon will stop browning, so make sure your bacon displays some nice caramelized color before you move to step three and toss in your onions.

(3) Add chopped onions: Throw in the chopped onions and sauté until lightly caramelized. Remember: color equals flavor! If you move to the next step before the onions get a bit of color on them, they will not taste as sweet and the dish will not be as tasty. As with so many things in life, patience is a virtue, especially when sautéing onions!

(4) Toss in sprouts and figs: With the bacon browned and the onions sweetly caramelized, you are ready to throw your sliced sprouts and chopped figs into the pan. Fold these in well, until they are absolutely glistening with the rich, delicious flavor of rendered bacon fat!

(5) Add water, cover, and simmer: Here is the trickiest step. Pour in about one and one-quart cups of water (1-1/4 cups). Cover and simmer the mixture on medium-high heat for about 8 to 10 minutes. After about 8 minutes, lift the lid and stir. Bite into one of the sprouts to see how far it is from properly cooked through. You want a nice al dente texture and not mush. If the sprout is too hard, replace the lid and keep going, checking every few minutes.

Also check to see if the water is evaporating too slowly or quickly. If too slowly, remove the lid and turn up the heat. If too quickly, add a little more water so the mixture does not burn. While you do not want this dish to be swimming in liquid at the end of the cooking process, neither do you want it to scorch. The trick here is getting the water to evaporate at the proper rate so that the sprouts are perfectly cooked through and still browned a bit in the pan, giving you that beautiful little caramelized rim that you see in my photos. (Yes, color = flavor. But black = burned!)

(6) Finish: To serve, spoon onto serving plates and crumble your favorite blue cheese on top, whether it’s a Danish blue, an Italian Gorgonzola, or a French Roquefort. For a special treat, try English Stilton, which you can also serve as an appetizer with sweet slices of pear, or as a final course with a lovely glass of port before coffee, tea, or espresso.

Click for the free recipe PDF.

☕

Eat (and read) with joy!   

~ Cleo Coyle

New York Times bestselling author
of The Coffeehouse Mysteries &
Haunted Bookshop Mysteries

This is us >> Alice and Marc.

Together we write as Cleo Coyle. 

Visit our online coffeehouse here.
And follow us at these links...

Facebook - Twitter - Instagram

Pinterest - Bookbub - Goodreads

5 Best of Year Lists!

Our NEW Coffeehouse Mystery!

Learn more or buy at:

 Amazon * B&N

Indie * BAM

👇

Click the image above for our free, illustrated guide
to the recipes found in our new Coffeehouse Mystery:
Brewed Awakening.

👇

CLEO IS NOW WORKING ON HER

NEXT BOOK AND NEWSLETTER.

Don't miss her fun giveaways,
bonus recipes, or latest
book news.

TO SIGN UP...

New Updated Version!

The Coffeehouse Mysteries are bestselling
works of amateur sleuth fiction set in a landmark 

Greenwich Village coffeehouse, and each of the
18 titles includes the added bonus of recipes.

Click for Cleo's Free Checklist of
Coffeehouse Books in Order

Irish Blue Cheese Potato Cakes

In case all the shamrocks plastered all over everything haven’t clued you in, this Sunday is the day we (Irish and other folk) celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day. As I may have mentioned, I’ve been collecting Irish cookbooks for quite a while, and wow, have they improved in recent years! The old standards are still there—Irish stew, Colcannon, boxty, corned beef and cabbage and the like—but also great seafood dishes and wonderful cheeses have appeared.

And don’t forget potatoes! I was trolling through a book of regional recipes collected by Margaret Johnson and came upon the recipe for potato cakes with blue cheese, that originated in a vegetarian restaurant in Cork. I wish I could say I’d been there, but every time I’ve driven in Cork city I get lost. I’ve never stopped to eat anything there.

But this recipe sounds both creamy and tangy, with assorted herbs and spices added, and it would make a great side dish.

Blue Cheese Potato Cakes

Ingredients:

1/2 pound baking potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces

2 Tblsp unsalted butter

2 Tblsp minced fresh chives

1 Tblsp minced garlic

Salt and pepper to taste

2 Tblsp fresh dill, minced

2 Tblsp fresh flat-leaf parsley, minced

1 cup (4 oz.) Cashel Blue cheese, crumbled

     (or any other blue cheese you like)

1 egg yolk

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 eggs beaten with 1/2 cup milk

1 to 1-1/2 bread crumbs (you can add dried herbs, salt and pepper)

1 to 1-1/2 cups canola oil

Instructions:

Cook the potatoes in boiling salted water for 12-15 minutes, or until tender. (Note: be sure to use baking potatoes, which have a coarse texture when cooked and will hold together well.)

Drain and mash the potatoes.

Butter, garlic and chives

In a small skillet, melt the butter over low heat. Cook the chives and the garlic for a minute or two, until they are just soft. Stir the herbs into the mashed potatoes. Then stir in the salt, pepper, dill and parsley. Remove from the heat and let cool completely. 

Stir in the cheese and egg yolk (the cheese can remain lumpy).

Form the potato mixtures into cakes and refrigerate for 10 minutes to firm up. Dredge the cakes with flour and coat with the egg/milk mixture, then coat with the bread crumbs.

The crumbs make these nice and crispy

In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the cakes and cook for 3-5 minutes on each side, until they are browned.

No, the potato cakes are not gigantic--that's a Cornish
game hen on the left!

You can eat them right away, or save them until the meal. If you do save them, place the cakes on a baking sheet and reheat in a 250-degree oven for about five minutes.

Serve with a dollop of sour cream or crème fraiche if you like (but there are already plenty of flavors in the cakes).

I'm still polishing the next book, which doesn't have a title yet. I keep thinking "The Hole in the Wall Gang" (my homage to Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid), but it doesn't really fit, even though there is a hole in the wall in the story which plays an important part. Stay tuned!

www.sheilaconnolly.com

Crispy Macaroni

by Sheila Connolly

A well-known chef, Gordon Hamersley, has joined our regional paper as a regular columnist, and this recipe was part of his kick-off. I wish I could say that know his restaurant, but alas, I don’t venture into Boston often just for a meal (especially since my daughter—my partner in food crime—left town for Chicago). But based on this first article, I think the chef would fit right in with our MLK gang: He starts off with a story about what inspired his recipe, and how he experimented with it before going public.

We here at MLK are careful to credit the originators of our recipes (if we didn’t make them up ourselves!), although of course we usually end up tweaking them. This recipe intrigued and challenged me—it made me want to try it. It’s not difficult, but it does take two days to complete. And when I read the part about the gelatin, my first response was, “you’ve got to be kidding? Macaroni and cheese and gelatin?” So read on and see how things turned out.

Gordon Hamersley’s Crispy Macaroni and Blue Cheese

Oil (for the pan)

Serves 6

Gelatin comes in packets of 2½ teaspoons. You need about 2 packets here. Allow enough time for the mixture to set, at least 6 hours. Plastic wrap helps the mixture release more easily from the pan.

Day One:

Vegetable oil (for the pan)

1/2 pound elbow macaroni

1  tablespoon vegetable oil

1/2 medium onion, chopped

1/2 cup chicken stock

2 packets (2-1/2 tsp each)

   unflavored powdered gelatin

1-1/2 cups heavy cream

2 Tblsp chopped fresh chives

1 Tblsp chopped fresh thyme

8 oz. blue cheese, cut into cubes

Salt and pepper to taste

Oil a 9-inch square pan. Line it with plastic wrap, letting the excess hang over the edges (this makes the dish easy to remove from the pan).

Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil and add plenty of salt. Add the macaroni and cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes or until the pasta is tender but not mushy. Drain, shaking it several times to make sure all the water is out of the elbows. Transfer to a bowl.

In a large skillet over medium heat, heat the 1 tablespoon of oil. Add the onion and cook, stirring often, for 8 minutes or until tender and golden. Add the chicken stock and sprinkle the gelatin into the liquids. Turn the heat to low and whisk until the gelatin dissolves. Add the cream to the skillet and bring to a boil.

Pour the cream mixture over the macaroni in the bowl. Add the chives and thyme. Stir well so the cream gets inside the elbows. Add the blue cheese and pepper and stir again. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and spread to make an even layer. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 6 hours or overnight.

Day Two:

1       tablespoon unsalted butter

1       cup panko crumbs

¼      cup flour, in a shallow bowl

2       eggs, lightly beaten in a shallow bowl

In a small skillet over medium heat, melt the butter until it starts to bubble. Add the panko and cook, stirring often, for 3 minutes, or until it is deep golden brown. Transfer to a shallow bowl and let it cool.

With a knife, mark the macaroni and cheese into in the pan into 6 squares Using an offset spatula, lift them out of the pan. [Warning! This is tricky!]

Put the panko into a pie pan or shallow bowl. Place the flour (in a bowl), eggs (in a bowl), and panko (in whatever it’s in) in a line on the counter. Dust each macaroni piece first with flour, then dip into the egg, and finally press the panko onto the surface. Refrigerate until ready to cook.

Preheat the oven at 375 degrees. Oil a large rimmed baking sheet.

Place the macaroni squares on the baking sheet. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center of a piece is hot to the touch when withdrawn. Using a wide metal spatula, carefully lift the crispy macaroni onto plates.

I did tell you this was an experiment, didn’t I? And I have to say I was not blown away by the results: the whole thing was too labor-intensive, at least the part about putting the cakes together (you try dipping slippery squares in three different coatings without them falling apart!), and I ended up with macaroni scattered all over the kitchen. Maybe it works if you have a line of experienced sous-chefs assembling the things, but not if you’re a busy home cook pressed for time and with limited counter space.

But the flavor was good (says my test panel, i.e., my husband). So here’s what I’d recommend:  Make the recipe, minus the gelatin. Put it in a greased casserole dish, and sprinkle with the panko (toasted or not—it did taste good browned). Bake in a 350-degree oven for half an hour, and dish it out with a spoon. Tastes the same, and it’s much simpler!

Oh, and in case I haven't mentioned it often enough lately (or you've been living in a cave without Internet), I have a new book out this week: An Early Wake, the third of the County Cork Mysteries.

Available everywhere (I hope!), in print and e-format (and maybe even as an audiobook soon!):

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

My Mom's Roquefort Dressing #recipe

From Daryl aka Avery:

My mother made the best Roquefort dressing in the world. I thought the recipe was lost, but when I visited my sister in Washington DC in May, I mentioned it, and she said she had it. The original recipe. She made me a card. It’s in my mom’s handwriting. I followed the original instructions, and it is still great. It's my husband’s new favorite dressing. It keeps for a long time, too.

Be sure to use the best Roquefort, and if you like your blue cheeses pungent, make sure you choose a pungent cheese.

Don’t even consider using a goat and sheep’s milk Roquefort for this dressing. It won’t have the same punch!

Enjoy!

No two ways about it, salads (unless wedges of lettuce) just don't turn out that pretty to photograph
when using a creamy dressing.

DARYL’S MOM’S ROQUEFORT DRESSING

Ingredients:

½ cup cider vinegar

½ cup Wesson oil

8 ounces sour cream

4-5 ounces Roquefort or blue cheese

1-3 shakes Tabasco

12-15 peppercorns or pepper to taste

Directions:

Put all the ingredients into a blender. Whir. Serve over a crisp salad of your choice.

*  Use a cow’s milk roquefort for the best “kick.”

PS This salad would taste great with cook and crumbled bacon or chopped red onions.

******************

Friend Daryl on Facebook

Friend Avery on Facebook

Follow Daryl on Twitter

Follow Avery on Twitter

Follow both of us on Pinterest

Check out our website.

Days of Wine and Roquefort 
is out!
order here

Inherit the Word
  is out!
                                    order here

STIRRING THE PLOT is available for preorder: order here.

If you haven't done so, sign up for the mailing list 

so you can learn about upcoming events, releases, and contests!