Indian-Spiced Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Onions

I'm making up for lost time using my one and only Indian cookbook. See last week's post on Chicken Tikka Skewers.

With those Chicken Tikka Skewers, I made the roasted Brussels sprouts also in Indian-Inspired Gluten-Free Cooking but with some tweaks. I added onions, because we love to roast onions with our Brussels sprouts, and upped the spices.

XOXO,
Amy

Indian-Spiced Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Onions
Adapted from Indian-Inspired Gluten-Free Cooking

2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 heaping teaspoon garam masala
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 pound Brussels sprouts, trimmed and cut in half
1 large sweet onion, cut into large pieces

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine 1 tablespoon olive oil and all of the spices and salt. Add Brussels sprouts and onion chunks and toss until coated with spice mix. Place vegetables on a baking dish (lightly sprayed with vegetable oil). Sprinkle remaining 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil over vegetables and roast until nicely browned, about 15-20 minutes.

Oven-Roasted Kohlrabi Medley

I recently came into some kohlrabi -- when the Friday cycle instructor brought in some grown by her budding farmer son, owner of Old Sol Produce. I'd heard of kohlrabi, but wasn't sure what to with it. First, let me explain that  kohlrabi is in the cabbage family and is a popular vegetable in German fare in and today's farm-to-table restaurants. The taste is like a cross between cabbage and the sweeter broccoli stems. I think it's delicious.

So, anyhow, I found a bunch of cool recipes online for things like kohlrabi fritters and even a kind of salad with radishes (kohlrabi can be eaten cooked or raw), but in the end I didn't have time to do anything fancy, so I just roasted it with a bunch of other vegetables -- carrot, parsnip, eggplant and red onion.

BTW, here is a great guide from the kitchn on How To Roast Any Vegetable. I love the roasting times by vegetable type.

I recommend giving kohlrabi a try -- at home or when you're at a farm-to-table restaurant.

XOXO,
Amy

Oven-Roasted Kohlrabi Medley

2 kohlrabi, trimmed, outer later peeled/removed and cut into 1/4" to 1/2" slices

A variety of vegetables cut and trimmed. Use whatever you like or have on hand.

Cooking spray

Salt, pepper and seasoning to taste

1-2 table spoons olive oil

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Prepare vegetables. Spray pan, baking dish or sheet with cooking spray. Place vegetable in a single layer and top with salt and pepper and seasoning of your choice. (I used Penzeys Sunny Paris seasoning.)

Place in oven and check  every 15 minutes until veggies are roasted sufficiently -- to your taste. If you are roasting softer vegetables (i.e. tomatoes, yellow squash) with root veggies (i.e. carrots, parsnips, kohrabi), you might want to add those later in the roasting process as they won't take as long. Again, consult the kitchn's guide above.

The fork is piercing a piece of kohlrabi.

Coq Au Vin Style Oven Roasted Chicken Legs and Vegetables

On New Year's Eve Chez George, we like our final meal of the year to be festive and have a theme. We've done make-your-own pizzas, cheese fondue and Chinese food including homemade crab rangoon.

To ring in 2016, we had a French theme.

Our starter: Brie Cranberry Pizza.

Our main event was this spin on traditional coq au vin (a.k.a. chicken in  wine sauce). I have tried beaucoup recipes for coq au vin and boeuf bourguignon (beef burgundy), for that matter, and have never gotten them right. But I can never get these dishes to cook down into a stew; they always turn out too soupy. That's why I was intrigued by the recipe for brochettes au coq au vin (coq au vin on skewers) found in Rachel Khoo's cookbook, The Little Paris Kitchen. (BTW, this cookbook was among my picks in our 2015 Holiday Gift Guide.)

Coq au vin in shish kebab form. Genius!

Still, on a rainy NYE I didn't want the hubby to have to tend the grill, so I decided to adapt Khoo's recipe for the oven -- making what I call Coq Au Vin Style Oven Roasted Chicken Legs and Vegetables. Magnifique! Thumbs up -- not that they put down their forks -- from my husband, daughters and our neighbor who dropped by to eat with us.

XOXO,
Amy

Coq Au Vin Style Oven Roasted Chicken Legs and Vegetables
Inspired by The Little Paris Kitchen by Rachel  Khoo

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons butter
1 bunch of thyme
3 bay leaves
2 cups red wine
4 chicken leg quarters, bone in and skin on
Salt and pepper, to taste.

4 ounces of pancetta (cubes of smoked bacon)

1 1/2 pounds small new potatoes or petite white potatoes, peel on and cut in half
1 pound carrots, peeled and cut roughly into 2-inch pieces
6 ounces of button onions, peeled and cut in half
4 ounces of button mushrooms
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil

First, make the marinade several hours or the night before you plan to serve this dish. Fry the garlic and onion in the butter until golden. Add four sprigs of thyme and bay leaves and cook for another minute and then add the wine. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 10 minutes. Leave marinade to cool.

Season chicken legs with salt and pepper and place in large plastic container. Top chicken with pancetta and marinade and then cover and refrigerate for at least four hours and preferably longer or even overnight.

When you are ready to cook, remove chicken -- with some of the pancetta remaining on top -- from container and place in roasting pan. Roast in 425-degree oven for 20 minutes and then reduce heat to 375 degrees and cook or another 20-30 minutes or until juices run clear when chicken is cut at thickest part.

Meanwhile, place all of the vegetables -- except the mushrooms -- on a lightly sprayed baking pan. Sprinkle salt, pepper and olive oil over vegetables and top generously with sprigs of thyme. Place in oven with chicken and remove when done -- should be done around same time as the chicken.

About 20 minutes before serving dinner, place the marinade in a pot on the stove and bring to a boil, then add the mushrooms and simmer until the food in the oven is done.

When plating, spoon mushrooms and wine sauce over the chicken.