Shredded Brussels Sprouts with Pine Nuts and Bacon

Source
Chez Mégane (she adapted it from an allrecipes.com recipe)

My Review
Excellent. Even if you typically don't like Brussels sprouts (and, yes, it appears that "Brussels" should be pluralized and capitalized - I looked it up), if you don't despise vegetables in general, you'll probably like this dish. D loved it when I made it for him on Thursday and we decided to add it to our Oscar party line-up as the dish for The Queen (I think of Brussels sprouts as being rather English based on my in-laws insistence that I must serve them for Christmas dinner).

Clearly, I substituted turkey bacon for the bacon given that D doesn't eat pig. Also, I found that shredding them using the slicing tool in a food processor was MUCH easier than using a mandolin or slicing by hand. Toasting the pine nuts is also key, though I found it much easier to toast them with a bit of olive oil in the pan. If you've never toasted pine nuts though, be careful: they burn very easily so you have to do it over low heat and watch carefully to remove them when lightly browned because they keep cooking after you remove them from heat.

Taste: Excellent
Ease: Easy
Ingredients: Minimal
Time: 10 minutes
Fresh herbs needed: None

Sea Bass in Papillote

Source
Epicurious (Gourmet, January 2007)

My Review
Absolutely stunning ... and I even screwed it up by forgetting to buy tomatoes. I ended up subbing finely chop sweet red peppers for the onion and that worked out perfectly. The recipe calls for black sea bass or striped bass - I used Chilean sea bass and it was delicious. It had a full, robust flavor and tasted like something I'd get at a fine restaurant. A definite repeat and quite healthy, though Chilean sea bass = not cheap.

I served it with rice and green beans, but next time I'll serve it on a bed of pureed sweet potatoes. The sweet red peppers were excellent, so I'm not sure if I'll try it with the grape tomatoes or not.

Taste: Excellent
Ease: Easy
Ingredients: Minimal
Time: 20 minutes
Fresh herbs needed: Thyme

Curried Butternut Squash Bisque

Source
Bon Appétit, February 2007

My Review
This turned out quite well, despite the fact that I got half way into it and realized I had no chicken stock. I substituted vegetable broth and that seems to have worked just fine. I also used Red Thai Curry rather than Red Thai Curry Paste ... not sure if there's a difference. I think next time I'll put in a bit more of the curry to give it slightly more kick, but it's got a nice, smooth texture and plenty of taste such that it's not bland, as I've found is a problem with butternut squash soups. I didn't put the sour cream on it since it wasn't too spicy. I also skipped the cilantro since I was too lazy to chop some up.

Taste: Very Good
Ease: Medium
Ingredients: Medium
Time: 2 hours (mostly cooking time)
Fresh herbs needed: Cilantro

Moroccan-Style Chicken and Root Vegetable Stew

Source:
Epicurious

My Review:
Absolutely dreadful. Part of the problem, I think, was that I added too many vegetables thus forcing me to add more chicken broth and diluting the spices since I didn't add more of those. Anyway, it was flavorless and not good. I don't even think it was worth trying again and following the recipe exactly.

Taste: Horrible
Ease: Medium
Ingredients: Medium
Time: 45 minutes
Fresh herbs needed: Cilantro

Parsnip Soup

Source:
Epicurious

My Review:
Very tasty soup! It's also quite sweet, so would be best served with a sandwich that is not sweet to offset the flavor a bit. Maybe with a spinach salad and a half turkey sandwich? I put the soup in the food processor rather than the blender and that seemed to work very well. I'll definitely make this again - very easy, particularly because I thought to use the mandolin to cut the carrot, celery, and parsnips very thinly.

Taste: Very good
Ease: Easy
Ingredients: Minimal
Time: 45 minutes
Fresh herbs needed: None