Fresh Produce of the Month # 5 - Roundup!

Exciting time again! The roundup of the 'Fresh Produce of the Month' is ready! So for October-November we had 'Brussel Sprouts' as a theme. I was worried no one would answer to this: it's not such a popular vegetable, and one of the reasons I chose it was to challenge people to try to make something with it. I am really happy to say that many great cook-bloggers tried... and here we have a list of their excellent results!


The first entry is by Dhivya at Culinary Bazaar with Stir Fried Brussel Sprouts Chinese StyleDhivya shares with us not only a recipe but also the health benefits that one can have eating Brussel sprouts. And she says: "This recipe from my cookbook is a very simple one which is what I started with when I made my first dish with brussels sprouts.I have modified it a wee bit but its still simple and healthy tasting."


Jai and Bee at Jugalbandi treat us with not only one but three delicious looking Brussel sprout recipes! They have: Brussel Sprouts, Indian style...










Brussel Sprouts, Chinese style...







And Brussel sprouts, 'Our favorite style'. I'd really like to try the two other styles too, but as for their favorite style, Bee and Jai say: "This is a lazy and very tasty way to prepare brussels sprouts.".. with a great reward!




Ferdzy at Seasonal Ontario Food shares a tasty and great looking Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and Onion. She tells us that "I'm describing this as a side dish, and it could be; but we are likely to serve it over rice and call it a meal. " - Indeed, I'd love to have such meal. :)





Ruth at Once Upon a Feast is inspired by the fall and prepares and awesome looking Foglie d'Autunno with Roaster Fall Veggies and Merguez. She has the most appealing pasta I ever saw: "I've bought [it] before and still had visions of these cute leaves of pasta which, like a Fall day here, are multi colored...red ones made with beets, green ones from spinach, yellow ones from turmeric, orange from carrots.." and inspired by it and the delicious veggies that she found at the Farmers' Market, she prepares for us the fabulous dish you see in the picture.


I am also presenting a pasta dish: Pasta con cavoletti di Bruxelles / Brussel sprout pasta - the easiest pasta dish, with tomatoes, onions and brussel sprouts.







.. and a risotto: Risotto ai cavoletti di Bruxelles e curcuma / Brussel sprout and turmeric risotto, which I liked both for the taste and the appearance.






At last, I'm really happy to present my dear friend Elif's dish! She has just started her blog, Elifleaf, and she already has an entry for the Fresh Produce of the Month event.. thank you Elif! She's sharing with us an awesome looking Brussels Sprouts with White Wine-Garlic Sauce. She was inspired by the book "Grub: ideas for an urban organic kitchen", but she added her own twist of slivered almonds to the dish, which I think was a great idea too. She has a final suggestion for this roundup: "[The Brussels sprouts] look so cute on the stalk, and you can even snap off a sprout and eat it fresh.".. That's the simplest recipe!! Thank you, Elif. :)

And.. we do have another entry! It's from Labelga at Leafy Cooking - she has real knowledge of the vegetable protagonist of this month's challenge since.. she lives in Brussels! She present us a very interesting dish: Brussels sprouts with tamarind or "bel Tamarhendi" - and she explains: "My sprouts went Syrian, or the way Claudia Roden describes for Syrian okra in the Book of Jewish food: coated as if in mud, or in a lookalike of barbecue sauce: tamarind paste." An unusual combination which I'd definitely like to try!

Are you inspired? I am :) So, hurry up, the Brussels Sprout season is not over yet! And now.... the announcement of the new Fresh Produce of the Month event! I decided that after a challenging month, we'll go with an easy one. Ladies and gentlemen, before the peak season of this delicious fruit is over... let's make something with APPLES!
Apples are harvested throughout Fall. They started flooding the Berkeley Bowl some weeks ago, and I'm amazed at the variety of types that there are. I'm trying them all little by little. I love them raw, but one can cook all sort of delicious foods with them! So, please, send in your favorite recipe involving apples to this month's event. The rules are simple:
1) Put a post on your blog with a recipe involving apples. If you live somewhere where you cannot find Brussels sprouts, use any other sprouts that are in season. Add a link to this post on my blog and mention that it's an entry for the 'Fresh produce of the month' event. If you like it, feel free to place the logo of the event on your post.
2) Send me an email with a link to your post, your blog homepage and your name. My email address is chemcookitATgmailDOTcom. Specify 'Fresh produce of the month' as subject.
3) If you don't have a blog just send me an email with your recipe and if you have a picture of the food you made, that's even better. I will add it to the round-up as well.
The deadline for this event will be December 22nd... right before Christmas!

Important note: if you send me an entry and I don't reply to your email or leave a comment on your blog, it means that I didn't get it.. in that case, just leave a comment anywhere on the blog and I'll definitely see it!! Thanks and sorry about this in advance.

Looking forward to all your delicious entries! You can find all the roundups of the Fresh Produce of the Month event here.