"BrusselsSprouts" news and stories

• Making your own Pop-Tarts is easy as pie. (Easy as tart?)
• Be it over so humble, the garbanzo bean is a big deal in Spain.
• Ben Bailly, new chef at Culver City's Fraîche, seems "a little lost."
• Not a Brussels sprout fan? Wait till you try these babies.

Oh Brussels sprouts! Your bright green color and tender insides. I love them sauteed, roasted, steamed and shredded and I think they're also one of the more photogenic veggies out there. It appears that Mike from Another Pint Please... is also fond of the sprouts and took some very nice pictures of them. Thanks Mike!

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I love potatoes. It's the sort of love that pulls me to taters of all form, and employs a devil that sits on my shoulder and convinces me to have second servings -- fried, smashed, baked, you name it.

It should be no surprise then, that I was quickly pulled to the farmers' market potato table last week, which boasted a ton of different types of potatoes, and picked the biggest one. The big beast above had to be mine. But what do you do with something that big? It seemed a travesty to cut the potato up into chunks when it was such a fun shape, so there was only one thing to do -- make a meal out of a twice-baked potato.

If you're also a potato fiend and want to make a meal out of your gigantic tater, here's what you do: First, cook your potato. Me, I like to nuke it first quickly, then bake it to get the outside firm. Then, I scooped out the middle, seasoned the inside with salt, pepper, and butter, and then got to work on the bowl of potatoes. Once they were mashed, and a few spoonfuls eaten, a lot of chopped brussels sprouts and fried wild boar bacon were mixed in with some garlic powder. It was all spooned back into the potato, topped with sharp cheese, and baked a little while longer.

The brussels sprouts made it healthy ... right?

• By 2010, Philadelphia will be in step with New York and California when it comes to mandating that restaurants with 15 or more locations post the calorie information for their food.
• While Philadelphia has a number of high-end restaurants, eating out in the City of Brotherly Love doesn't have to empty your bank account.
• Ways in which restaurants are adapting to these less flush times.
• If your budget can't handle regular take-out meals, check out these tips for eating healthfully and cheaply at home.
  
• An assortment of tips for cutting your grocery bill.
• Rick Nichols lists a number of reasons why restaurants should post calorie information.
• This week's Market Basket is overflowing with baby Brussels sprouts, a bird beak bottle opener and dark chocolate peanut butter cups from Cream Nut.
• The Rush Hour Gourmet has us poaching Fish in Cider.

For most of the years of my life, my family has eaten string beans as the main vegetable for Christmas dinner. We don't do the traditional green bean casserole, instead choosing to steam them and dress them with butter, toasted almonds, salt and a little roasted garlic. They are so good and my sister, mother and I often fight over the leftovers the next day.

However, this year we're planning on deviated from our tradition in order to have a huge bowl of these Brussels Sprouts instead. Sadly, according to our friends over at Green Daily, Brussels Sprouts are not a particularly green choice for the holiday table. Apparently the seem to have the ability to cause some people to have a bit of gas after they eat them. If you multiply that gas over the millions of people who eat sprouts for Christmas dinner, it can have something of an effect on the green house effect. Luckily, for those of us who don't want to give up our sprouts, we can follow these simple cooking tips in order to reduce their gassy effects.

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