This may be silly, but autumn and winter, to me, means a return to cooking recipes from The Silver Spoon.
While there are plenty of salads, seafood dishes and soups that are light and healthy and nutritious in the Italian cuisine bible, it’s the heavier, bulkier fare that makes my heart go pitter-pat. Pastas, roasts, stews, risottos, boils and gratins. That’s what I turn to Il Cucchiaio d’Argento for.
What’s also silly is that I’ve only ever done one post about cooking from The Spoon, and it too was about a disappointing recipe (can you see where this is going?), which is just insane. I’m constantly cooking from it, using it as reference book, and I’m generally very happy with the results. But I guess what they say about unpleasant experiences is true, it makes one flap ones lips.
On page 447 is a picture that is simply stunning. Peridot green Brussels sprouts in a snowy porcelain bowl, dusted with golden, breadcrumb-coated almonds. For a couple of people that love sprouts as much as the boy and I do, this recipe has been bookmarked as a “must try” for months. Finally, a few weeks ago we did, and while it wasn’t a culinary disaster, the dish surely wasn’t as dreamy as we had hoped for.
The crumbs didn’t stick to the almonds like the look like they’re clinging in the picture. In fact, the almonds barely cooked at all and the lemon rind didn’t sparkle through nearly as much as I had hoped.
It was a delicious dish, but maybe I had set the bar mentally too high. I was hoping for more, something transcendental, but instead, the dish was, well, meh. It made me feel blue… Thankfully there was some chocolate to snack on. That made me feel better.
Head below the jump for The Spoon’s recipe and my variation on it for Brussels Sprouts With Almonds.
