Pan-fried brussels sprouts with roast potatoes, beurre blanc and cauliflower cheese

One month to go until Christmas Eve! I think I'm ready, although time is flying awfully fast. I thoroughly enjoy this time of the year. It's nice to see streets getting Christmas lights and Christmas markets opening. It's dark and cosy and I think it's almost better than the big fest itself. What are your feelings about this? Are you already preparing for or thinking about Christmas?

Today we will put our lights up, and will heat the first mulled wine. I haven't fully decided yet, how to put the lights, but we will only have a couple of simple light chains.

Today's dish already fits the seasonal theme. It's something that I would happily eat as a veggie Christmas dinner, a dish of pan-fried brussels sprouts with roast potatoes, beurre blanc with green and pink peppercorns and cauliflower cheese.

Pan-fried brussels sprouts

200 g brussels sprouts

1 tbsp butter

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1 garlic clove

Salt

Ground black pepper

Trim and cut the brussels sprouts into halves.

Cook them in water for a few minutes until almost tender.

Heat the butter and oil in a pan.

Press or chop the garlic clove finely.

Fry the sprouts with the garlic and season.

Roast potatoes

300 g potatoes

Vegetable oil

Salt

Smoked paprika

Peel the potatoes and half or quarter them depending on the size.

Cook them in water until almost done.

Drain the water and shake the pot a little bit to give the potatoes a fluffy surface.

Add some oil and season with salt and smoked paprika.

Place the potatoes on a baking tray and roast in the oven at 200 C for about 40 minutes until they have a crispy surface.

Beurre blanc

1 small onion

150 ml white wine

2 tbsp white wine vinegar

125 g butter

Pink peppercorns

Green peppercorns

Chop the onion finely and heat it with the wine and vinegar.

Reduce until about the half of the liquid has cooked off.

Remove the onion with a sieve leaving just a clear liquid.

Add the cold butter into the liquid, a small piece at a time and keep whisking.

Finally add the peppercorns to the sauce.

Cauliflower cheese

1 cauliflower

1 garlic clove

1 onion

Vegetable oil

1 tbsp vegetable stock powder

Salt

Ground black pepper

100 g grated cheese

Cut the cauliflower into florets and cook them in water until nearly done.

Chop the garlic and onion finely and cook them in vegetable oil until soft.

Add a little bit water to the onion mix and stir in the vegetable stock powder and season.

Place the florets in an oven dish or small ramekins, and add the onion mix on the top.

Cover with grated cheese and bake in the oven for about 40 minutes.

That was it, quite a bit of components, but nothing complicated. This dish is my EatYour Greens contribution for this month, and it's actually also the last round of 2018. You still have time to submit your recipes until end of November, if you want to take part! Eat Your Greens is a vegan and vegetarian cooking challenge hosted by Shaheen from Allotment 2 Kitchen and co-hosted by me.

Have a nice weekend!

Your VegHog