Slippery morning!

And apparently snow and sleet with give way to arctic temps this weekend.  So in my unrelenting pursuit to convince you to use *this* store as your neighborhood grocery, I am posting a few more recipes and links to inspire your weekend cooking! 

(Don't forget to check out our sales items - circulars are available in the store and on my weekly email.  To subscribe, go to Weekly store updates and click on subscribe at the top of the screen.)

But first - fascinating trends report out from United Natural Foods, our natural and organic foods supplier.  Thought I'd mention a few highlights from their report, not the least of which is the fact that 78% of families say that they are consuming organic food, a trend that has continued to increase despite the global economic recession.  Also, there's an upward trend towards buying more specialty produce - if you ignore the strange fact that so few people cook that Brussels sprouts and squash have become "specialty" - and buying more of the bulk products, including the ancient grains and (often pricey) nuts.

I thought, in light of these interesting news bits, I would start with a lovely Brussel sprouts recipe from Heidi Swanson at 101Cookbooks, discovered via The Bold Italic food blog.  I also pasted an amazing beef recipe from Mark Hoffman, over at Morning Fog Farm's page.

Oregano Brussels Sprouts

To make a meal of this, serve over farro, quinoa, rice, or on top of a frittata. Use leftover oregano drizzle over everything from roasted squash, frittatas, baked potatoes, or with a good amount of fresh lemon juice, as a salad vinaigrette.

24 small brussels sprouts (less if you can only find larger sprouts)
extra virgin olive oil
fine grain sea salt
Oregano Drizzle
3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1/4 cup fresh oregano, chopped

1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped

1 large garlic clove

1/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt, plus more to taste.
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for rubbing
a big handful of toasted almond slices

Wash the brussels sprouts well. Trim the stem ends and remove any raggy outer leaves. Cut in half from stem to top (quarter, if using larger sprouts) and gently rub each half with olive oil, keeping it intact. Or if you're feeling lazy, just toss them in a bowl with a glug of olive oil.

Make the oregano drizzle by pulsing the olive oil, oregano, parsley, garlic, and salt in a food processor until the herbs are just little flecks of green. Season with more salt if needed, and set aside.

Just a few minutes before you're ready to eat, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in your largest skillet over medium heat. Don't overheat the skillet, or the outsides of the brussels sprouts will cook too quickly. Place the sprouts in the pan flat side down (single-layer), sprinkle with a couple pinches of salt, cover, and cook for roughly 5 minutes; the bottoms of the sprouts should only show a hint of browning. Cut into or taste one of the sprouts to gauge whether they're tender throughout. If not, cover and cook for a few more minutes.

Once just tender, uncover, turn up the heat, and cook until the flat sides are deep brown and caramelized. Use a metal spatula to toss them once or twice to get some browning on the rounded side. Remove from heat and drizzle and toss with as much (or little) oregano pesto as you like. Season to taste, and serve sprinkled generously with the almonds as soon as possible. They really are best straight from the stove top.

Serves 4 as a side.

Prep time: 5 min - Cook time: 8 min

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Sirloin Tip Roast

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 1 Sirloin Tip Roast (allow 1/2 pound per person)
 Salt and Pepper to taste, or
 Herb Rub (mix thoroughly in a small bowl):
  1 TB dried Thyme
  1 TB dried Rosemary
  2 TB dried Oregano
  1 tsp ground Fennel
  2 tsb Garlic Powder
  1.5 TB coarse Salt
  2 tsp freshly ground Black Pepper
 
Rub liberal amounts of salt and pepper or herb rub into the meat.
Cover loosely with plastic wrap, and let rest at room temperature
for 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 450°F.

Set the meat on a rack in a shallow roasting pan lined with foil.
Roast for 20 minutes per pound, or until the meat reaches
120°F for rare, 125° for medium-rare, 130°F for medium.

Remove the roast from the oven, tent loosely and let rest for 10 minutes
before carving. The temperature should increase another 5°F) while
the roast is resting.

Reprinted from The Grassfed Gourmet Cookbook, by Shannon Hayes.