Vegas and other stories of gluttony, lust and beef brisket...

The money shot...
"Slow roasted beef brisket topped with caramelized and crispy onions, horseradish mayo and toasted brioche."

Yes sir, I named it the Dirty Vegas. No. It's not named after after that one hit wonder electronica group popular back in da day. It's inspired by the glorious sin of the aforementioned city. You see, I spent a lovely weekend in Vegas about 2 months ago and when I think back to that time....weeelll...I suppose I could write about my Vegas adventures however I may get in trouble with my parents, the feds, and that stripper named Monica. Just kidding. I spent most of my time drinking ice cold vodka martinis with buttery olives stuffed with blue cheese, eating the most amazing foie gras at Thomas Keller's Bouchon, having a cheesy celebrity sighting at Steve Wynn's Steak House (All of the judges of American Idol -- btw. Simon and Randy are surprisingly short).

That being said, here is my sloppy, drippy, salty, artery-clogging tribute to my three days of debauchery.

The “Dirty Vegas” -- Slow roasted sweet brisket smothered with caramelized and crispy onions, horseradish mayo on top of grilled brioche bread. The brisket is awesome. I used an Emeril recipe I found on the Food Network website and adjusted it slightly. This brisket will rival your Grandma's - I promise.

The Brisket:
8 to 10 pound brisket
Garlic cloves
1 quart beef stock
3 large onions, sliced
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 teaspoons salt
1 tsp paprika
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 cup ketchup (Heinz)
1 cup chili sauce (Heinz)
1 cup brown sugar

Preheat oven to 500 degrees F. Using a paring knife and your finger, stuff brisket all over with garlic. Place brisket in a baking dish or casserole and bake until browned on top, remove from oven, turn brisket and return to oven until browned on both sides (I skip the turning over step and just keep moving right along)Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Add enough beef stock to casserole to come up to 1 inch on sides, cover with foil and bake one hour. While brisket is cooking, heat a large skillet over medium high heat and saute onions in vegetable oil, stirring occasionally, until caramelized and most liquid has evaporated, about 20 minutes. Set aside. Remove brisket from oven after one hour and add caramelized onions and all remaining ingredients, moving meat around to combine ingredients. Cover and continue to bake until very tender but not falling apart, another 2 to 3 hours. Remove brisket to a carving board and slice. Take reserved cooking liquids and pour over sliced brisket to keep moist in steam tray.

Horseradish Mayo
I use Boars Head Horseradish Sauce. You can find it in most supermarkets in the Deli section. If you can’t find the Boars Head brand any other commercially prepared horseradish sauce/mayo will be fine.

Crispy Onions
Top sandwich with crispy onions – you can use the French’s brand Fried onions (the one’s you top the green bean casserole with). You can also easily make your own. Thinly slice shallots into rings. Dredge in flour seasoned with salt and pepper. Fry in some oil til crispy. Drain thoroughly and season with salt.

Bread
You can use any egg based bread like a brioche or challah. I use thick slices of challah bread and toast or grill them.

Sandwich Assembly
You can either pre grill/toast the bread before assembling the sandwich or assemble then grill. Whatever is easier. Spread horseradish mayo on both sides of bread, top with brisket making sure to include some of the caramelized onions, top with crispy onions.

Sunday Dinner for the Fam...

Ahhh...Sunday dinner. I'm sure many think its a nice way to say goodbye to the weekend and gently ease yourself into the coming week. Personally, I prefer to cook at home on a Friday or Saturday night and would rather go out to dinner on a Sunday or any given weeknight. By refusing to cook on Sunday you avoid several deeply annoying things:

1) The Sunday supermarket shopping cart derby

2) Dishes to wash and you can ignore your laundry pile for another week!

3) The "lets go out to supper" amateur night crowd. Sorry people, this may not apply to all of you but I worked as waitress for 4 years and Friday and Saturday night was when the amateurs came out. By amateurs, I mean the people that feel entitled to treat the waitstaff in a slightly contemptuous way bordering on some weird S&M domination fantasy or the type that think waiting only 20 minutes for a table (without a reservation mind you) at 8pm on a Saturday night was totally unreasonable and would unforgivingly roll their eyes at the poor hostess as they turned their heel and stormed out of the restaurant. I know. I'm harsh and unforgiving but that's how I roll.

Anyway, against my better judgement I broke all of my rules last Sunday and engaged in a shopping cart race at my local Whole Foods, made a mess of the kitchen which subsequently had to be cleaned, organized my clothes closet (I still managed to avoid that pile of laundry) and had the parents over for dinner.

The menu:
- Coconut & Panko Crusted Tilapia with a Coconut & Citrus Burre Blanc
- Crispy Brussel Sprouts with Smoky Bacon
- Roasted potatoes with garlic and rosemary (boring but always tasty)

A nice bottle of wine, some piave cheese with a bit of sopresatta and garlicky olives is how I started this Sunday feast. We finished with molasses cookies and strawberries for dessert.

Note: All of the measurements are approximate and would serve 3-5 people.

Coconut and Panko Crusted Tilapia
1.5 - 2lbs of tilapia fillets. You could used any sweet and mild whitefish such as haddock or cod. I picked tilapia as it was the only fish available that day that was not previously frozen (previously frozen is usually mushy).
1 1/2 cups panko crumbs
1/2 cup coconut
Salt and pepper
1 egg or 1/2 cup of milk (to dredge the fish in so the crumb mixture sticks)
Olive Oil
Butter

Sauce:
1 small can of coconut milk.
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 Stick unsalted butter (Plugra or any European style butter)
zest of 1 orange julienned
Minced chives or parsley

The sauce is super easy and can be made in advance. Take the coconut milk, orange juice and orange zest and place in a small saucepan. Turn the heat to medium -- add cubes of butter while whisking vigorously -- let thicken slightly, approximately 15-20 min. Add the chives/parsley and a touch of salt and pepper. Easy huh?

Briefly rinse and pat dry the fish fillets. Season with salt and pepper and set aside. To prepare the crumbs, combine the panko with the coconut (btw. your local Whole Foods makes a fabulous version of this crumb mix premade). Be sure to add a pinch of salt and pepper to the crumbs too.

Dip the seasoned fish in a beaten egg or some milk and dredge the fish in the panko crumbs. Shake off the excess panko.

To pan fry, preheat a pan with a knob of butter and enough olive oil to cover the diameter of the pan -- you want enough oil to make the crust crispy but not so much oil that you deep fry the fish. You can leave out the butter if you like, however I believe it adds a nice flavor to the fish. If you need to pan fry in batches just place the already cooked fish on a plate in a warm oven. Season the fish with salt and pepper. Drizzle some of the sauce over the fish to taste. The sauce is tasty and has a slightly unctuous mouth feel that is brightened by the orange and the coconut in the panko without being overly sweet. You can also garnish the fish with additional strips of orange or lemon if you like.

Brussel Sprouts with Smoky Bacon:
My boyfriend was an avid brussel sprouts hater until he tried a version of these at a tapas restaurant in Boston called Toro.

3-5 brussel sprouts per person
2-3 slices of bacon
juice of one lemon
2 tablespoons butter
Salt and pepper

Set a pot of h20 to boil -- just enough to submerge the brussel sprouts in and don't forget to add a pinch of salt to the water. Prepare the brussel sprouts by rinsing them and trimming the tough bottom part -- don't take off the entire bottom though otherwise you will end up with brussel sprout leaves all over your kitchen floor. You can make a cross hatch in the bottom if you like but I'm not sure what the real utility of doing that is.

Submerge the brussel sprouts in the boiling h20 for 10-12 minutes. The idea of par boiling is to soften them up enough so that they remain firm but not tough or even worse, mushy. Meanwhile, chop up the bacon into small chunks and place in a saute pan. Fry the bacon til nice and crispy. Turn off the heat and let the lovely bacon fat and crispy bacon bits sit until you are ready to pan fry the sprouts.

When the sprouts are done, drain from the h20 and let cool til you can reasonably handle them to cut in half lengthwise -- that is, you are literally cutting it down the middle so you have 2 halves with the leaves still intact. While the sprouts are cooling heat up that bacon-y goodness saute pan to med-med high heat and add the butter. When the butter starts to foam up place the halves of the brussel sprouts (cut side down) into the pan. The idea is to make the brussel sprouts slightly charred and crispy on the edges (i bet you could do this on a grill too) while continuing to soften the sprouts so they have a nice al dente texture -- maybe 10 minutes or so. When the sprouts are cooked to your liking, add the lemon juice and cook off for a minute. Don't forget to season with salt and pepper.

The starchy goodness: Roasted potatoes with garlic and rosemary
These potatoes are so easy and are always a decent option when you just don't feel like inventing some starch to have with your dinner.

3- 5 baby yukon golds or other mini potato per person. This way you don't have to cut anything in half.
Sprig of rosemary
4-5 large garlic cloves (or more to taste)
Olive oil
Salt and Pepper

Preheat the oven to 350 and line a baking pan with foil (easier to clean). Place potatoes in pan and add a couple of healthy glugs of olive oil to coat the potatoes. Throw in some of the garlic cloves which you have smashed but not chopped and scatter them around. Scatter the rosemary leaves and salt and pepper. Throw in the oven, making sure to toss the pan around at the halfway mark to ensure even cooking. These take about 40 minutes or so depending on your oven.