Make these delicious Brussels sprouts with a sherry wine reduction in less than thirty minutes! After spending most of the past century on the most hated vegetable list, Brussels sprouts have finally earned the culinary respect they so deserve.

These little green sprouts can be found on restaurant menus and in gourmet cookbooks as a delicious roasted or fried side dish. A common misstep is to boil or steam the sprouts. I find these methods always produce an unpleasant texture. By quickly roasting the sprouts at a high temperature, you’ll get a delicious char on the outside and perfectly cooked and still firm inside.

To flavor the roasted sprouts, cook sliced onion in a sherry wide reduction. You’ll find that the sweet earthiness of sherry perfectly compliments the saltiness of the Brussels sprouts. The resulting dish makes a delicious and sophisticated side for any meal.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with a Sherry Wine Reduction

Serves 4 as a side

Ingredients

1 pound Brussels sprouts
¼ cup olive oil, divided
1 small red onion, thinly sliced into rings
½ teaspoon sea salt
½ cup sherry wine

Directions

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Slice off the very tip of the stem of each Brussels sprout and cut in half lengthwise. In a bowl, toss the Brussels sprouts with ½ the olive oil. Spread on a baking sheet and roast for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the remaining olive oil in a small nonstick pan over medium high heat. Add the sliced onions, a pinch of salt and cook for 5-10 minutes. Stir frequently until the onions start to burn. Add the sherry to the pan and continue cooking and stirring for another 5 minutes until the alcohol has burned off. Transfer the Brussels to a serving plate and top with the onions and pan juices.

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Photos by Ally Jane Grossan

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Sherry wine is having a moment. There’s something alluring about its rich gold color that makes it perfect for pretty cocktails all year round.

This sweet fortified wine from Spain fell out of fashion briefly in favor of brighter younger wines like Rose and Beaujolais, but it’s back! Sherry is often served after a meal or to compliment dessert. For this sophisticated cocktail it’s mixed with fresh persimmon puree and elderflower liquor. Persimmons arrive in early fall but can be found year round in Asian markets. You want to use the smaller firmer Fuyu variety because they are less sweet than the softer Hachiya variety which are better for baking.

With its deep orange color, this drink makes a perfect fall drink to serve just before a hearty meal of roasted vegetables and meat.

Sherry has a higher alcohol content than wine and the flavor of light sherry is often woody and tangy. The most common types of sherry in North America are Fino, Manzanilla and Amontillado. Manzanilla sherry is very light and often not very expensive. If you’re looking for something to drink casually and something that’s great in cocktails try a label called “Solear” or ask your local wine merchant for a recommendation. Think of this cocktail as a gateway to a new love affair with this golden Spanish wine.

Sherry Wine Cocktail Recipe with Elderflower and Persimmon Puree

Makes 6 cocktails

Ingredients
12 ounces Manzanilla sherry
6 ounces St. Germain elderflower liquor
2 lemons
Angostura bitters
1 whole Fuyu persimmon

Directions
Peel and chop the persimmon into small piece. Puree in a food processor or blender with a splash of water.

Carefully peel 6 thin slices of lemon skin for the garnish then squeeze the juice from the lemons and set aside.

Measure out 2 ounces sherry, 1 teaspoon persimmon puree and 1 ounce of St. Germain into a cocktail shaker with ice. Add 1 teaspoon lemon juice and a dash of bitters, shake vigorously.

Pour into a cocktail glass without ice and serve immediately with a lemon garnish.

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Images by Ally Jane Grossan

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In search of ocean air and juicy rose hips…just outside of the city.

The other day I took my bike on a long long ride  to get to the sea through neighborhoods I never new existed. The idea was to get away from the city to breath fresh salty air and eat some newly caught clams. The bonus was that I got to pick ripe rose hips. The rose bushes were growing in the sand just at the edge of the beach. As a rose hip loving Swede, this was a happy moment and I picked as many as I could find.

Rose hips are very high in vitamin C and there are plenty of things to make with it. For example, the outer fruity part of the rose hip (often orange or red) can be dried and used for soup and tea (which can be done with the fresh fruit as well). A rose hip soup is very popular in Sweden especially among children. I love it. The soup can be eaten warm or cold, with ice cream or tiny almond cookies (mandel biskvier) that are best soaked in the soup. My favorite is to serve the the soup while cross-country skiing, eating it while smoking hot directly from a thermos. I can’t think of a better energy treat than that!

If you ever have split open a rose hip you probably know that the hairy part that surrounds the seeds creates itchiness on your skin. It’s annoying but totally harmless. (It’s actually used as an itching powder).

Fresh rose hips are often used to make jam, marmalade or jelly. You can also make schnapps, liqueur or, why not some rose hip sherry? My sister Anna Kindvall has become sort of an expert at making sherry out of rose hips. She makes it so well that a restaurant recently wanted to put it on their dessert wine list. In her wine cabinet you can find different vintages of the wine and like many other wines, it only gets better with age. The wine is sweet and flavorful. It works well with desserts or different kinds of cheeses. It’s also great in cooking and, I agree with my sister, a dash of rose hip sherry in a chantarelle sauce is heavenly.

My sister (and others) claim that the most flavorful rose hips are the ones with long narrow fruits. I have also heard that the best time to pick them is after the 1st frost. Here in Brooklyn it’s still summer and the ones I picked were all small and round (with a really nice aroma). I couldn’t get hold of winemakers yeast so I’m using instant yeast. In time we will see how my batch of  wine will turn out.

Anna’s Rose Hip Sherry

• 8 ½ cups (2 liters) rose hips (preferably the long narrow fruits)
• 3 1/3 lb (1 ½ kg) sugar
• 12 2/3 cups (3 liter) water
• 25 gr wine maker’s yeast (or fresh yeast, it might even work with instant yeast)

Roughly trim the rose hips but don’t rinse them with water as the surface contains natural yeast that are useful in the process (or that’s what I’ve heard). Make a sugar syrup by heating up the sugar together with the water. When the sugar has dissolved let it cool. Use some of the liquid to dissolve the yeast. Let the yeast start (there will be bubbles on the surface) before mixing with the rest of the sugar liquid and the rose hips in a bucket or a glass carboy. Cover the jar and let the wine sit still for three months. At this time the liquid should look clear and the rose hips have fallen to the bottom of the jar.

Tap the sherry into dark bottles (for example on 12 fl oz beer bottles). To avoid the sediment at the bottom, Anna recommends spooning up the sherry instead of pouring (can be hard with a carboy). Seal with a suitable cork or cap. Let the sherry stand for at least one more month before drinking.

Illustrations by Johanna Kindvall

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