Name: Brussels sprout leaves cooked with pancetta and mirepoix Recipe
Total time: 45 min
Yield: Serves 8
Ingredients: 2 pounds Brussels sprouts; 1/4 cup olive oil or rendered duck fat; 2 large carrots, diced (1 cup); 3 large stalks celery, diced (1 cup); 1 medium onion, diced; 1/4 pound pancetta, cut into 1/4 -inch dice; 1 teaspoon sea salt; Freshly ground pepper; Dash of white wine vinegar

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By Betty Hallock

Nov. 22, 2006

An “ad hoc” cassoulet, a pepper relish to go with turkey, winter squashes beautiful to look at but even better to eat, the leaves of Brussels sprouts flavored with mirepoix and pancetta, a wonderfully refreshing shredded turkey salad with mint and romaine.

These are some of the dishes that Food section staffers love to make the day after Thanksgiving, and some of them are great for Thanksgiving too (or whenever you or your guests might want a warm cornmeal muffin like Test Kitchen director Donna Deane’s, with rosemary and dried apricots, straight from the oven).

Staff writer Corie Brown says she always buys lots of winter squashes for Thanksgiving, such as carnival, delicata, kabocha, buttercup and turban, because they’re so beautiful.

“Then it’s time to make dinner and I have too much food,” she says. “I abandon the squash, using it instead as a table decoration.”

So the next day, she pops them in the oven. They’re terrific sliced, their gorgeous skins left on and roasted with butter until the edges are brown and crisp, spiced with a little ancho chile pepper and ground cumin.

The pepper relish is an Auguste Escoffier recipe meant to go with meats. “I don’t like cranberry relish,” says staff writer Charles Perry. “This irresistible cranberry-less pepper relish, from his cookbook ‘Ma Cuisine,’ goes well with turkey -- but hey, it goes with just about anything.”

Having turkey on hand turns cassoulet into an easy dish. No duck confit necessary. That’s what staff writer Amy Scattergood learned one year.

“It was easy, used up the leftovers, and all it required was a simple salad with a cider vinegar dressing to accompany it,” she says. “I ended up liking it much better than my original turkey dinner.

“One of these days I’m just going to confit my whole turkey and serve cassoulet on Thanksgiving Day instead.”

One of Food editor Leslie Brenner’s fall favorites is Brussels sprout leaves taken to another level by mirepoix and pancetta. “I fell in love with this recipe from ‘Chez Panisse Cooking’ when I came across it years ago, and I start thinking about it again every year around Thanksgiving,” she says. “It’s great hot, but wonderful too at room temp -- and great to bring to a party.”

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2 pounds Brussels sprouts

¼ cup olive oil or rendered duck fat

2 large carrots, diced (1 cup)

3 large stalks celery, diced (1 cup)

1 medium onion, diced

¼ pound pancetta, cut into ¼ -inch dice

1 teaspoon sea salt

Freshly ground pepper

Dash of white wine vinegar

Working with one sprout at a time, remove as many of the outer leaves as you can until you reach those firmly attached to the core. Trim the stem end, freeing more leaves, and repeat until you reach the dense center. Slice the center thin.

Warm the olive oil or duck fat in a very large nonreactive saucepan. Add the carrot, celery and onion (together they make the mirepoix) and the pancetta and cook over medium heat for 5 to 8 minutes, without browning the vegetables, until they have softened.

Add one-half cup water and the Brussels sprouts, sprinkle with the salt and stir well to combine. Cover the pan and cook for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring every so often until the leaves are tender. Season with a little freshly ground pepper, correct for salt and add a dash of vinegar. Serve while the color is still vivid.

Adapted from “Chez Panisse Cooking” by Paul Bertolli with Alice Waters.

Betty Hallock

Betty Hallock is deputy Food editor at the Los Angeles Times. She has co-written four cookbooks, including “Bäco: Vivid Recipes from the Heart of Los Angeles,” “Amá: A Modern Tex-Mex Kitchen” and “Baking at République.” She started her journalism career at the Wall Street Journal and Scientific American in New York, worked on the L.A. Times’ Business desk, and was interim food editor at Los Angeles Magazine. Hallock also helped launch a food and nutrition vertical for wellness app RoundGlass. She’s a graduate of UCLA and New York University.