Brussels sprouts have a bad rep. Growing up, this was the vegetable that kids dreaded, and would likely try to feed to the dog, sneak into the garbage, or bribe their little sister to eat. I always wondered why people had such a distaste for the "Bastard Cabbage", as I have started to call it.  I put together a Sunday roast for some friends recently, and being that some people do eat vegetables I decided to create a recipe that I could prepare in advance, as my oven would be very busy with the meat and the Yorkshire puddings. 

Come on, aren't they beautiful little bastards?

Sometimes inspiration just hits, and flavours just come together, and this was one of those times. Got bacon? 

These beauties were the last on my previous batch of Tamworth bacon, from Perth Pork

What I was going for was a good balance of a bunch of flavour profiles, being smoky and salty from the bacon, and then add in some sweet and heat. 

What do you see in there?

We have honey, homemade mustard, and Supi CuCu hot sauce

Having friends who care about food and wine we had some nice bottles show up to pair with dinner, that was cooking away in the oven as people were arriving. 

Ontario, France, and Chile. Not too shabby

What a gorgeous tri tip roast, thanks to the people at Canada Beef from a roasting workshop I attended

First time I tried to make Yorkshire puddings, and thanks to some good advise they turned out perfectly. Do not peek, or they will fall, and when they are done keep them in the oven flipped over in the pan

The final plate featuring roast beef with a red wine pan jus, Bastard Cabbage salad, Yorkies, and a mash of sunchokes and carrots

It also helps to have friends who are trained chefs, because they bring over gorgeous things like this triffle.

Here is what I did to make the salad:

• Cook 6 slices of bacon, remove
• Clean the outer leaves of your Brussels sprouts, until you get to the lighter coloured leaves
• Cook the sprouts in the bacon fat, with a little bit of salt and pepper, until they are starting to brown
• While you are cooking those combine ½ cup of melted honey, 2 tbs of mustard, 1 tbs of hot sauce
• Pour the sprouts and fat into the bowl with the other ingredients, mix thoroughly
• You could serve this immediately as a hot side, or leave on the counter and serve at room temperature