Any restaurant that has brussels sprouts on their menu knows what’s up.
Last weekend we travelled to British Columbia for my cousin’s wedding. I’ve been to many weddings in my day, too many to count, but this was definitely the best of them all. It was picture perfect and… is it me or are family weddings always the best?
Not only was the wedding the best ever, but on our travels to and from the wedding, we hit up some pretty great restaurants along the way and dare I say… I ate some of the best food of my life, too!
In Medicine Hat, Alberta we found a restaurant called Rustic Kitchen & Bar and decided to stop in for lunch on our way back home. We hadn’t heard anything about this restaurant prior to going and the ratings and reviews for it on various restaurant websites were minimal, but we thought we’d give it a try anyway. We were hungry and any restaurant that uses locally sourced ingredients is a must-try in my books!
All of Rustic’s food is made in-house using locally sourced ingredients whenever possible.
I ended up ordering the crispy bacon brussels sprouts and topped it with a fillet of salmon.
Not only was I blown away by the flavours (incredible), but I was also impressed by the portion sizes! There was about double the amount of brussels sprouts than I expected, approximately over 6 oz. of salmon, and a higher bacon to brussels sprouts ratio. It couldn’t get any better. I gobbled it all up and deemed it to be “one of the best meals I’ve ever had”, which now is kind of a running joke in my family because I apparently always say that. I guess I just eat really good food.
Since I didn’t share this meal with the three other people at my table (my boyfriend and my two parents), we recreated it once we got home because everyone was still thinking about this dreamy meal. I told you, you really can’t go wrong with brussels sprouts and bacon.
We made a slight change to our recipe, using pork belly instead of bacon, which, in my opinion, is even better.
- 1 lb. brussels sprouts, cleaned and halved
- 1/2 lb. pork belly (4 strips), cut into bits
- Sea salt to taste
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.
- In a skillet over high heat, place pork belly bits and pour water over top until they are just covered. This will render out the fat.
- Cook on high until the water evaporates and the fat renders out of the pork belly bits. There should be a good amount of fat in your pan and the pork belly will be golden. Remove from heat.
- Meanwhile, lightly steam the halved brussels sprouts in a large pot and small amount of water to begin the cooking process.
- When the brussels sprouts are lightly steamed (they will turn a bright green), drain, and pour onto a lined baking sheet.
- Pour the fat from the pork belly as well as the pork belly bits onto the baking sheet with the brussels sprouts.
- Season with sea salt and toss so all of the brussels sprouts are coated in the pork fat.
- Roast in the oven until the brussels sprouts turn golden brown, are slightly crisp, and you can easily pierce them with a fork.
- Remove from heat and serve immediately.
