tdf. stage 2. brussels → spa.

Three days into the tour and the race is yet to hit French soil. Brussles to Spa takes place entirely in Belgium. Look for massive crowds along the raceway as the Belgians love their cycling and I mean love. Belgium is also notorious for having excess "road furniture" - watch for bikes broken in half flying through the air when someone inevitably hits a road sign.

Aside from excess road furniture and drunken cycling fanatics in thongs lining the roadways, here are some other things I think of when I think of Belgium: Most definitely, beer and sausages.

In that spirit, we're making Saison-glazed sausages with brussel sprouts and bacon along with a potato salad served with a warm bacon vinaigrette.

Potato salad with warm bacon vinaigrette.

1 tablespoon shallot, finely chopped

1 teaspoon whole grain mustard

1 1/3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 teaspoon kosher salt

2 tablespoons, warm rendered bacon fat

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon fresh dill, chopped

2 tablespoons dill pickles, sliced

3-4 small waxy potatoes, quartered (we used yellow and red potatoes)

Preheat your oven to 350ºF. Roast your quartered potatoes until tender but not totally soft, you want a little bite to the potato - about 20 minutes. While roasting potatoes, slowly render bacon fat over low heat. We bought 1/2 a pound of slab bacon (uncut), diced it up and slowly rendered the bacon over low heat, reserving the bacon bits itself for the brussel sprout dish we served with the salad. Once fat from the bacon is rendered and the bacon has become tender, strain bacon from fat and keep the fat warm. Add your shallots, mustard, vinegar and mustard to a mixing bowl. Whisk in bacon fat and olive oil.

When the potatoes are finished, remove from the oven and let cool. When cooled, place in a mixing bowl along with the dill, pickles and warm vinaigrette. (If you don't keep the vinaigrette warm, it will get clumpy. If it gets clumpy, just warm it a bit.) Toss and serve.

For the brussel sprouts.

10 brussel sprouts

1/2 pound slab bacon

Salt and pepper to-taste

Trim and clean your brussel sprouts, removing any outer leaves that don't look fresh. Slice the brussel sprouts as thinly as possible vertically. Dice the slab bacon into 1/4" cubes. Place the bacon into a pan over medium heat, slowly rendering the fat from the bacon. When the bacon is tender and golden remove with a slotted spoon; reserve bacon fat in a separate dish if making bacon vinaigrette. Add brussel sprouts to the same heated pan used to cook bacon. Cook until tender and a bit caramelized, about 10 minutes stirring frequently. Add rendered bacon bits and season with salt and pepper to taste.

For the sausages.

1 cooked polish sausage

1 cooked brat

1/2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup shallot, finely chopped

1/2 cup Saison or Belgian style beer

1 tablespoon fresh chives or parsley, chopped

Heat a pan over medium high heat, add olive oil. Place sausages in pan and cook until the outsides are slightly browned. Add shallots and cook for about two minutes. Add beer to the pan, cover and cook for about 8 minutes until the beer is evaporated. Remove lid and allow sausages to rest in the hot pan for about 3 minutes. Serve sausages with brussel sprouts and potato salad.

Enjoy!

--Jd--

Comments

[Jason Phelps]

Just watching the last few K of the stage. Looks to be a new rider in yellow tonight!

Pork and beer, such a pleasure.

Jason