Roasting Frozen Brussel Sprouts

[BreezyCooking]

Tonight I'm going to roast a chicken & strew chunks of root vegetables (rutabaga, turnip, potatoes, & carrots) in the pan around the bird to cook along with it. For a touch of color & to add a green veggie to this mix, I'd like to add a bag of frozen "petite" brussel sprouts to this concoction, but am not sure of the best way to do this, especially since there is nothing worse than mushy cooked-to-death sprouts.

I figure the options are:

1) Cook the sprouts separately & toss them with the roasted root veggies just before serving.

2) Just blanch the frozen sprouts & add them to the roasting pan about halfway through the cooking time (about 1 to 1-1/2 hours).

3) Add the still frozen sprouts to the roasting pan at some point during the cooking time.

Any suggestions?

[ChefJune]

I'm thinking the frozen sprouts are gonna throw off quite a bit of water. However, the flavor of roasted sprouts is fabulous, so roasting them is the optimum... Can you thaw and drain them before the whole cooking process? I think that's what I'd do. then add them to the roasting pan about 20-30 minutes before the whole dish is done. You don't want to over cook them, and the baby ones won't take as long as your potatoes and carrots...

[BreezyCooking]

That's a good idea - thanks. I can take them out now. That will give them more than enough time to thaw since I won't be putting the bird in the oven till around 5:30 or so.

[jennyema]

You don't want to roast them frozen, I don't think, as they'll give off too much water.

The best part about roasted brussel spouts is the nutty crunch they get, so I personally wouldn't opt for #1, either.

I'd probably just defrost them, dry thoroughly and add them at the appropriate time -- they'll probably need about 1/2 hour.

June -- GMTA!

[kitchenelf]

Well, I wouldn't roast them frozen because of the water content - no one has said that yet have they?

Agree with completely thawed (even if you have to use the defrost cycle on your microwave), completely dried, and roasting.

[Gretchen]

I would microwave them with some butter and serve on the side. Idon't think roasting frozen brussel sprouts is going to work out well.

[Chef_Jen]

Heres my .02 thaw them first DO NOT roast frozen LOL just kiddin :)

[BreezyCooking]

Well - here's to experimentation (so long as you're not cooking for guests - lol).

Since the brand of frozen vegetables I buy is high-quality (Hanover) & the sprouts are only the size of marbles, I decided to thaw & drain 1/3 of the bag & leave the rest frozen. I added the frozen sprouts to one side of the roasting pan 20 minutes before the end of roasting time, & added the thawed sprouts to the other side of the pan 10 minutes before the end. The thawed sprouts literally disintegrated; the frozen ones were absolutely PERFECT!!! Didn't exude any extra liquid to the pan juices, & were sweet, nutty, firm/tender.

Now like I said, these are high-quality individually frozen bagged baby sprouts. Perhaps larger boxed sprouts wouldn't work as well. I rarely if ever buy boxed frozen vegetables because I find the water/frost content too high.

But if you have bagged frozen sprouts & want to roast them with a chicken & other veggies - tossing them into the pan frozen works just fine!!!

[ChefJune]

Who'da Thunk it!

[kitchenelf]

Well blow me down!!!!! Glad you had the foresight to try both ways. Thanks! Now, I've put frozen veggies in with a chicken to roast - just never thought of actually roasting ONLY the Brussels sprouts. Thanks for the reply with your results.

[BreezyCooking]

It wasn't just the brussel sprouts alone Kitchenelf. I started the roast chicken with chunks of raw rutabaga, turnips, potatoes, carrots, onion, & garlic. Just waited to add the frozen brussel sprouts towards the very end of the cooking time.

The only other additions were extra-virgin olive oil, salt, & pepper - & of course the drippings from the chicken. But no other liquid was added. I really was surprised at how well they turned out, especially since there really wasn't any liquid in the roasting pan - just a bit of oil & pan drippings.

[kitchenelf]

Originally Posted by BreezyCooking

It wasn't just the brussel sprouts alone Kitchenelf. I started the roast chicken with chunks of raw rutabaga, turnips, potatoes, carrots, onion, & garlic. Just waited to add the frozen brussel sprouts towards the very end of the cooking time.

The only other additions were extra-virgin olive oil, salt, & pepper - & of course the drippings from the chicken. But no other liquid was added. I really was surprised at how well they turned out, especially since there really wasn't any liquid in the roasting pan - just a bit of oil & pan drippings.

OH!!!! Somewhere in here my brain kicked into the thought "roasting in a single layer with other veggies - I dropped the word chicken hence putting the word roasting with the veggies only!

Seriously - am I the only one that thought she was actually roasting the vegetables???? I wouldn't have worried at all about the liquid from the frozen veggies diluting the chicken drippings or hurting the other veggies had I been thinking right!

OK, I bet they were good with all the drippings from the chicken. A bunch of root veggies cooking with a chicken is perfect for days like we have had recently!