Brussels Sprouts My Way

[Steve Kroll]

Brussels sprouts are one of my favorites. I have two methods that seem to work best for me. Most of the time I just halve them and toss with a little olive oil, minced garlic, salt and pepper, and then roast them in a hot oven until they are browned and caramelized.

The other way I make them is a little fancier, and makes a good side dish for holidays:

• Start with a pound of sprouts, halved.
• Fry up 3 or 4 slices of bacon in a pan and remove. Pour off all but a tablespoon of the remaining fat. Add a tablespoon of olive oil to the pan.
• Add the sprouts and brown until nicely caramelized and tender.
• Add 1/4 cup chopped walnuts and a handful of dried cranberries (aka "craisins") to the pan.
• Crumble the bacon you fried earlier, and add back to the pan.
• Toss with a couple tablespoons of your favorite vinaigrette or commercial Italian salad dressing. Season to taste and serve warm.
• Try not to eat the whole thing.

 

[GotGarlic]

Brussels sprouts are one of my favorites. I have two methods that seem to work best for me. Most of the time I just halve them and toss with a little olive oil, minced garlic, salt and pepper, and then roast them in a hot oven until they are browned and caramelized.

The other way I make them is a little fancier, and makes a good side dish for holidays:

• Start with a pound of sprouts, halved.
• Fry up 3 or 4 slices of bacon in a pan and remove. Pour off all but a tablespoon of the remaining fat. Add a tablespoon of olive oil to the pan.
• Add the sprouts and brown until nicely caramelized and tender.
• Add 1/4 cup chopped walnuts and a handful of dried cranberries (aka "craisins") to the pan.
• Crumble the bacon you fried earlier, and add back to the pan.
• Toss with a couple tablespoons of your favorite vinaigrette or commercial Italian salad dressing. Season to taste and serve warm.
• Try not to eat the whole thing.

I can't eat Brussels sprouts because of the high fiber, but I think this method would work great with green beans, too. Thanks!

 

[taxlady]

I can't eat Brussels sprouts because of the high fiber, but I think this method would work great with green beans, too. Thanks!

What a good idea! Stirling isn't willing to eat, or even smell, Brussels sprouts. He isn't fond of green beans (I am), but will eat them. I'm going to have to give this a try.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

I like the walnuts & dried cranberry idea Steve!

Himself likes them naked (well, with a bit of butter). I prefer their original taste, um, "enhanced". We both love them roasted, so we have that as an option. If I want to hide their true taste, this is how I prepare them:

Blanche the halved sprouts, drain, and set aside. While cooking the sprouts saute bacon pieces, removed from pan and set aside. To bacon drippings add sliced mushrooms and saute until browned. Add the Brussels sprouts, bacon bits, a generous dose of garlic powder, and a palmful of tarragon crumbled to near dust. Stir to mix and serve. These are even better the next day, so I'll be making them as a side dish to take to my SILs for Thanksgiving, making it on Wednesday and running it up to her home so it can be popped into the oven to reheat.

 

[msmofet]

We love them. All I do is clean, cut in half, place in micro safe bowl. Cover (no water added) and steam on high till tender. Maybe 6 minutes add butter, salt and pepper YUM!!

Sometimes we have Brussels sprouts instead of cabbage with corned beef.

 

[Mad Cook]

Brussel sprout tips: Because of the natural chemicals in the sprouts (which will smell like sulfur) if over cooked, you loose the sweetness. The best way I have found to prep them is to trim, then cut the in half. Soak them in cold water to leach out the acids. Don't over cook! Seven minutes and under for best flavor & sweetness. You can boil or steam. I like to steam them until done then, add maple syrup and saute till syrup is just warm. Also would like to add: smaller is sweeter.

I agree with all of this except the soaking. Soaking leaches out the vitamins as well.

Mostly what ruins a good BS is over boiling in gallons of water.

Not entirely sure about the maple syrup but each to his own. They team well with nuts - walnuts, almonds or chestnut in particular - and garlic and butter.

Incidentally, it is essential to defy your mother and NEVER cut the cross in the bottom if boiling - it lets the water into the insides of the sprouts and that makes them soggy.

 

[Mad Cook]

We love them. All I do is clean, cut in half, place in micro safe bowl. Cover (no water added) and steam on high till tender. Maybe 6 minutes add butter, salt and pepper YUM!!

Sometimes we have Brussels sprouts instead of cabbage with corned beef.

Hurrah! Another member of the DC chapter of the SOBS (Save Our Brussels Society)

 

[Zhizara]

My favirte way to prepare them is to make a white sauce using bisquick instead of flour, and evaporated milk. Simmer a few minutes and YUM.

 

[CarolPa]

Here's a recipe I'm going to try for Christmas.



Beyond Compare Brussels Sprouts

Prep time 10 min Cook time 40 min
Serves 8

Ingredients:

Cooking Spray
8 1/2 oz Corn Muffin Mix
1C frozen corn, thawed
8 slices bacon
3 1/2 lb brussels sprouts trimmed and halved
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 C finely chopped onion
1/4 C chicken stock (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375. Coat a square baking dish with cooking spray. Prepare corn muffin batter according to pkg instructions. Stir thawed corn into batter. Bake for 15 min until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool.

Cook bacon until crisp. Reserve the bacon drippings. Crumble bacon once cool.

Place brussels sprouts on a baking sheet and toss with bacon drippings, salt pepper and nutmeg. Roast for 15-20 min.

Break corn muffins into bite-size pieces and place on a baking sheet. Bake for 12-15 min, stirring occasionally until golden brown and crispy.

Meanwhile, add onion to pan and cook over medium-high heat until caramelized.

Just before serving, toss brussels sprouts with 1/4 of the crumbled bacon, caramelized onions and corn muffin crumbs. If desired, use chicken stock to moisten mixture. Pour into a serving bowl and garnish with remaining crumbled bacon.

 

[cave76]

Thanks to everyone for their way of cooking Brussels Sprouts. I love them; a close friend doesn't. I'm trying different ways to cook them.

 

[Zagut]

Brussels Sprouts were on sale this week and they looked fresh.

(Disclaimer... I love Brussels Sprouts )


I tried an experiment.


Tempura Batter, Deep Fried, Several choices of dipping sauce.

 

[jennyema]

This has been a hit lately...

Very thinly thinly sliced BS, like cole slaw, sautéed with similarly sliced red and yellow peppers and some finely diced shallots. Aggressively seasoned.

Also, and I might have posted above, bubble and squeak with BS instead of cabbage.

 

[Cheryl J]

Brussels Sprouts were on sale this week and they looked fresh.

(Disclaimer... I love Brussels Sprouts )


I tried an experiment.


Tempura Batter, Deep Fried, Several choices of dipping sauce.

How was it? I'm interested. What were your dipping sauces? Like others have mentioned over the past, I like them shredded in a slaw, or fried tender crisp with bacon and onions, etc. Not just boiled, like my mom and gma used to do to the poor things.....

 

[Cooking Goddess]

They're good roasted, Cheryl.

 

[Mad Cook]

I often steam them and serve with a cheese or an onion béchamel-type sauce poured over.

They are good lightly steamed and finished by sautéing quickly in butter with sliced almonds or cooked chestnuts (you can buy them cooked in cans, jars or vac-packed).

But then, I love BS. I think the knack is not to cook them too much - they need to have a bit of a bite so 8-10 minutes max. Cooked too much and they become bitter. One of my grandmothers used to boil them hard for nearly an hour! Fortunately, other grandmother and my mother were good cooks so I was "dragged up proper" in the kitchen! Also don't cut an "X" in the base of the stalk - it makes them soggy and takes away a lot of the flavour (ah, so that's why they do it!).

Try thinking of them as Jane Grigson describes them in her Veg Book -

".... an elegant miniature cabbage".

Thomas Jefferson planted them at Monticello in 1812. Given his penchant for vegetables and his garden, he probably brought them back with the him with all the plants he brought back from Europe so he must have thought them worth the effort.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

Long cooking does, um, "enhance" the attributes that chase people from them, I think. Since quicker-is-better, I try to find the smallest sprouts I can buy. I found packages of teeny ones a month or so back at a store I'll stop in sometimes. Not only were they the size of the small marbles, but they were perfectly sweet AND Brussels sprout-y. If all I can find are large ones, I'll cut them in half, especially if I'm frying them in bacon fat.

 

[taxlady]

I don't cook Brussels sprouts often, because Stirling gets nauseous when he smells them*. When I do, I do usually cut the cross in the stem, but I steam them. I have never noticed them getting soggy.

* There was an incident in his childhood with an entire field of Brussels sprouts which was on fire.

 

[Dawgluver]

No way, no how, uh-uh would I eat these shrunken little heads of yuck. Feel free to bathe me in rutabegas, turnips, radishes, cilantro, sauerkraut, any other vegetable (other than sweet potatoes baked with marshmallows), just not BS.

I'm happy that others eat and enjoy them!

 

[Mad Cook]

Yes, fresh. I don't eat them often enough to buy frozen, so I'll buy a small amount in the produce aisle and have them in two or three meals. Frozen would end up being a bag of frost.

Much as I love BS, frozen ones are nasty. They are soggy before you even think about cooking them.

 

[Cheryl J]

They're good roasted, Cheryl.

Yes, I love them roasted, too.