Can Brussel Sprouts get a Second Chance?

[GreatGazoo]

To the average 5 year-old and many adults, serving brussel sprouts qualifies as child abuse. Frozen, boiled, cabbage-y, bitter finish, mushy... some must wonder why even grow these in the first place?

Like many vegetables that we ate, hated and wrote off, brussel sprouts are usually cooked all wrong. I found some at the farmer's market last week, still on the stalk. My dog ate one little sprout that had fallen off and then looked at the stalk as if to use the power of her mind to make more of them fall. I bought the whole stalk, about 3-feet high, most of the sprouts were smaller than a golf ball and the ones at the top were large, more like a racket ball. I was determined to make a side dish like I had at my favorite italian restaurant. My balsamic was lacking but I came pretty close:

Cut each sprout in half, if they are large cut the cores out with a pairing knife
Blanch in boiling water for 2 to 3 minutes then into cool water
Heat minced pancetta or bacon in a skillet, low and slow so the fat renders
then turn up the heat to medium, push the pork to one side (or remove it)
place the brussel sprouts cut side down in the pork fat and cook until lightly browned
then remove them and recombine with the pancetta, a little salt and the smallest amount of balsamic or lemon juice

great with red wine (pinot, zin or chianti), sausage or other seasoned pork.

the blanching kills off the skunky character leaving them with a hint of sweetness and notes of rye bread, whole other creature.

They should be still firm but tender when they leave the skillet.

[trotsky]

1. Love 'em. They are probably my favorite veg now.

First rule: never buy frozen. Only fresh.

Second rule: As you noted, you gotta cook them right. I either steam them (then drizzle with olive oil), or broil them, or saute them. Last time I sauteed, it was with some kielbasa so I got the fat that way. I'll have to try your recipe - sounds great!

[NRaleighLiberal]

2. we love them! We get them on the stalk at Trader Joe.

Favorite use so far - cut in half and blanche for 4 minutes - then rinse/chill. Melt some butter in a pan, brown some sliced almonds, then add the sprouts - lower heat, steam for a bit until just tender, then remove the cover, turn up the heat and let them brown. Salt and Pepper. We serve it over quinoa.

There is also a recipe we like then we slice them thinly, saute in olive oil until al dente along with some onions and sweet peppers, then serve it on whole wheat pasta topped with toasted buttered bread crumbs and grated parmesan.

[GreatGazoo]

3. that second one is real interesting, will have to try that

how thin is thin?

[NRaleighLiberal]

6. 1/4 to 1/8 inch. I will

here's the link - we just did a few minor changes.

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/cavatappi-browned-brussels-sprouts

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

4. I've got some in the garden now, but not sure I'll be able to keep them alive long enough

as we head into winter for me to harvest em. It might prompt my first foray into cold framing.

[GreatGazoo]

7. I have some kalette growing

out at a farm plot that I rent. Everything else was done and the kalette was still out there with no sign of buds. It is an F1 cross between brussel sprouts and kale that forms little heads of kale on a brussel sprout style stalk. 3 weeks back it still looked like sparse kale that was bolting. We have had 2 or 3 frosts but it is supposed to like it cold so ..?

good luck with your brussel sprouts

[Goblinmonger]

5. Just made some last night. Love them.

Fresh. Cut in half. Sautee for 5-8 minutes in olive oil to get a nice carmelization. Put in some balsamic and brown sugar over the heat enough to get a sauce going. Salt and pepper, or course. Next time I'll add just a touch of crushed red pepper. It was awesome. I would have left out the teaspoon or so of brown sugar, but my wife likes a touch of sweet in things so I try to keep her happy.

[grasswire]

19. happened to see some cooking on Food Network today...

.....with a bit of maple syrup.

[Warpy]

8. Tossing them in olive oil and roasting them

adding red pepper and crushed garlic for the last 5-10 minutes will also tame them quite nicely. Cutting them into halves or quarters depending on size seems to be an essential step, preventing mush on the outside concealing raw and bitter stuff on the inside.

I think that's the real problem so many people have with them, the impossibility of cooking them whole and coming up with something that isn't nasty.

[littlewolf]

9. 22 years ago when we married told my beloved

that I hated Brussel Sprouts. and I would rather take a root canal w/o Novocain
then have them in the house. Then we saw on several cooking shows ways to fix em
and I told her we should try em. never time we go to the store will pick some up.
growing up mom just boiled em .. and they sucked.

also hate boiled cabbage. I like my cabbage fried, kraut or cole slaw.
or in soup …

[dem in texas]

10. Victory Garden Recipe

I used to watch the Victory Garden Show on the local NPR station here in Dallas (kERA). The wife of the main host, can't remember her name, would always cook up a vegetable from their garden as the last part of the show. She cut about 1/4" of the stem out the center on the ends of the brussel sprouts. She then dropped the brussel sprouts in boiling water until about half cooked. She drained them and heated a little olive oil in a skillet. She cut the spouts in half, long ways, and also cut a tiny slice off the bottom. She put in the cut brussel sprouts along with some garlic powder in the skillet and sautéed them until they started browning on the outer layers. So good and so easy. My daughter has taken over the recipe and always cooks these for Thanksgiving.

Years ago when we lived in Anchorage, I grew brussel sprouts in my garden. I heard you should not pick them until have you have a hard frost, which comes pretty early in Alaska. So after frost, I picked a batch and cooked them up and my house smelt for 2 or 3 days, so I left the other brussel sprouts on the plants in my garden. When winter set in, the moose would come into town to eat off the shrubs and gardens. We had a chain link fence around our back yard to keep them out, but once the snow got high, a mother moose and her calf stepped right over the fence like it wasn't even there. They stayed in back yard and garden for 4 or 5 days and ate all the plant remains in my garden including the brussel sprouts. What a great memory!

[Phentex]

11. I love them, even mushy...

I steam them and then add a little butter, salt and pepper and devour as many as possible. I love them roasted and pan fried too.

My family eats them but they didn't start with the mushy kind so they weren't biased.

[irisblue]

12. Baked in scant olive oil, drizzle maple syrup & pecans for last 5 min.

never a left over

[2theleft]

13. I was never a fan, but had some at a restaurant last month

that made me LOVE them. Roasted with bacon & pecans, topped with a balsamic & honey glaze. I could have eaten 10 pounds of them, they were DELICIOUS!

I tried to recreate at home, and failed miserably. They were bitter and gross.

I want to try again, but I was so disappointed at how bad they were!! Maybe I'll try some of the recipes above.

[dem in texas]

14. Here's how to take out the bitter taste

Core the center out of the stem for about 1/4 or 1/2 an inch. Then cut an X on the bottom of the stem. Drop the sprouts in boiling water to almost done. Drain sprouts and discard the water. If you aren't going to use the sprouts then, run cold water over them to cool them down. Drain and store in container in fridge until ready to use.

[2theleft]

15. Thank you!!! I am going to try again.

I really appreciate the tip!!

[SheilaT]

16. Well I've certainly never had Brussel sprouts

that were even remotely edible. My mother made them every year at Thanksgiving, and they stank up the house, sometimes even overpowering the lovely smell of roasting turkey. Nasty, nasty, nasty. I'm not sure I could ever be persuaded to try any of the recipes that have been suggested up thread.

[Vinca]

17. I cook them in a similar way and toss in a few bits of walnuts at the end.

My problem this year is all the Brussels sprouts available are tiny, tiny, tiny. It must have been a lousy growing season.

[dem in texas]

18. Recipes for Brussel Sprouts In NYT

Today's New York Times on line has a bunch of recipes for Brussel Sprouts. We ate lunch at my daughter's place today and she served up oven roasted Brussel sprouts which were delicious. They were like the ones shown in one of today's NYT recipes. My daughter said she'd gotten the recipe from Ina Garten's cookbook.