brussel sprouts

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I never liked brussel sprouts until I had them roasted. I discovered that steaming or boiling brussel sprouts doesn't work. I roast them with LOTS of olive oil and salt and pepper until the outermost leaves are rather browned. (I like them that way lol).

Once I had the most amazing brussel sprouts, that were sauted in fat, with smoked pheasant leg bits. Obviously, not affordable for most folks. but the smoked pheasant leg bits had a smoked flavor reminiscent of bacon, so bacon or other smoked poultry legs would probably work really well for the same flavor.

I've come to think the way to cook brussel sprouts is heat and fat, with lots of salt and pepper.

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I agree with sauteeing them. The only recipe I'll use for them has you saute them to brown them some (halfed or quartered depending on size) and then adding like 1/4 cup water, covering and letting them steam for a few minutes to finish cooking. They're not soggy at all. You then toss in some bacon, lemon juice and maple syrup and they're really good! It was from Fine Cooking.

oh look I found the recipe

http://www.finecooking.com/recipes/b...con-thyme.aspx

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oh good to know! I will keep that in mind.

ok so bacon/fat - check
saute or roast but never boil - check

sounds great!

I tried ti the other day. I boil it for 3-4 mins then sauted it but I didn't like it. so I tried roasting to to make it softer... and well I think it was one cooking style too many and it bombed.

so this time I will start with bacon/bacon grease... and cut themin half if they are big so they cook through.

thanks everyone!! I can't wait to find some new brussel sprouts at the farmer's market (the ones at the grocery are NASTY looking!)

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oh yeah I TOTALLY agree! which is why I don't force myself to eat things that "don't sit well" with me... (or the kids for them). But, I have a feeling I would like brussel sprouts if I cook them right as they are like a mixture of greens and cabbage - both of which I LOVE.

my whole growing up I couldn't eat fruit or raw veggies. I would get a yucky feeling. I MADE myself eat them though b/c they were healthy. Plus I lvoe the way they taste (oh my goodness how I crave oranges, cranberries and watermelons!) the older i got the yuckier the feeling got... until I flat out started getting sick. then really sick. and then SUPER sick. finally I just stopped eating them and figured I'd rather not be healthy if I was going to feel so bad all of the time. (seriously I just thought i was being super sensitive and that everyone felt rotten after eating fruit I was young - it didn't occur to me it might be making me sick. and that the stomach aches, head aches, throwing up, rashes, and diarrhea might not be normal!)

anyhow as an adult I found out I actually have Fructose Intolerance. yep like lactose, but fructose of all things! if I eat any fruit of most raw veggies, ACV, fermented veggies etc I get SICK. (Ive been trying to figure out if this is an enzyme deficiency I can "heal" but I kinda doubt it...)

The are 3 ways I like brussel sprouts... cooking them in water is completely gross, IMO.

Tossed with oil and roasted in a hot oven until the edges start turning black (they're not burning, they're caramelizing). But you want to be careful because if you cook them too long they go mushy and are yucky.

Cut in half, placed cut-side down in a hot cast iron skillet with plenty of oil. You want them to turn dark before you flip them. It's easier to not overcook them this way.

The third way is to remove the outer leaves until you have a large pile of leaves - they shrink a lot when you cook them, so you really need a lot of them. I usually wind up with a big bowl of leaves and another of the small pale green centers of sprouts (that I cook in one of the above ways). Again, toss them into a really hot cast iron skillet, so that they caramelize instantly. You basically want to stir fry them so they still have some texture but are gently cooked. The edges should start turning dark brown, and the leaves themselves should be bright green.

A little salt and pepper is all they really need IMO - although we do make a salad of the oven-roasted ones, with blue cheese, vinegar, toasted pecans, and dried apricots.

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Hi HennyPenny! I do brussels sprouts as part of a roast chicken meal. I use a normal oven pan, not a roasting pan. First I lightly grease the pan with butter so nothing sticks. Then I cut up some carrots and potatoes into largeish chunks, then combine them and the brussels sprouts (leave them whole if they're not huge) in a loose jumble on the bottom of the pan. Then I rub the whole (free-range, organic, obviously ) chicken with my spices and lots of butter, then put the chicken (legs up) in the middle of the pan, on top of the veggies, so that the veggies hold the chicken up and allow the hot air to circulate underneath. Then I drizzle olive oil over the exposed veggies, and put in the oven until the chicken is done. The brussels sprouts get a little brown on the outside but not soggy at all and very flavorful. The veggies cook in the chicken drippings and are delicious as-is, but you can also make a cream sauce from the drippings, a bit of butter if you need, cream, and a bit of flour to thicken. This is incredibly delicious on top of the veggies and with the chicken makes a whole meal.
When I did this I combined the leftovers in a pie crust with more cream and it was good too.
I bet brussels sprouts would be good baked with other veggies in cream as a side dish too... Hmmm.. this is making me hungry
Anyway that's not using the brussels sprouts as the main ingredient of a meal but it's my favorite way to use them so far.
ETA: it's really important to use an organic free range chicken for this dish. Tried it once with a conventional chicken (because they are a fraction of the price) and it was so not worth it. Would have been better to eat beans instead