Brussel Sprouts

I am a lover of brussel sprouts and I am always looking for new and interesting ways to prepare these little treats. I ran across a recipe in Food & Wine for David Chang's Momofuko Ssam Bar Spicy Brussel Sprouts with Mint. Nothing short of incredible. Here is the Link. One thing I would recommend is cooking the brussel sprouts for a little longer then he recommends in the recipe. I don't think that I can achieve the heat on my home range that he can at his restaurant. The sprouts required a little more time in my wok as a result. Enjoy.

I never ate them growing up, but discovered them as an adult due to an article in the food section of the paper. My favorite preparation is to toss them in a roasting pan with olive oil, kosher salt and fresh ground pepper and then just roast them until done. I even got my dad to try them this way last Thanksgiving and while he didn't say they were delicious, he didn't spit them out, either.

Suzy

sdritz wrote:My favorite preparation is to toss them in a roasting pan with olive oil, kosher salt and fresh ground pepper and then just roast them until done.

That, but add bacon and walnuts. Mmm.

gleam wrote:

sdritz wrote:My favorite preparation is to toss them in a roasting pan with olive oil, kosher salt and fresh ground pepper and then just roast them until done.

That, but add bacon and walnuts. Mmm.

I agree, or some capicola, and minced garlic...

Bacon and roasted hazelnuts. Your link didn't work for me.

Chestnuts are a great, traditional addition brussel sprouts, with or without bacon (but for me, I'd add the bacon).

I recently discovered Safeway's frozen petite Brussel sprouts. They are my new favorite veggie for quick dinners. I highly recommend them, they are tender and delicious.

I just made a pretty good pasta dish for lunch! Bacon (turkey, I know I know), brussel sprouts, pinenuts and parm cheese tossed with penne...

Excellent...

Occasionally, I put de-stemmed brussel sprouts through the shredder on my food processor and saute the shredded brussel sprouts with garlic, crushed red pepper and lots of olive oil, add in toasted pinenuts and finish with salt, pepper and a good dousing of fresh lemon juice.

with raw cranberries and thyme

My new favorite sprouts recipe is an invention from "use up the leftovers" day:

crispy toasted roasted brussel sprouts w/garlic & walnuts --- stirred into parsnip puree

We're going to recreate it for Thanksgiving.

We like brussels sprouts in our quickie weeknight dinners, but the roasting takes a little longer than we'd like, so we like to slice in half, steam them until they're bright green (but still a bit underdone...4-5 minutes I'd guess), then saute them in a bit of olive oil and the flavor du jour...shallots, roasted cumin seeds and salt is our usual go-to. I like this preparation because the halves are easy to eat, and the sauteing gives the cut sides a nice brown crust.

nr706 wrote:Chestnuts are a great, traditional addition brussel sprouts, with or without bacon (but for me, I'd add the bacon).

Brussel sprouts with chestnuts is one of The Wife's regular Thanksgiving sides. As a cheat, we get pre-peeled chestnuts from any one of a number of grocery stores in Chinatown.

Jean Blanchard wrote:Your link didn't work for me.

The link appears to be working, at least for me.

I now realize that I screwed up by not cutting the sprouts in half. No wonder they took so long to cook all the way through.

Thanks. It's working for me now, too. Recipe is interesting.

I like to shred them and then saute them with a little diced bacon and onion with a dash of wine vinegar. Add fresh cracked pepper and salt. Love Brussel Sprouts.

Just to make sure the message passed down to me is correct, when choosing brussels one should choose the smaller ones as opposed to the larger as they're younger and tastier?

Just FYI: you can eat the leaves of the plant just like collard greens.

My favorite combo is with minced ginger, garlic and a healthy splash of cider vinegar.

I also abide by the steam first and sauté second method. More precisely, I'll split the sprouts and steam them to 75% done. Then, once cooled, I place them flat side down in a large non-stick pan over high heat with a generous amount of melted, almost browned butter and them leave them alone for 2 minutes or so to brown nicely on one side.

Once browned, I'll toss in the minced garlic and ginger and sauté to soften and cook that through. Then I'll finish it with the cider vinegar, some olive oil and salt and pepper.

I never use any consistent measurements with this recipe, but if I had to guess, I'd say it's probably 3 or 4 cloves of minced garlic and an equal amount of minced ginger for 15-20 halved brussel sprouts.

It's a crowd pleaser. Ginger and cider vinegar go amazingly well with the Brussel sprouts.

1. Steam and then saute in bacon fat along with some homemade croutons. Add bacon. Preferably (and in this photo) Wettsteins.

2. Make a curry with chicken, brussels sprouts, and apricots. Serve over couscous.

sdritz wrote: My favorite preparation is to toss them in a roasting pan with olive oil, kosher salt and fresh ground pepper and then just roast them until done.

This is my favorite way to make brussels sprouts and any number of other veggies, too. No other method returns such flavorful results for so little effort.

I'm a big fan of brussels sprouts in just about any form, but I really liked this creamed brussels sprouts recipe I adapted from Orangette. Basically, you sear the brussels sprouts really well, add a ton of cream and simmer, then stir in some balsamic vinegar and caramelized onions at the end. Not for the calorie-conscious, but well worth it.
http://elicooks.wordpress.com/2008/11/2 ... s-sprouts/

eli wrote:
I'm a big fan of brussels sprouts in just about any form, but I really liked this creamed brussels sprouts recipe I adapted from Orangette. Basically, you sear the brussels sprouts really well, add a ton of cream and simmer, then stir in some balsamic vinegar and caramelized onions at the end. Not for the calorie-conscious, but well worth it.
http://elicooks.wordpress.com/2008/11/2 ... s-sprouts/

LOL! I think we have a winner!

I HATED Brussels Sprouts until 2 years ago, when I had them at Feed. They are shredded, sauteed with butter and a squeeze of lemon, sauteed till there are little brown bits of yummy shreddy goodness in the mix. I tried it at home and it was awesome. I then graduated to halved, roasted sprouts with salt and parmesan and still loved the sprouts. After reading about Belly Shack and the sprouts with chorizo, I decided to try a version on that. I shredded my sprouts and sauteed with spicy ground chorizo. It was amazingly good! I don't know what Belly Shacks are like, but I'm sure the flavors work well together whatever format of sprouts/chorizo you use.

jimswside wrote:

gleam wrote:

sdritz wrote:My favorite preparation is to toss them in a roasting pan with olive oil, kosher salt and fresh ground pepper and then just roast them until done.

That, but add bacon and walnuts. Mmm.

I agree, or some capicola, and minced garlic...

Or pancetta and onions. You mix that with some spaetzle and top with an oven roasted chicken thigh and you're in love.

Brussel sprouts are very versatile. Toss them in with some roasted shallots and serve over flat fish.

toria wrote:I like to shred them and then saute them with a little diced bacon and onion with a dash of wine vinegar. Add fresh cracked pepper and salt. Love Brussel Sprouts.

I also shred them then saute in butter with crushed fennel seed or mustard seed. Salt and Pepper. Get a little char on them.

The shredding approach seems to go over well with avowed brussel sprout haters.

LAZ wrote:

sdritz wrote: My favorite preparation is to toss them in a roasting pan with olive oil, kosher salt and fresh ground pepper and then just roast them until done.

This is my favorite way to make brussels sprouts and any number of other veggies, too. No other method returns such flavorful results for so little effort.

I will second - easy quick and delicious - and if you have left overs they are great cold!

Last night I did this -

saute some onion in olive oil in a cast iron pan, push it to the side, put in a bunch of brussels cut in half, face down, let them sit cooking for a good while, then stir, add some salt and pepper, stir, let sit again for a while. make space in the center, add some olive oil and butter, put a minced garlic clove in the space, let sizzle a little, stir, stir, stir, add some louisiana hot sauce, stir, stir. Yum!

iblock9 wrote:I now realize that I screwed up by not cutting the sprouts in half. No wonder they took so long to cook all the way through.

Another run through of this excellent recipe tonite yielded much better results after I halved the sprouts.

Roasted brussel sprouts are very tasty. I halve the sprouts, toss in olive oil, fresh thyme, fresh rosemary, salt, and pepper. Add some diced yam(or substitute chestnuts), chopped pecans, and dried cranberries. Arrange in the baking pan. Now, brush with balsamic vinegar and honey to get nice caramelization. I use an enamel cast iron baking ban. Bake in oven for 30-40 minutes or until they brown and outer leaves slightly crisp. Remove sprouts from pan and enjoy. Optionally, add a tiny bit of water to deglaze and use over sprouts. Turns out really nice.