Saturday 3 January 2015

Caramelized Brussels Sprouts


If I ever manage to grow any brussels sprouts of my own (previous attempts have been poor at best), this is the first dish I'd make with them ... easy to cook and a great way to really enjoy the flavour of this vegetable without other distractions. 

But for a bit of extra zip, you could start with some bacon (cook then remove bacon and proceed to cook the sprouts in the bacon fat, then add bacon back in to serve) and/or toss in some dried cranberries or fresh pomegranate arils.



Serve 3-4 as a side dish.

Trim ends of brussels sprouts (about 3/4 pound) and cut in half.

In a large saute pan, heat 2 Tbsp olive oil and 1 Tbsp unsalted butter.  Don't let it get too hot or the next step might be difficult ... place the sprouts in the hot pan with the cut side down.  On medium-high heat (more high than medium), cook the sprouts as long as you can without letting them burn - should just be a minute or two.

Then cover the sprouts with an inch or so of veggie or chicken stock.  This will deglaze the pan so you can enjoy some of those sticky bits from the bottom of the pan.  Add a pinch of salt (unless the stock is already salted).  Immediately turn down to a simmer and cook until the liquid evaporates or the sprouts are fork tender (should happen around the same time).






3 comments:

  1. Yum I so love Brussels sprouts. And those look so good.

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  2. They do look good! I only tried growing sprouts once and they were a dismal failure. Mark's success with them (Mark's Veg Plot) is inspiring me to give them another try. I don't think I'll be able to fit them in next year, but maybe the year after.

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    Replies
    1. I'm struggling with sprouts for sure but I'm going to give them one more try. I've learned from my mistakes and hope to have some success in 2015!

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