Brussel sprouts

OK, growing up, my Mom (bless her) served brussel sprouts one way.  Boiled to death and back again in salt water.  She utilized that technique on a lot of veggies.  Not surprisingly, I hated them.  Mushy, fairly bland with just a background nuance of bitterness and astringency, one of our most dreaded veggie side dishes.  It was probably #2 behind undercooked grainy lima beans drowned in white vinegar. 
 
Decades later this childhood trauma was still deeply entrenched as I just told myself I knew what brussel sprouts tasted like and they were a closed case file best left sealed and archived away.
 
UNTIL, maple syrup rocked my world.
 
1 lbs brussel sprouts
3 oz pecan halves
2 TBS butter
2-3oz  REAL*  maple syrup
salt
 
Toast pecan halves and set aside.
 
Trim brussel sprout bottoms, halve, discard loose leaves.  Dump into a pot of boiling salted water.  (Mom?!?!?)  Boil to tender, maybe 8 min or so, milage may vary.  Drain.  Weed out loose leves again.
 
In a large no-stick fry pan on med-high melt butter and dump in brussel sprouts.  Fry to they start getting some nice color, toss and flip the non-flippers.  Brown up the other side, salt to taste, add in pecan halves and maple syrup, toss to coat and watch carefully.  (Your goal here is to blend the maple with the butter, and reduce the syrup enough so it's a beautiful carmal maple glaze.  But it is a fine fine line past that to scortching.  Taking it off the heat early and having a thinner glaze is far more preferable to burning the batch.)  Check glaze flavor, salt if needed.
 
Toss again and plate up. 
 
Sweet, nutty, salted maple goodness transforms a childhood nightmare into a side dish even MY KIDS ask for.  And outside of chicken nuggets they don't ask for much.
 
Brussel sprouts - Reborn.
 
* (Spend the extra couple bucks for real maple syrup.  The cheap corn syrup chemically flavored stuff that occupies 90% of the grocery store shelf space is a pale distant second in this recipe.)

I love Brussels Sprouts, not many do mind you.  My mum done them with bacon and honey this Christmas.

I like my Brussels sprouts halved and sauteed in olive oil and garlic, with red pepper flakes.

kirstinem1


.....  My mum done them with bacon and honey this Christmas.

Oh!  Kind of in the same vein as what I've stumbled upon.  A salty - sweet sauce. 
 
I am certainly going to try your Mum's version.  Love to see the bacon alternative.
 
Michael - do you blanch them first?  Or go raw to the pan?

I like to cut them in half, give them a light coating of oil (sesame is nice), salt, and pepper, and cook them in a grill basket over charcoal.  This works well for broccoli, too.

Brad

my mom went to the same 'cook it to death' school yours did, war toad!!  and she did that to everything; not just vegy's!

the key to brussel sprouts (and a lot of other vegy's) is to *just* cook them...and, yes, it CAN be a fine line between just cooked and overdone!

your recipe with the maple syrup sounds fabulous!  going to have to try that one!!

i've done them sauted with olive oil and garlic (love the idea of adding bacon - sounds really yummy) and i've done them steamed with fresh squeezed lemon juice.

funny you should post this today.  i couldn't sleep last night and turned on 'good eats'  topic of the show was the broccoli family...

i love the way alton always explains things - even if you know to do something a certain way, it's nice to know WHY you should do it that way.

I use a somewhat similar recipe:
 
Melt 2 teaspoons of butter in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat.  Add 1 cup chopped onion and 4 thinly sliced garlic cloves.  Saute for 4 minutes or until light brown.  Stir in 8 cups of halved and thinly sliced brussel sprouts (about 1 and 1/2 pounds) and saute for 2 more minutes.  Add 1/2 cup of chicken broth and 1 and 1/2 tablespoons sugar.  Cook 5 minutes or until liquid is almost evaporated, stirring frequently.  Stir in half a teaspoon of salt.  Sprinkle with 8 teaspoons coarsely chopped hazelnuts.
 
I find that the thin slicing means you can cook the sprouts in no time, without boiling or blanching. They are really delicious and fresh-tasting, even to anti-brussel sprouts people.

Ive always prefered my cooked vegetables to still have a bit of a bite to them.  Now a days when it comes to broccoli, brussel sprouts and beans I prefer them on the soft side but still not boiled to death
 

rumaki


I use a somewhat similar recipe:
 
Melt 2 teaspoons of butter in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat.  Add 1 cup chopped onion and 4 thinly sliced garlic cloves.  Saute for 4 minutes or until light brown.  Stir in 8 cups of halved and thinly sliced brussel sprouts (about 1 and 1/2 pounds) and saute for 2 more minutes.  Add 1/2 cup of chicken broth and 1 and 1/2 tablespoons sugar.  Cook 5 minutes or until liquid is almost evaporated, stirring frequently.  Stir in half a teaspoon of salt.  Sprinkle with 8 teaspoons coarsely chopped hazelnuts.
 
I find that the thin slicing means you can cook the sprouts in no time, without boiling or blanching. They are really delicious and fresh-tasting, even to anti-brussel sprouts people.

That sounds good but the quantities seem large. How many servings does that make?

8 servings, 2/3 cup each.   It's designed for the holiday table.  But this recipe can easily be reduced; my husband and I frequently make about half of this.

I used to make them with halved cherry tomatoes and onions, with Italian dressing. I'll track down the recipe....

2 pkgs. (10 oz.) frozen brussel sprouts
3/4 c. Italian dressing
1/2 pt. cherry tomatoes, cut in halves
Cook brussel sprouts as directed on package. Pour salad dressing over hot (drained) brussel sprouts, turning until well coated. Cool. Cover and refrigerate at least three hours. Add tomatoes to brussel sprouts and toss. Serve in lettuce cups if desired.

I'm sure I used fresh sprouts, and I recall serving this hot.

Brussels in a sweet and sour sauce with bacon!
BUt, I must try this maple syrup style. THanks.

Beaver hated the brussel sprouts, until one day he got forced to eat them. He found a friend not available or haven't found them in China. I remember my adventure to Cali 1994 I  brought back 10 pounds on the airplane miss love the brussels.

i love brussel sprouts so much i'll even eat them overcooked! Wartoad, your recipe sounds delicious - can't wait to try it out...

They are great, out here in California you can buy them at the farmers maket on stalks, very fresh.
I just boil them al Dente then serve them with a  covering of good Italian Balsamic vinegar.

I love brussel sprouts, and have been in a rut as to how to prepare them differently.Thanks to all for the options! Wartoad-having just received a gift of real maple syrup from a roadfood friend, your recipe will be the first I try. Great subject!

Maple syrup, butter and pecans sounds great, WarToad. I’ll be trying that in the next week or two.
.
My favorite way to prepare larger sized Brussels sprouts is to cut a slice off the bottom end and peel off the individual leaves. I keep slicing and peeling until I can’t take any more leaves off. Then I wastefully dispose of the cores, wash the leaves, steam them in the microwave and serve drizzled with brown butter. They have a very delicate flavor when prepared that way.

Thanks for the recipe. They are my absolute favorite veggie with others all a distant second. Mrs MFL found a recipe that called for roasting them and being drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with thinly sliced fresh garlic. Just outstanding. I'm told that works well with beets too, my only unloved vegetable. I promise to try those.

OK I hated Brussel Sprouts until....

Brussel Sprouts with Bacon (from Sunny on the food network)

4 slices thick bacon
10-15 brussel sprouts trimmed and halved
salt
pepper

Slice bacon to 1/3 inch chunks, render until crisp and remove bacon. Fry brussel sprouts in the bacon fat until golden brown and delicious.  turn over and fry the other side (I start face down).  Add back the bacon and check the seasoning.  Serve warm.

Too easy for words but even my wife likes them.

Peter

We steam/boil them to the 'al dente' stage then saute them in bacon (or other meat) drippings. The large ones we will cut in half for more even saute-browning. Great as a side to some red-meat on a plate !

Lot's of great ideas and things to try - Thanks everyone!!

The next time you have a crab, shrimp, or crawfish boil, throw in some fresh Brussel sprouts with the corn and potatoes. They really soak up the seasoning and are wonderful. It will surprise your guests, also!

Trying Michael's olive oil, garlic, red pepper flakes tonight.

"Mrs MFL found a recipe that called for roasting them and being drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with thinly sliced fresh garlic."

We do this except with just salt & fresh cracked pepper. We do this for asparagus, too.

stricken_detective


"Mrs MFL found a recipe that called for roasting them and being drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with thinly sliced fresh garlic."

We do this except with just salt & fresh cracked pepper. We do this for asparagus, too.

That's virtually the only way I do asparagus now.

The best.  Keeps my silpat in use.

susanll


The best.  Keeps my silpat in use.

Never heard of a "Silpat", so I googled it. Gonna check them out!

Michael Hoffman


I like my Brussels sprouts halved and sauteed in olive oil and garlic, with red pepper flakes.

I also do mine this way but add a bit of butter to the olive oil.  Growing up my Mom's always seemed bitter, I couldn't stand them.  I made an executive decision when I grew older to try my hand at them and have loved them ever since, so does she.

Rusty246

Michael Hoffman


I like my Brussels sprouts halved and sauteed in olive oil and garlic, with red pepper flakes.

I also do mine this way but add a bit of butter to the olive oil.  Growing up my Mom's always seemed bitter, I couldn't stand them.  I made an executive decision when I grew older to try my hand at them and have loved them ever since, so does she.

Adding butter is a good idea. It would smooth things out a bit.

I just want to report that I have tried both Wartoad's and Mr.Hoffmans recipe...I liked both very much. While I cant eat Wartoads recipe often because of my diabetes, Mr.Hoffman's is one I can live with and eat often.I think I will add a bit of butter next time as Rusty suggested.