Posted on 04/20/2018 8:33:07 PM PDT by SamAdams76
All my life I’ve had a thing for the underdog. Be it the passed over toy as a little girl or the loser boyfriend as a teenager, I guess I took the ugly duckling fairy tale to heart. Now in my adulthood, I have taken the poor, rejected, locally grown vegetables under my wing—the underutilized, the newly-trendy, the formerly beloved fallen out of modern favor, or the just plain weird.
In the case of Brussels sprouts, they are a vegetable all too often cooked very wrong and, hence, tend to carry a bad rap. Who wouldn’t hate Brussels sprouts if all you’ve ever experienced were boiled, slimy, sulphurous mush-balls? To appreciate these poor, abused little sprouts, you first have to know not to over-boil them. You then need to be willing to experiment. And it helps to get them fresh from a local grower right after a nice fall frost.
Like fall-harvested carrots and overwintered parsnips and spinach, freezing temperatures cause the sugar content of Brussels sprouts to shoot up, acting as anti-freeze—what a tasty survival mechanism! Not only is this the cheapest time of year to buy Brussels sprouts, but it’s by far the tastiest. Look at your farmers market for whole stalks with their little sprouts still attached, and you’ll get to walk around feeling really cool with this bizarre, knobby, green club sticking out of your bag (please don’t use it as a weapon, no matter how tempting).
If you think those harvested stalks at the market look rad, you should see a field of Brussels sprouts at maturity. Resembling exotic, Jurassic-park-like, mini palm trees, the three- to four-foot tall plants have a single stem covered in Brussels sprout “buttons” spiraling up from its base to the umbrella-like leaves. (If you crawled around on the ground between the rows you could pretty easily pretend you’re a dinosaur.)
If you simply must have off-season sprouts, you can buy them almost year-round if you look hard enough—central California, with its perfect-for-brassicas long, cool, humid growing season produces them June through January, and Mexico picks up the slack from December through June. Personally, I like to get my fill of them during our local, frost-sweetened sprout season in October and November so that I’m not tempted by the nine dollar per pound, bitter, pale ones in March.
Timed right, Brussels sprouts will hold out in the field through many light frosts, extending the harvest for several weeks. If harvested on the stalk, they will keep in a 33 to 34 degree root cellar, basement or garage for a few weeks, depending on conditions. If plucked off the stem, keep them unwashed and untrimmed in plastic in the coldest part of your fridge (usually the bottom back shelf) for up to 5 weeks.
Some nights I steam a bunch and that’s all I have for dinner.
Nope just a plain white sauce. Sometimes that’s all I will have for dinner. My mother in law introduced me to that recipe. She was a fabulous cook
Forgot after steaming just put on a liberal amount of salt and pepper and dip the half’s in sour cream.
At Christmas.......steam the b/s, add cooked chestnuts (the imported Italian types) and serve with plenty of butter.
Heavenly.
You can get bacon ends by the pound at Shop N Save here...
I like my sprouts split and roasted with a little sugar, parmesan, lemon or orange juice, olive oil and dried cranberries [add the berries near the end of the roasting process so they don’t burn. Oh, and bacon...]
Bet your back was sore from your brother having to slap you to get you to eat them all...;-)
Salt and a little lemon juice really improves boiled ones’ flavor and scent and helps their color too, but of course never over boil them.
Asparagus is great in an omelet
Slice them thin and they make a beautiful intensely green slaw.
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i LOOOVE Brussel Sprouts!!
From the time I first laid eyes on the nasty little things when I was a kid, I knew I was going to hate them. But I was wrong. I loved them! Still do.
A few weeks ago I cut some in half and roasted them in a little garlic and duck fat. They went over very well at a family get together.
I get the microwavable bag of baby Brussels sprouts from Aldi 6 minutes then dump em in a bowl with a couple of pats of butter. My favorite veggie!
I like cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli...but Brussels Sprouts.... No.
One of maybe 2 or 3 vegetables I won’t eat.
Tiny cabbages... The wermacht marched through Brussels on a few occasions to try and educate the locals on how to grow proper kohl. The Brusselodians refused to listen.
Yes sir, that is how I cook them. Also known to add some balsamic vinegar.
My wife and I put about 15-20, along with thinly-sliced heirloom garlic and just a tiny bit of water, in a microwavable bowl and microwave for 2 - 2:15 minutes. We then put a teaspoon of butter on it.
It is at that right spot between firm and soft. Tastes great!
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