Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Brussels Sprouts: The Unexpected Culinary Swan
Some kind of "Brussels sprouts" website ^ | It was some time ago | Dani Lind (Girl, I suppose)

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.


TOPICS: Food; Gardening; The Hobbit Hole; Weird Stuff
KEYWORDS: brusselssprouts; trump
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-77 next last
I like the Brussels sprouts. Do you know what I do to cook them?

Well I cut the ends off and slice them in half. Then I put olive oil over them and lots of pepper and a little kosher salt. Then, I slice up some garlic cloves and then some bacon ends.

Bacon ends, you ask?

Well I get a package of bacon and slice off about 1.5 inches off each end. Right while they are still in the package! Those go in with the Brussels sprouts and the rest get cooked with my eggs for breakfast.

Then I either put them in the oven at 400 degrees or I wrap them in tin foil and put them on the grill. I cook until they are blackened. They end up tasting like candy.

Yes, Brussels sprouts can taste like candy and they have a much better nutritional value than candy. If you don't believe me, you can ask Byron Jones.

He will tell you.


1 posted on 04/20/2018 8:33:07 PM PDT by SamAdams76
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: SamAdams76

They are great, and I have a better recipe than that.


2 posted on 04/20/2018 8:43:14 PM PDT by Fungi
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Fungi
Lay it on us!


3 posted on 04/20/2018 8:45:43 PM PDT by SamAdams76
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: SamAdams76

I used to hate Brussels Sprouts and refused to eat them. One time my parents, my older brother and I went out to eat before a big football game. And wouldn’t you know it, they served Brussels Sprouts with the meal!

My dad said flat out if I didn’t eat them, we weren’t going to the game. I put one in my mouth and started to chew half-heartdly. Then my brother slapped me in the back and I swallowed it. And guess what. It wasn’t bad at all.

I finished the meal and we went to the game.


4 posted on 04/20/2018 8:46:38 PM PDT by Ken H (Best election ever!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SamAdams76

Love Brussels Sprouts

Wife hates them, was pressured by her father to eat them at young age.

Can’t get over it.


5 posted on 04/20/2018 8:46:42 PM PDT by Eddie01
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SamAdams76

They make me puke.


6 posted on 04/20/2018 8:47:44 PM PDT by rexthecat
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Ken H

My DIL rolls them in oil,puts them on a baking sheet,and puts them in the oven(I don’t know time or temp.)-—they are delicious.

.


7 posted on 04/20/2018 8:49:11 PM PDT by Mears
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: rexthecat

You probably had the boiled ones. I like the roasted ones with garlic and olive oil.


8 posted on 04/20/2018 8:49:59 PM PDT by SamAdams76
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: Mears
Had some flash fried with wasabi flavoring at a restaurant in Durango.

They're addictive!!

9 posted on 04/20/2018 8:52:12 PM PDT by Trot (really good word processor)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: Trot

My husband and I always liked them——but just boiled topped with lots of butter——all of these new ways of cooking them are just awesome.

.

.


10 posted on 04/20/2018 8:56:12 PM PDT by Mears
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: SamAdams76

My mother served them once, and I was all excited, because they looked like tiny cabbages. Then I tasted one. It was nothing like cabbage. I have never recovered from the trauma of that cruel joke. And no, I will not eat those horrid little cabbage impersonators.


11 posted on 04/20/2018 9:01:47 PM PDT by exDemMom (Current visual of the hole the US continues to dig itself into: http://www.usdebtclock.org/)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Mears

Steam
Till soft
Split in half
Fry middles in olive oil till brown
Yum
Even my kids love em


12 posted on 04/20/2018 9:02:02 PM PDT by Truthoverpower (The guvmint you get is the Trump winning express !)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: SamAdams76

If they are overcooked they can take on an unpleasant taste, but if done correctly they are actually pretty good, and slightly sweet (even). Delicious with butter ... if not overcooked.


13 posted on 04/20/2018 9:02:07 PM PDT by coloradan (The US has become a banana republic, except without the bananas - or the republic.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SamAdams76

We love them...

Split in half. Coat/toss with equal mixture of rice vinegar, honey and sriracha. Salt and pepper. Layer on a shallow baking pan, bake about 25 minutes @ 350. Damn delicious morsels of sweet and heat.


14 posted on 04/20/2018 9:02:29 PM PDT by Altura Ct.
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SamAdams76

I love em. Roasted, steamed. I like to chop up leftovers and put in an omelet with pepper jack cheese. Yum.


15 posted on 04/20/2018 9:04:36 PM PDT by Lurkina.n.Learnin (Wisdom and education are different things. Don't confuse them.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Mears

Boil until tender
Saute with real butter
Remove from burner
Add sweet basil, salt and pepper
In lieu of sweet basil balsamic vinaigrette is very good.

It “aint bad” at all.


16 posted on 04/20/2018 9:05:20 PM PDT by cpdiii (cane cutter, deckhand, roughneck, geologist, pilot, pharmacist, THE CONSTITUTION IS WORTH DYING FOR!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: Truthoverpower

Oooohhh-———you are making me hungry——sounds easy,which I love.

.


17 posted on 04/20/2018 9:06:32 PM PDT by Mears
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: cpdiii

You folks are torturing me with these great cooking ideas.

.


18 posted on 04/20/2018 9:07:34 PM PDT by Mears
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: SamAdams76

Heaven!


19 posted on 04/20/2018 9:07:54 PM PDT by Jane Long (Praise God, from whom ALL blessings flow.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Mears

I have to confess I lifted that story from a Leave it to Beaver episode. I told the same story at a family get together a few years back. A few moments after I finished, my sister says, “Hey wait a minute, that was from Leave it to Beaver.”

The funniest part was that as I was telling the story, my mom said she vaguely remembered the incident and even named a restaurant.


20 posted on 04/20/2018 9:08:05 PM PDT by Ken H (Best election ever!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-77 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson