EXPERIMENT

[telophase]

Okay. So the other day I ran across this recipe for Brussels sprouts. I have always considered myself a hater of Brussels sprouts, but when I thought back on it, the only time I could recall eating them was during the Thanksgiving dinner I had in Wales, at Trinity College in Carmarthen, made by the cafeteria staff. They did their best, and I grant them full credit for effort, but I have to say it just wasn't quite right. :) And Brussels sprouts were on the menu, steamed or boiled, and just icky. myrialux feels pretty much the same way.

And hence, when I ran across that recipe, I thought: what better way to try them again than covered with bacon, shallots, and brown sugar? If ANYTHING was going to make me love them, it was that. And myrialux was game to try.

So tonight I made it. I think the recipe creator was smoking crack when he says to leave the sprouts cut-side-down on the cast-iron skillet for 3 minutes, as most of the burned in that time. A few on the edges had nice caramelization, but most of them were blackened.

At any rate, once it was finished, I took the nice, steaming bowl of Brussels sprouts, bacon, and shallots in a vinegar-brown sugar sauce out to myrialux, who was watching Fringe. We each took a fork and stabbed one of the nicely-caramelized sprouts, sniffed them tentatively, and popped them in our mouths.

Experiment results...



Still hate Brussels sprouts.





Okay, not as badly as I do the ones I was served in Carmarthen. These were weirdly mostly-flavorless, with a light something that didn't match anything I could think of. If I were served them at a dinner, I could manage to eat a full serving without offending my host, but I wouldn't enjoy it. myrialux actually got up and spit his out.

However, I liked everything else in the recipe, and if you can think of any vegetable that would go well with it, I would be all about trying it.* Asparagus might be good, especially later in the season when it's getting thicker and the flavor is fading a bit from its springtime peak. Green beans might work - I've found that roasted green beans are (a) delicious and (b) a vegetable myrialux will willingly eat, and I think maybe adding them to bacon, shallots, and brown sugar might also be good.





*Except for squash. I hate squash. Every so often, I buy a squash and cook it, to see if I can find a way I don't hate it and it has so far never ever failed to still be nasty.

Comments

[yhlee]

I am probably nuts, but I would personally be tempted to try that combination of flavors with water chestnuts out of a can. That being said, my love for water chestnuts is not really rational.

[kutsuwamushi]

This makes me sad, because I love sauteed brussels sprouts with bacon and sugar and would never characterize them as "flavorless." I'd suggest you'd just gotten unlucky, except you don't like squash either. D: Your life is so empty.

[vito_excalibur]

I agree with this comment and it makes me feel like a terrible person.

[batwrangler]

I think the best way to prepare Brussel sprouts is to get nice fresh ones from the produce section, cut them in half, oven roast them, and serve with butter and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar. Possibly, though, this will not work for you. :)

[readsalot]

I enthusiastically agree with the cutting in half and oven roasting parts of this comment, though I use olive oil, salt, and pepper. Very yummy. I also have a recipe somewhere for brussels sprouts cooked in heavy cream, which were, like, the best thing ever, but I try to forget about it because it's really too much heavy cream.

However, if you don't like the intrinsic taste of brussels sprouts, then you don't, and there's no reason to force yourself to eat them.

[thomasyan.livejournal.com]

How would you describe the flavor of Brussel sprouts? To me, they are like a strong version of cabbage, often with added bitterness.

If you like cabbage, I'd try that, but obviously take care to not burn it to a crisp, or maybe skip that part.

Maybe broccoli rabe?

Hm, if you add some kind of acid, maybe sweet red peppers?

[telophase.livejournal.com]

They didn't taste like cabbage to me--I can't really describe it. Not especially bitter, either. It was very subtle and I wish I could explain it better.

[movingfinger.livejournal.com]

If they are very fresh, the taste is nutty and sweet. Otherwise, pretty cabbagey.

Your skillet was hotter than the recipe writer expected; you want them just browned a bit and beginning to caramelize. Oven-roasting them is good.

They do not need brown sugar. That seems wrong to me. Or an addition by someone who doesn't like them and wants to kill the taste totally.

[tprjones.livejournal.com]

If you do them just right, brussel sprouts can be excellent. But it takes work.

That recipe is good in some ways, but IMO you do need to really cook them more throughout. I'm not a fan of the crisper sprouts I imagine that produces. Start off with some boiling or steaming to par-cook - or maybe some gentle simmering in vodka infused with ginger and sugar - then finish with that recipe and I bet those would be great.

I'll have to try that.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

They were really not that crisp. They were tender, with a crispy surface where they were on the skillet. At any rate, it'll be a while before I try them again. :)

[golden-bastet.livejournal.com]

They were really not that crisp.

Well, there goes that theory... :^O

Actually, I took a recipe writing course once; they pointed out that most recipes in magazines and cookbooks aren't tested while they're being written - so they have errors and the person using them never knows the recipe's off. (Explains a pizza cookbook I had that NEVER WORKED, blast them.) Maybe that's what's up?

[golden-bastet.livejournal.com]

I had Brussels sprouts trauma - until I found a good way to make them. I'm a strong believer in "very few things are really bad, they just have to be done in a tasty way." (Okay, maybe not Vegemite. Even my cat turned down Vegemite.)

I'd actually take the recipe you started with, and:

• chop them into bite-size bits.
• Leave out the brown sugar (what? I just don't - ewww )
• Add some salt and pepper
• Saute "in order" (chop bacon in little bits and brown; mince shallots to soften; add chopped sprouts to soften)
• Then - add some liquid (water, maybe a bit of an open bottle of white wine), just enough to evaporate in a few minutes, then cover, turn down the light, and steam a few minutes until the sprouts are tender. Sprouts should be full of flavor (you can taste one to check).

You could throw in some chopped walnuts at the steaming stage, or some minced garlic or onions after the bacon.

I've done this a couple of times and it's worked out well. I agree that sprouts are a lot like cabbage, but sautéing them like this is similar to something you might do with broccoli or green beans. Maybe in general you want to try broccoli / green bean recipes for broccoli sprouts? That might work better for your taste preferences.

I also used duck bacon (mmmmmmm), but that's likely to be hard to find. Pork bacon works just as well.

Maybe you want to try a small amount, too, if you can get them in bulk.

:hoping you find the "just right" recipe for your brussels sprouts:

[cschells.livejournal.com]

Coincidentally, I tried cooking brussel sprouts for the first time in my life last night. I generally hate them, but these were ultra simple and turned out pretty tasty! You cut them in half, slather them with garlic-infused butter (I did both sides--top and bottom), salt and pepper, and roast them in the oven at 325 for 20 minutes. I liked them enough that I might even try it again sometime... and that's saying a lot!

[movingfinger.livejournal.com]

In fact, you could cook bark chips that way and they'd taste pretty good. Chewy, but good.

[cschells.livejournal.com]

This is true...

[madame-manga.livejournal.com]

For Thanksgiving, we grilled our brussels sprouts. Which was just a version of oven-roasting them, since the oven was taken, and we have a gas grill. I tossed them (whole smallish ones) with olive oil and some kosher salt, and we put them in a pan and put it in the grill with the burners on medium-low. Usually the oven recipes call for 400 degrees. We stirred them twice in about 35-40 minutes. No pre-cooking -- it's not necessary.

They came out browned and crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. For me, sprouts can be either good or awful, and these were very good. My sprout-hating father in law actually tried one and was pleasantly surprised.

[cerusee.livejournal.com]

I almost hate to jump on the "But! They're good if you just do them this way!" bandwagon, but...I was pretty meh on the first few versions of sprouts I ever sampled, and then fell deeply in love with what I am told is the classic Julia Child preparation: slice some garlic, saute it very gently in butter until soft, add halved brussels sprouts face down to the pan, and cook, at a fairly low heat, until the sprouts are fairly tender, and a little bit seared on the bottom. Salt them! Toss everything, and eat. I've never actually hated brussels sprouts--I never in my life ate them until I was an adult--but this is my favorite vegetable dish of a few years.

(I've tried a few brussels-sprouts-with-bacon recipes in recent years, since that's supposed to be the omega of brussels sprouts preparation, but none of them have impressed me, much less come close to displacing the garlic-sprouts recipe from my cookery rotation.)

Notes:

1) In the words of the Impoverished Student's Book of Cookery, Drinkery, and Housekeepery, "Don't overcook brussels sprouts!" You probably want a bit of resistance remaining in the stem area, when you poke it, at the end of cooking.

2) Salt is essential! Do not omit it!

3) I use a ton of garlic and a ton of butter, the latter rendering the healthful properties of this recipe nigh to nil, but which, with the garlic and the salt, makes it madly delicious. It's something like...5-6 medium cloves of garlic, sliced, to 2 TB butter, for around 10 medium sprouts. If you are not a garlic fiend, you might want to scale back a bit, although slow-cooked garlic is really a whole nother story from...fast-cooked garlic.

4) At least when I do this---when the garlic is nice and soft and fragrant, right before I add the sprouts, I push the garlic to the edge of the pan so it doesn't cook very much longer--I want it soft and near caramelized at the end, not brown and burned. That way, the final dish is soft, sweet garlic, tossed with tender, buttery, garlicky sprouts (seared on the bottom!), and salt.

[rushthatspeaks.livejournal.com]

I do mine a) steamed THEN sauteed because they must be parcooked or they are both bitter and not tender and b) served with an extremely garlicky aioli. I thought for many years I hated them, and now they're pretty much my favorite vegetable... if I make them. More details available if you want but I see that everyone in the world has a favorite way.

Aioli also goes great on asparagus.

[juliansinger.livejournal.com]

Personally, I find 'em boring. So, you know. More vegetables in the world that I /do/ like.

[awamiba.livejournal.com]

We had brussel sprouts twice since Thanksgiving, once in a mustard/bacon/shallot sauce, which the adults loved, and once shredded & quickly sauteed with walnuts and craisins, which nearly everyone loved. (We hadn't made them at all since we got married, which is why I'm so amused that we've had them twice in three weeks).