Like many people, I like braising Brussels sprouts in salt water for a couple reasons. First and foremost, it's a very fast cooking method. Using only a small amount water means the waiting time for bringing that water up to a cooking temperature is minimal. The Brussels sprouts cook fairly rapidly without becoming water-logged. Another great thing about this recipe is that it really highlights the natural flavor of the Brussels sprout without the unappetizing smell and taste that cause so many people to avoid this vegetable.
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For this recipe, I picked up a pound (450 g) of Brussels sprouts, a good amount for two hearty eaters. To scale the recipe, just increase the size of the pan.
If you bought the Brussels sprouts on the stalk, simply cut them off the stalk. When I buy them as individual heads, I like to slice off the very base of the Brussels sprouts because the base has often lost moisture in the store and may be tougher and more fibrous.
Peel off any loose or yellow leaves.
Wash the Brussels sprouts thoroughly under running water to remove any dirt or small clinging insects. (Some cookbooks suggest soaking them for 15 minutes in lemon or vinegar water to clean them of potential insects, but I've never tried this.)
Select a pot or pan that can hold all the Brussels sprouts in one layer. Put just enough water in the pot to create a depth of about 1/4 inch (6 mm). Cover and bring the water to a boil over high heat. Once the water is hot, add about 1/2 teaspoon table salt to the water. If you're scaling the recipe and using a larger pot, be careful how much salt you add. You want to get the water to be quite salty, but not so strong that if you tasted it you'd feel that it is unpalatable. We add the salt after the water is hot because if you add the salt while the water is cold, the salt may not immediately dissolve. Salt crystals sitting in an aqueous environment has been known to cause pitting in stainless steel, so whenever you add salt to water (e.g. when preparing pasta), do so when the water is hot so the salt dissolves rapidly.
When the water is boiling, add the Brussels sprouts to the pan. Make sure they form only one layer on the bottom and none of the heads are sitting on top of the other heads. Cover and reduce to low heat to maintain a simmer.After about seven to eight minutes, the Brussels sprouts should be tender. The base of the head should allow you to sticking a knife in with a little gentle pressure. If you overcook the Brussels sprouts, it will produce an unpalatable sulfurous smell. (The sulfur smell comes from the excessive release of sulfur when overcooked.) Cooked just right, the Brussels sprouts should be sweet and nutty with a slight hint of bitterness (but not even close to the bitterness of many other vegetables such as bok choy).
Remove from the water and toss in 1/2 Tbs. butter and season with fresh ground black pepper to taste. The addition of butter helps augment the nuttiness of the Brussels sprouts.
Serve hot, warm, or cold - they'll be delicious at any temperature.I should probably note that the name is "Brussels sprouts", not "Brussel sprouts" or "Brussel's sprouts" because they are named after the Belgian city of Brussels.
Braised Brussels Sprouts (serves 2-4)
| 1/4-in. (6 mm) water | boil | dissolve | simmer 8 min. | |
| 1/2 tsp. table salt | ||||
| 1 lb. (450 g) Brussels sprouts | drain | season to taste and toss | ||
| 1/2 Tbs. butter | ||||
| fresh ground black pepper | ||||
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Heat heavy nonstick pan over medium high heat. Add olive oil. Cut sprouts in half and place in pan in a single layer, cut side down. Cook 8-11 minutes or until deeply browned. Turn sprouts and cover pan. Cook 10 minutes until tender. Salt to taste, finish with 1/4 cup heavy cream and 2T grated parmesan if desired.
Even without the cream and cheese, they're the only way my family eats them.
Currently, none of the grocers in my area have Brussels sprouts on the stalk, but as soon as I see one again, I'll take a picture and add it to the article.
I steam them, and then put them in a frying pan with some butter and a couple of slices of velveeta cheese. Let the cheese melt, while stirring. The best in taste, and the kids love it this way too. ;)
Chop small and saute in butter - 2 medium yellow onions. Medium heat, continue sauteeing until tender and fragrant.
Prepare brussels spouts: wash, remove tough outer leaves, cut off stem close to each head, and slice head through the stem so each half remains held intact by the base of the stem. Rinse lightly and put in microwave safe bowl; microwave on high until just tender.
Add brussels sprouts to onions, and continue sauteeing until lightly carmelized. Salt and pepper to taste.....YUM!
Through the magic of EXIF, I can tell you this about that nice Brussels Sprout pic:
Camera: Nikon D100
Flash: None
Focal Length: 180mm
Aperture: F/2.8
Shutter: 1/100
Metering Mode: Pattern
Camera Program Mode: Aperture Priority
Does that help? :)
By the way, Michael, PHP has support built in for EXIF, if people are interested it might be a neat side feature to add a way to view embedded data on the photos (click the image for a popup or something, maybe).
Tastes like little hot, sweet sauerkraut parcels
I've taken advantage of the EXIF info for some of the other websites that I've worked on, but since this site's photography is less technical than my other work, I didn't include some of this info. I'm in the process of overhauling the look of Cooking For Engineers, and including the EXIF info is definitely something that is on my feature list.
I think this is why many adults think they don't like them - their memories are of what their parents tried to force-feed them as children. The flavour has got better since then.
http://growingtaste.com/vegetables/bsprout.shtml
Great blog, by the way.
The heavy cream mixes with the brussel sprouts and thickens to form its own sauce. It's sooo good... but, of course, all the cream will clog your arteries.
Brussels sprouts haters with this method.[/b]
For 4
500 g steamed Brussels sprouts (not too soft!)
2 eggs, separated
1,5 dl luke-warm white sauce
nutmeg, salt, pepper
250 g lean bacon*
Heat oven to 190°C. Prepare oven-dish: butter the sides and cover with bacon slices.
Put most of the sprouts (reserve a few) in a blender with white sauce. Add nutmeg, salt and pepper.
Fold yolks manually through the mixture.
Beat egg-whites til stiff and fold into the mixture.
Pour half in a greased oven-dish, put some sprouts in a row, add rest of the mixture. Cover with lean bacon.
Bake for 35 minutes.
Let cool a bit. Serve in slices as paté.
*Without the bacon, serve with potatoes and lard (or pork).
(For more Belgian and other simple recipes visit
http://foodz.blogspot.com)
Brussel sprouts are great with bacon and blue cheese (as is cabbage).
Now all your need is a recipe for lima beans!
Serve hot, cold, room temp. Believe me, delicious!
Grew up, and bought some by mistake (there was a bag in with the frozen broccoli). I was broke enough that I had to eat what I had, and I cooked them *just* like my mother had (meaning, I followed the directions on the bag), and they were *wonderful.*
I've found the same true for asparagus, beets, turnips, parsnips, and rutabaga: I like them much, much more than I did as a child, even when cooked exactly the same way. (Okay, I still don't like parsnips very much, but they no longer make me want to gag.)
:)
Anyways, when I worked for a restaurant, the chef decided he was going to make Brussels sprouts braised in Scotch. I think more Scotch went into the chef than the sprouts, but the kitchen smelled like alcohol for days. Those little buggers sure can absorb a lot of Scotch! That's all the first batch tasted like. The employees ate most of those :)
That was a fun day...
Heat 2 tablespoon olive oil in a non-stick pan. Sautée chopped onions on medium heat till caramalized. Add the b.sprouts ( cut into halves) and sautée for 5-7 minutes. Add juliennes of dried tomatoes. Stir for 2 minutes. Add 4 tablespoons of cream. Sprinkle just a hint of dried herbs ( rosemary, basil, thyme). Add salt to taste. Serve hot. Goes well with grilled bread.
Using mediterranean dishes like baked pasta, marinated bell peppers, tomato and mozarella salad etc as other side dishes would be wiser. I prefer it as an option and not 'the' only option.
I cooked some brussels sprouts this week end and I remember that my mother always told me to first boil the sprouts for a couple of mins and then discard the water.
You then get rid of the chemical to causes gastro problems.
Any ideas what it is?
http://allonfood.blogspot.com/2005/12/belgian-cooking-brussels-sprouts.html
Have a look at the pictures. The sprouts could look better but they are not overcooked. They just have been badly treated in the pan ;)
i often chop them and then stir fry it with some ham and pine nuts. yummy! :D
My favorite way to enjoy them though is pickled. First discovered in a bloody mary in downtown Milwaukee. I've found a specialty shop here in Southern CA that carries a spicy version of pickled ones called Gourmet Atomic Frog Balls. Here's their site: http://www.bsgf.com/
I full-heartedly disagree with the comments on " a child's palate" not ready for Brussels sprouts. I've been serving Brussels Sprouts to my kids for years now. They not only eat their sprouts without protest, they eat many other vegetables and ask for seconds too. "Mommy can we have sauteed Brussels sprouts with dinner?" - that's actually my husband's specialty. It involves, butter, onions, salt and pepper and the iron skillet. I'm more of a "steam-them" cook.
I'd like to blame the preparation as being the reason for kids' distaste for Brussels sprouts and other veggies - from boiling into a yucky mush to overly stewed and salted jarred baby food. Maybe our mini-food processor saved my little ones' tastebuds. It's a theory anyway...
In Texas we bought frozen Brussels sprouts and occassionally the fresh version. But our best experience was eating them in France. Who'd of thought that Brussels sprouts could actually be sweet! Now we live in Maryland and I find it harder to find bagged, frozen Brussels sprouts. So, we are limited to buying in-season, fresh...not a bad thing.
Unfortunately, no matter how I prepare them, neither child likes yellow summer squash.
By the way, great website! I enjoyed all of the new ideas for Brussels sprouts, not to mention learning the correct spelling too!
And Cisco's most favorite food in the whole universe is "Brussels Sprouts".
If you look him up, and his web sight, you will see zillions of recipes for these little gems.
http://www.ciscoe.com/boogs.html
I will try this recipe, as it sounds simple, elegant and delicious... and I must confess... (I am a brussels sprouts virgin!)
Thanks again.
Good stuff!!!
- TonyO
I had sprouts at Cafe Marcella in Los Gatos, CA about a year ago prepared a way I had never had them. I have subsequently prepared them many times at home this way. Its a lot of work, but worth it. Prepare teh srouts by trimming and separating into individual leaves. This takes a lot of time! then heat a few tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet, toss in the sprouts, season with sea salt and pepper to taste and toss until done, usually a few minutes. The results are incredible.
Also, a traditional british way of serving them, which I like a lot, is to cook as in Michael's recipe and then toss with butter and freshly grated ( or jarred if you prefer ) horseradish. Not as good as the above, but very passable, although the "gas" factor is considerably enhanced even from regular sprouts.
We toast hazelnuts a couple of times a year, and keep them on hand in a airtight container in the freezer. It's easy to pull out what you need and chop them quickly to add a crunchy, nutty flavor to a range of foods. They last for several months left as intact, toasted halves.
This year, I was finally able to grow some in my own garden. Tonight we harvested them (though they're a bit small). You can see our harvest at
http://greensandjeans.blogspot.com/2008/11/brussels-sprouts.html
Thanks for your demystifying of Brussels Sprouts.
http://greensandjeans.blogspot.com/2008/11/brussels-sprouts.html
Emily, that looks like an awesome harvest and I'm glad to have introduced you to brussels sprouts. Lately, I've taken to cutting them in half (top to stem) and browning them in the grease from a few slices of bacon until browned (about 5 minutes) and then adding a little water and putting the lid on for another 2 minutes. (Then I stirred in the chopped up cooked bacon.) Sometimes I'll add a little bit of apple cider vinegar (a combination that I love to do with savoy cabbage as well).
Here is a recipie from a cookbook long lost of holiday dishes needing only 3 ingredients. Ive had people who said they HATED them, now make this recipie for Christmas. They are very festive looking, red & green. I dont have the exact amounts (since the book is lost) but you can eyeball it, it's so simple. The absolute BEST way to eat B.sprouts I have ever had.
Christmas Brussels sprouts.
Aprox 1 lb Fresh sprouts, about a cup of dried cranberries (aka Craisins) salt & butter. Halve the sprouts through the stem, then lightly steam them in salted water just till bright green and remove from water. Then add the cranberries to the water for about 2 minutes and drain also. Combine sprouts & cranberries and saute in hot butter until lightly browned on edges. Salt to taste. Yum!
When questioned, my kids (6 year olds) told me they'd been hungry. In a house full of Christmas foods, they'd taken a bowl of cold brussels into their room and eaten then all.
I don't think I've been happier about making due with substitutes. And they didn't get sick (I was a little worried: they snacked on 1.5 pounds of sprouts.) Apparently, though, sprouts aren't just for grown ups.
Braised is a dry method and wet method combined. There's only a wet method described here.
I'd expect a better grasp of terms from an engineer; Rachal Ray shouldn't know more than you.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braising
Give it a try!
steam the sprouts for 4-5 minutes. no longer.
heat 2 TBL butter in a saute pan
immediately transfer the sprouts to the butter to finish the cooking. sprinkle with a little salt and oregano. go easy on the oregano. don't wanna kill it.
saute for 2 minutes. let sprouts sit in pan for a few seconds or so without disturbing during the saute. then toss and let sit again. this creates areas of browning on the sprouts that taste good.
serve immediately.
One star-studded event at the W Hotel in Los Angeles changed my life! Apparently the chef there is quite famous for their Brussels. It has an Asian flair stirfried with nuts and crispy garlic. AMAZING! I had to ask my friend what it was.
I've been hooked ever since. Love them crispy with olive oil, garlic and parmeseano reggiano.
not dissimilar to lima beans.
makes not a wit "how" they are prepared, some folk hate 'em; some folk luv' em.
there is for taste, no accounting. . . .
Quickly simmering brussel sprouts is a great idea, but please don't call it braising since it's really only a shortened version of the last step of actual braising.
Are the vegetables being braised too long? In this recipe, they are only braised for 8 minutes.