Stop the presses.
I have like three “in process” posts with pictures to show you but first there was a LIFE MOMENT today that needs to be shared.
For dinner tonight, I made smoked paprika sesame salmon, sweet potato fries, and….wait for it….brussels sprouts.
I know, okay? I know. I have never eaten a brussels sprout in my life and was quite content to leave it at that thankyouverymuch.
But, you see, we’ve had this CSA farm box this summer/fall. (That’s a post in itself – I mean, it was great, really great. But it is like having a pet. Every week you have to figure out how to get this new mess of vegetables into your fridge, and then you have to figure out what you didn’t use from LAST week and what you’re going to do with it, etc. It’s a bit of a handful. A delicious handful though). Anyway, the last box was last week and in it we got – you guessed it – brussels sprouts.
SO. Dilemma. We could either pretend the brussels sprouts didn’t exist until they went bad and we could throw them out, OR we could actually man up and figure out how to eat them.
I remembered this recipe – http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/goldencrusted-brussels-sprouts-recipe.html.
(Sidebar: Do you read 101 cookbooks? You should. It’s awesome. It makes me jealous because you just can’t get the kind of stuff in Ottawa in the winter that you can get in California but other than that, it’s really fun).
So I went for it and made them in my trusty cast iron frying pan. The only substitution I made was that I left out the cheese (no dairy because of Sammo).
And I actually can’t believe I am typing this but seriously – they were awesome. They were so good in fact, that my four-year old daughter actually said “Please mommy, may I have more brussels sprouts?” BEFORE eating her sweet potato fries.
Like….SERIOUSLY. I did not see this coming. I think…I actually think that I would buy them again. And make them for YOU when you come visit me because YOU WILL NOT BELIEVE ME OTHERWISE.
I will be wearing my I {heart} brussels sprouts shirt and banging my drum if you need me.
You totally don’t want to be my friend anymore, do you?
Pintuck 
I’ll come over for brussels sprouts! I love them too. I love the way it is like eating mini cabbages and you get to bite through all the layers. The only way they’re bad is if they’re overcooked, then they smell like old cigarette ashtrays.
Nonono, I totally agree – I haven’t made them in forever, if at all – but I have been going to try Suzanne Goin’s recipe for them for some time – just haven’t gotten around to it! I am sure I would love them, provided they are not overcooked (right, Carla!). They are sold on their stalks at the farm up the road. Note to self: must go this weekend!
When I was a boy, 5 or 6, I begged and pleaded with my mom to buy brussel sprouts from the grocery store. They looked cool, though in retrosprect, maybe it wasn’t an edible fascination I had. So she bought them reluctantly, cooked them in a manner akin to classic British vegetable preparation and served them to me. For years I have tried to figure out exactly what I was expecting them to taste like and I finally pinpointed it: margarita flavoured life savers, you know, the green ones.
Yeah, they were nothing like that. So we threw them out.
That was the last time I ate brusselsprouts (knowingly). I fully endorse this manner of preparing them. Could have used a bit of cheese though =P
Ha! This is exactly what we brought to thanksgiving dinner! I roasted them in the oven, but the British way with gravy is quite delish … Everything is better with gravy … Wait, that’s bacon … And cheese … And chocolate. Definately second the not over cooking.
I love brussels too. If you fry a couple of slices of bacon (cut up into bits), you can then saute the brussels in the bacon drippings until they get a little colour on them. Then add some chicken stock/broth to the pan and put a lid on it so that they steam. Add the bacon before you serve them. Yummy and now that you eating meat…