Brussel Sprouts – A Fall favorite

Brussel Sprouts have to be my favorite vegetable but they have to be cooked just right. Or not cooked at all! How many of us have suffered from eating soggy, tasteless sprouts just because they have been boiled for too long?

My parents would always tell me at Christmas time that my stocking was going to have a Brussel Sprout, a Satsuma, and a lump of coal in it. Every year they would say it and every year it didn’t happen. I’m assuming now it was just a way of getting us kiddo’s to conform and behave before the big day! My dear old mum (RIP) would boil the hell out ’em until they just dissolved in your mouth, I’ve since learned that there are far better ways of cooking them.

I’m not eating those things!

My wife would never ever eat Brussel Sprouts until about three years ago when I discovered this great way of cooking them. Trying to get the kiddo’s to eat them, well that was impossible! Not anymore…

To prepare your sprouts, give them a good wash and then simply cut them in half long ways. You don’t need to cut crosses into the bottom etc. (as my parents did). Just cut ’em in half.

Once they are all prepared, steam them for about 10 mins. Steamed vegetables taste so much better and maintain so many more of goodness that is taken away if they are boiled. While they are boiling, take some bacon with a good amount of fat on it and fry in a large pan until you can snap the bacon in your hands. Remove the bacon and keep all that bacon fat in the bottom of the pan. Once the sprouts have steamed transfer them to the bacon fat.  Fry them until they start to take on a golden brown color and slightly crispy around the edges. Transfer the bacon bits back into pan warm through and serve – they are delicious! 🙂 Be warned, they can give you wind! My wife can attest to this a few hours after I have eaten them – haha!

Raw Sprouts

Another alternative way of enjoying one of the best veggies on the planet is to eat them raw. Grate them up using a grater and add to a salad, adds a wonderful crunch to any salad.

Hopefully for those who say they ‘don’t like them’ they will take one of these ideas and try them – they are delicious.