Wednesday, February 24, 2010

In Praise of Brussels Sprouts


Please don't start gagging, or decide that you can't trust my tastes or opinions until you've read this entire post.  Alright?  Let's do this.

I hadn't quite realized until last night that I was obsessing over brussels sprouts.  I stopped in at Trader Joe's on the way home to pick up a few odds and ends for dinner- and got stuck in the always disappointing produce section.  For some reason I was convinced that if I looked hard enough and long enough- they would magically appear.  They, of course, did not.  I was verging on the edge of cranky-grumpy, so I settled for the half wilted kale hanging out in my fridge as an accompaniment for the last piece of light smoked and baked black cod that we so selfishly have kept to ourselves (yes that was long-winded bragging).

This was not the first or only sign of my budding obsession.  If you were to look through the starred items on my Google Reader account you would find a frightening abundance of brussels sprouts recipes.  I don't know how or when this happened.  All I know is that it did.  And it won't stop until I have completely overdone it.  Sorry Matao.

- Need proof that I'm not crazy?  Serious Eats has even dubbed them as Ingredient of the Year!

- If you live in Seattle, you probably already know that Molly of Orangette, as well as the recently opened Delancy is a bit of a culinary genius.  But, seriously?  Cream-Braised Brussels Sprouts are probably my soul-mate.  Look at them!

 
Brussels Sprouts in Cream from Orangette

- Blue Kitchen has a gorgeous recipe for Brasied Brussels Sprouts with Bacon, Golden Raisins, and Linguine.  While I'd personally probably leave out the raisins (I only like them when they're hard and chewy), this dish is fairly simple and gorgeous- to boot.

- Bacon seems to be a favorite brussels sprout pairing, with good reason.  The salty, smoky, chewy yet crispy draw of it is hard to resist.  Brussels Sprout and Bacon Pizza?  Yeah, count me in.

 
Sprouts from SJ Gourmet

- And, finally- if you're still feeling skeptical (seriously?)- there's always cheese.  101 Cookbooks has an absolutely perfect recipe for Golden Crusted Brussels Sprouts that uses nothing more than olive oil, salt, pepper, and whatever cheese you prefer.  This is quite possibly what we'll be having with dinner tonight.

What's your favorite way to eat brussels sprouts, if at all?

1 comment:

ashley english said...

i ADORE brussels sprouts! hated them as a child-called them "barbie cabbages." now i can't get enough of them.
we braise them with hard cider and some local grain mustard. DELICIOUS!

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