brussel sprout report

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Erik kindly suggested a recipe. I am constitutionally unable to follow most recipes exactly. I see them more as suggestions than orders, meaning that sometimes I end up with wonderful food and sometimes even the cats won't eat it! I am happy to report that I actually ate and enjoyed baby cabbages for the first time in my life.

What I did - after washing and trimming the sprouts, I dropped them into boiling water for 5 minutes and then scooped them out and dropped them onto a bowl of ice cubes. (I think this is called blanching the vegetables?). There they sat while I put together a lot of the rest of dinner. Just before everything else was ready, I put a little olive oil and a little butter in a saute pan and added in an herb mixture (Key West) that has thyme, lemon, and garlic, brought it up to heat, and tossed in the sprouts and cooked by shaking the pan contents until heated through and well coated with the herbs and oil. I then added a splash of lemon juice and a tablespoon of capers. No cheese this time - none in the house.
Even my 15 y/o daughter thought they tasted good - she said they were like a cross between cauliflower and brocolli, two of her favorite veges.
The rest of dinner?
Earlier I had put some chunks of boneless chuck (sold as 'boneless short rib') into the crock pot with a mixture of barbecue sauce, wine, and beef stock. That simmered all day until falling apart tender. I cooked some Yukon gold potatoes and mashed them with a little butter and whole milk. I steamed some braising greens and served them with a splash of red wine vinegar. There were a few cooked carrots in the fridge, and I warmed them up and served them as well. Everything except the meat came via our CSA. I am really going to miss it when it ends - I will have some root vegetables down cellar for a while, thanks be to God.

2 Comments

Alicia,

Sounds like a great meal.

What you have described, technique-wise is generally known as blanching (and refreshing). I used to call it that until I was told by several authoritative sources that blanching is really done in oil (par-frying), and what you have described is really parboiling and refreshing (or shocking). As far as I am concerned there are few vegetables that should ever make it to a table without parboiling and refreshing. It really is not a lot of work, and the benefits are many.

Alicia,

I was pressed for time earlier, but I wanted to mention that the restaurant I reviewed last night had an excellent Brussels sprouts salad - warm (I think parboiled) brussels sprouts with bacon, sweet potatoe squash, curents, and a horseradish dressing. Outstanding.

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This page contains a single entry by alicia published on October 30, 2003 8:35 PM.

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