The stalk (Telford's 'club') is incredibly tough but with a good, sharp knife the outer layers can be removed and the central part is surprisingly sweet and juicy, and nice raw. Try this with a short section and let me know if you agree.
Having offered to help with the festive preparations, I was appointed the sprout prepper*, and it occurred to me what a very inefficient little vegetable the sprout is; by volume, what was peeled off and thrown away was almost as much as what went into the saucepan.
I still don't think I'll eat any more than politeness demands.
* a rather tedious but intellectually undemanding role - suits me fine.
Get them on a stick. Prep consists of no more than breaking them off into the pan.
We had a Christmas Day bubble with Nenlet1, son in law and son in law's parents, at the house of the latter. This meant no cooking for me and to comply with Covid advice one person dished up all the platefuls. I must have had about 14 sprouts on my plate but with gravy and cranberry sauce they went down very well.
Bread sauce, now... there's a thing I never make and it was on the table (fortunately not put on my plate for me) and looking hugely unappetising. I knew I ought to try it, as I never have, but just the look of it made me feel slightly queasy...
Bread sauce is just a bechamel thickened by breadcrumbs rather than a roux. It has all the same ingredients for flavour and texture - butter, cream, milk, nutmeg - but the thickening is done differently and it has a slight bready/yeasty flavour in the background.
The fact that making a gluten-free version can turn it into an unusual kind of polenta might also give you a new frame of reference for it.
Sprouts fried with bacon and mushrooms, and a baked potato, for lunch here today.
Sorry to double-post, but just spotted this amazing confession.
Why not simply have bacon, mushrooms, baked potato, and some CHEESE? Leave out the iniquitous Vegetable of Belial, and ensure your path to Heaven (or a decent lunch, at least).
The evil dead was done ... the curry duly eaten with much delight by Mrs RR. Was actually quite tasty and the yellow peppers were a nice balance. However, I fear my revenge will occur later in the marital boudoir ... my granny used to tell a (very) old joke: "Mother, mother, I hear the sound of guns". "Hush, hush my child, 'tis only your father!"
After an upbringing that included steadfast refusal ever to taste them, just heard from older daughter that they included Brussels sprouts in her family's Christmas dinner. Went into shock. Thankfully, the Highland Park bottle was to hand.
Bread sauce is just a bechamel thickened by breadcrumbs rather than a roux. It has all the same ingredients for flavour and texture - butter, cream, milk, nutmeg - but the thickening is done differently and it has a slight bready/yeasty flavour in the background.
The fact that making a gluten-free version can turn it into an unusual kind of polenta might also give you a new frame of reference for it.
Kind of like a Bechamel. If I got a bechamel with the texture of bread sauce I would send it back.
I still have some sprouts, and find myself wondering if sauted sprout & bacon could then have something like creme fraiche added to turn it into in some kind of a sauce to go with spaghetti... or maybe just egg, as per carbonara. Mmm, sprout carbonara with lots of black pepper - might even work...
This is Hell. If you doubt it, ask Mrs RR. It was a very windy night. Storm Bella pales in comparison.
She says we will have spr*ats again today with lamb (it's her turn to cook).
Some years ago I was invited to a social gathering* which took the form of a fondue* party.
In conversation, as we sat around the bubbling chocolate-filled pan, each with a long fork, dipping a piece of fruit in the sweet brew, I asked whether anyone had ever tried sprouts in a fondue. Cue puzzled looks and a few negative comments. Then the hostess said she had some sprouts if I wanted to try.
I did and it was alright. Just a raw sprout in chocolate sauce so not horrible.
And isn't fondue more usually something to do with CHEESE? Mind you, that may date from even more years ago...
In the early 70s (calendar, that is) it seemed that just about everyone who got married received a fondue set or two. We still get good use of ours, and did again on Christmas Eve. The idea of sprouts hadn't occurred to me and will be tried next time, with the usual spicy cheese sauce. Somehow the dessert version of fondue has never appealed, but I've tried every cheese I can find (Asiago with herbs added for the latest) and they are almost all good. Should be noted that making the sauce can be a good way to get rid of really bad wine.
Piqued by all this talk of sprouts, I bought some in Aldi this morning (I need to reintroduce vegetables to the diet). Fried 'em up with bacon, scallion and red pepper. Would be hard put today they tasted of anything much.
Might I suggest you overwhelmed the delicate bouquet of sprouty goodness with the robust flavours of bacon and onion?
I parboiled mine after blessing them, then having drained them and let them steam dry for a minute, transferred them to a hot wok with a bit of rapeseed oil. Lovely.
Yesterday my wife made a casserole with left-over Venison and other Christmas Day bits and pieces. It was served with boiled potatoes and the sprouts I hadn't used.
I just improvised: I steamed the sprouts in a colander over the carrots for a few minutes. (I was only cooking sprouts for myself, as the three other members of the household all have more or less the stereotypical Scot's attitude to green vegetables.) Then I halved them before frying.
I just improvised: I steamed the sprouts in a colander over the carrots for a few minutes. (I was only cooking sprouts for myself, as the three other members of the household all have more or less the stereotypical Scot's attitude to green vegetables.) Then I halved them before frying.
Thank you - I have sprouts on my shopping list, so I'll try that soon.
Yep sautéing sprouts is the best way to cook them. Shredded finely with extras of your choice. Something salty like bacon or pancetta make w nice contrast
My family gave me a chocolate melting/casting kit this Christmas. They know me too well. Mrs RR and I tried it out yesterday on pears (she knows how to get fruit down me). I then noticed she was eyeing up the left over Brussels Sprouts (I had melted a bit too much).
I adore sprouts, and have been having a sprout fest for weeks now.
I heard on television a while back that today's sprouts are sweeter. They used to contain various chemical compounds known as glucosinolates, which create bitterness in vegetables, but in more recent times scientists have lowered the levels of these compounds in sprouts, and they are sweeter.
Also while I'm sprouting forth.... I used to be a cashier in a supermarket, and it always made me laugh at Christmas time, when vast quantities of vegetables would be purchased for Christmas lunch, then along would come a tiny packet of sprouts - obviously for Auntie May or whoever, who needed to have her individual dose, even if everyone else couldn't stand them.
Comments
And they were very good....
They received a single solitary sprout.
Get them on a stick. Prep consists of no more than breaking them off into the pan.
Bread sauce, now... there's a thing I never make and it was on the table (fortunately not put on my plate for me) and looking hugely unappetising. I knew I ought to try it, as I never have, but just the look of it made me feel slightly queasy...
The fact that making a gluten-free version can turn it into an unusual kind of polenta might also give you a new frame of reference for it.
The delicious and nutritious Bread Sauce so off-putting to poor @Nenya was clearly affected adversely by the Propinquity of the Spr*uts...
Sorry to double-post, but just spotted this amazing confession.
Why not simply have bacon, mushrooms, baked potato, and some CHEESE? Leave out the iniquitous Vegetable of Belial, and ensure your path to Heaven (or a decent lunch, at least).
Mrs RR wants me to put sprouts in my special Xmas vegetable curry ... I must obey ...
Tell Mrs RR you're really, really ill...and feel SICK already...or something!
Stand firm! Do not succumb! Do not be assimilated!
(OTOH - if you make a Very Strong Curry, would anyone - especially you - be able to even taste the Spro*ts?. Sometimes ignorance is bliss).
Sprouts in marmite sauce... 😋]
I like a man with an evil imagination.........*twirls imaginary moustache* :smilingdevil
My goodness, such calumny! I actually choked on my tea reading that 😳
Kind of like a Bechamel. If I got a bechamel with the texture of bread sauce I would send it back.
2. For God's sake just have some kohlrabi instead.
She says we will have spr*ats again today with lamb (it's her turn to cook).
Just like Ing-Er-Laa-aand - a very small fish in a very large sea.
In conversation, as we sat around the bubbling chocolate-filled pan, each with a long fork, dipping a piece of fruit in the sweet brew, I asked whether anyone had ever tried sprouts in a fondue. Cue puzzled looks and a few negative comments. Then the hostess said she had some sprouts if I wanted to try.
I did and it was alright. Just a raw sprout in chocolate sauce so not horrible.
*Remember - gatherings and fondues?
And isn't fondue more usually something to do with CHEESE? Mind you, that may date from even more years ago...
My brother did the sprouts with bacon, and I admit the two I had were actually all right.
@Furtive Gander - you need professional help.
I parboiled mine after blessing them, then having drained them and let them steam dry for a minute, transferred them to a hot wok with a bit of rapeseed oil. Lovely.
The whole meal was delicious.
Into the compost bin I hope. They may do some good there.
Yes, as long as you can somehow put up with the smell whilst they putrefy...
"No". I said, "no, please, NO!".
Whatever next?
I heard on television a while back that today's sprouts are sweeter. They used to contain various chemical compounds known as glucosinolates, which create bitterness in vegetables, but in more recent times scientists have lowered the levels of these compounds in sprouts, and they are sweeter.
Also while I'm sprouting forth.... I used to be a cashier in a supermarket, and it always made me laugh at Christmas time, when vast quantities of vegetables would be purchased for Christmas lunch, then along would come a tiny packet of sprouts - obviously for Auntie May or whoever, who needed to have her individual dose, even if everyone else couldn't stand them.