Brussels Sprouts with Bacon
Description
My husband claims that he can swallow any pill, no matter what horse it was made for because growing up, he hated Brussels Sprouts so much that he learned to swallow them whole. Maybe, but...
For the first 25 years of our marriage, I never even tried to feed him Brussels Sprouts because of his vehement dislike for them. Over the years, he softened to them, having had to eat them in social settings. Still, I avoided them because I didn't really miss them, having not grown up eating them.
Enter Matt, my asparagus guy at the Farmer's Market. Matt grows the yummiest, sweetest asparagus in the world. He says he has "sweet soil." Given what we know about "terroir" in the wine industry, I'm sure this could be true. But I'm more inclined to think that Matt has a little magic dust that he sprinkles on his asparagus to make them so addictively delicious!
Anyway, this year, I noticed that Matt had Brussels Sprouts and I decided to give them a try.
In my sporadic interactions with Brussels Sprouts, I have found them to be rather dry and at times bitter. If Matt's soil was really sweet, I figured I didn't have to worry too much about bitterness, but I knew I needed to do something to address the dry quality. Enter bacon. And cast iron. After all, everything's better with bacon and cast iron, right? The first time I made this recipe, I used three slices of bacon to about a pound of Brussels Sprouts and they were sweet and yummy, but on the dry side. The next time, I added a little sunflower oil in the pan and then a little drizzle over them at the end of the saute. Voila! This time, the sprouts were sweet and juicy on the palette. This recipe is so easy and so delicious, you'll be finding yourself turning to it time and time again!
Ingredients
Instructions
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Trim sprouts and remove the outer leaves. You can keep these for salads or stock if you'd like. Slice the sprouts in half and rinse thoroughly.
Cut the bacon into 1/2" pieces.
Preheat a 12" cast iron skillet on medium-high heat. When hot (but not super-hot), add about 1-1.5 Tablespoons of sunflower oil. Let the oil heat up till shimmering, but not smoking. Sunflower oil has a smoke point of 400-450*, so it's pretty good for high-heat cooking, but you don't want the skillet to be smoking because you're going to be tossing Brussels Sprouts in there Add bacon to the pan and sauté until brown and crisp.
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Add sliced sprouts to the pan with the bacon. Sprinkle a little lemon-pepper seasoning on sprouts and stir just to coat the sprouts with oil.
Cover and reduce heat to medium.
Continue to cook for 10-15 minutes until the sprouts are tender, but not mushy, stirring every couple of minutes to avoid sticking and scorching. A little browning is desirable.
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Just before serving, drizzle a little more sunflower oil over the sprouts.
This dish is great as is, but satisfying enough to be a main dish when combined with Keri's roast potatoes.
Bon appetite!
