Sautéing+Brussels+Sprouts


 * Sautéing Brussels Sprouts**

Technically, sautéing isn't until the second unit, but it's [|brussels sprout] season and both of the recipes I have are for sautéed brussels sprouts. And brussels sprout season waits for no woman! So last Saturday, my exciting life consisted of cooking brussels sprouts using two different recipes and comparing my results.

The first step was to trim the sprouts and remove discolored outer leaves. I thought that would be quick and easy because the brussels sprouts were really fresh (like straight out of my garden.) But when I peeled back that first outer leaf of the very first brussel sprout, I saw a couple of grey bumps. So I went to the sink to was them off. Which was when I realized the grey bumps were not dirt but bugs.

I hate bugs in my food. Not only are they gross, but it takes so much longer to cook the food. Because I actually have to pay attention when I clean my vegetables, instead of just running them under the water for ten seconds. So I spent thirty minutes cleaning all the brussels sprouts when it should only take ten minutes to blanch and sauté them. And then I ate a whole bowl of brussels sprouts for dinner in five minutes.

But they were good brussels sprouts, and that's what matters. You always hear about [|how bad brussels sprouts are], but they were actually good. Except my dad (who eats everything) wouldn't touch them. And my mom didn't like brussels sprouts when she was growing up; probably because her mom overcooked everything. Steak, take-and-bake pizzas, vegetables. Everything either burned to a crisp or too mushy. Therefore, because my mom goes grocery shopping, we never eat brussels sprouts.

But last spring she bought some brussels sprouts plants for our garden and told me and Kate that fresh brussels sprouts wouldn't kill us. I was willing to try them, because I wanted to try Beard's recipe for buttered brussels sprouts. Kate didn't believe Mom, even before she saw the bugs. And Kate is really picky about bugs in her food. She won't even eat broccoli because one time **I** was eating homegrown broccoli and **I** found one little tiny worm in **my** piece of broccoli.

So neither my sister nor my dad would eat the brussels sprouts. More for me! And my mom, who liked my brussels sprouts better than her mom's brussels sprouts. I think they have a texture similar to the stem of broccoli, which happens to be my favorite vegetable. But the brussels sprouts can get a yucky, mushy texture if you overcook them, or buy canned or frozen.

To keep the brussels sprouts crisp and yummy, I blanched them for about five minutes in boiling salted water. Then I sautéed them in butter for about three or four minutes. I made three batches:

The first time, I followed Beard's recipe pretty closely- or as closely as I could, having left my cookbook at school. Beard's recipe is pretty classic, just add a grind of fresh black pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice at the end.

The second recipe I used came from the Fresh Market catalouge (which I love because it has so many pretty food pictures.) The recipe started with sautéing garlic and red pepper flakes with the brussels sprouts in the butter and involved deglazing the pan with a brown sugar and basalmic vinegar mixture. It was delicious by itself but didn't pair as well with a meal as Beard's recipe did.

The third time, I combined my favorite parts of each recipe to serve my picky family. Which meant garlic-y buttered brussels sprouts, no brown sugar/ basalmic vinegar pan sauce.


 * 4**