Submitted by: Julie Wolf
Servings: 4-6
Ingredients: One of those brussels sprouts tree thingys they sell at the store for a “centerpiece garnish” – if you notice they’re a fraction of the price of the ones already cut
Grass fed butter
Organic first cold pressed olive oil
Deli mustard (preferably with seeds and NO sugar added)
Pepper
about four strips uncured bacon
Instructions: Cook bacon in a frying pan over medium low heat. A cast iron frying pan works best. Fry the bacon as if you’re rendering the fat out of it. Drain the fat into a container as you’re cooking this. Save it. The bacon is done when the surface bubbles like crazy and it’s just about to be burned. Take it off the heat and carefully pat dry. Set on paper towels to cool off.
Cut the sprouts from the stalk. Trim outer dead leaves. The small ones you can leave as is, the big ones cut in half. In a 13×9″ glass dish, put a few tablespoons of the bacon fat and a drizzle of the olive oil. Layer the brussels sprouts in the pan. Add a tablespoon or two of the mustard on top. Sprinkle on some pepper – I’ve used black and white and they both work great. Take a big spoon and mix this all up. If the bottom of the pan or the sprouts aren’t covered with fat, add more bacon fat. When you’re satisfied that they’re covered, crumble the bacon on top.
Bake/roast at 425 until the outside is charred or they get soft. I used to have an oven that would get them soft on the inside and brown on the outside, and my new oven won’t brown them. Anyway when they’re soft they’re done. You can toss a few times while cooking. Sometimes I forget and they come out fine.
Notes: I’ve turned traditional “I hate all vegetables except corn and peas” (and I can’t broach the subject that those aren’t vegetables, but I digress…) people into loving these things. I have been told they taste like candy.
I’ve also converted former brussels sprouts haters with a similar recipe for roasted brussels sprouts. I brought them to a friend’s Thanksgiving potluck a few years back and didn’t bring home a single one. It’s now a requested dish for every potluck get-together.