Easy Pan-seared Brussel Sprouts Recipe with Crispy Cheese (video)

[Saviolo]

A very easy one this week. We did a video about deep-fried brussels sprouts a few weeks ago, and they are delicious, but not everyone can easily deep fry something on a whim. This recipe uses basically the same ingredients, but doesn't require any deep frying, and is also delicious. We used cast iron for this, but you could do it in stainless steel as well, just make sure you've got a decent amount of neutral oil, so that nothing sticks. The sprouts don't have to be swimming in oil, but it should coat the entire bottom of the pan you're using.

We used a little bit of vinegar for the acid in this one, but you could just as easily use lemon juice. You definitely want something to cut the roundness of the seared sprouts and the cheese. You could also toss a few pepper flakes in there for a little colour and a little zip. For the cheese, you definitely want to use something like a grana padano or a parmesan cheese to get that nice crispy texture when it's done. They'll be soft in the pan until you remove them, and they'll crisp up as they cool.

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[Hugh_Lebowski]

1. In my recipe I par-cook them in the microwave in a covered (but not sealed) bowl

with some water, butter, salt, pepper, lemon juice, and onion powder. Only about 30 secs per 10 brussels (unless they're big uns, then more like 45 secs), sliced in half first of course. Gotta let the nasty swamp gases out of those things

After that I toss the mixture together and let it sit for about an hour to marinade and further off-gas.

Then cook them, usually on the grill but sometimes on the stove, like this recipe describes.

I love Brussels when I make 'em. Other peoples recipes ... not always so much.

[Warpy]

2. No matter how you prepare them, if you start by cutting them in halves or quarters

you're 90% of the way to turning this into a lovely vegetable instead of something your kids will still be sitting at the dinner table at midnight because they refuse to eat the whole ones, and I don't blame them for that. I know of no cooking method that will not result in a whole sprout being slimy on the outside and raw and bitter on the inside. Yuck.

This looks good and I even have a block of Parmesan somewhere in the fridge. All I need are some sprouts.

[Hugh_Lebowski]

3. Yeah it's cause they're full of nasty gases that you have to let out by cutting them open

They're disgusting if you don't at least half them before cooking to release 'em.

[Warpy]

4. Raw cruicerous veggies are all bitter

some more than others. I've always considered raw broccoli on a crudité plate to be, well, crude. The flavor is a hell of a lot bettter if they're dunked in boiling water, then in ice water. That makes them bright green and sweet instead of bitter.

And so it goes for uncooked Brussels sprout innards. It's not gas, it's the raw bitterness inside that overcooked, slimy exterior and no amount of "baby cabbages, aren't they neat?" is going to get most kids to try more than one. Ever.

It was only during a lean period (I was skint, frankly) when I was presented a big baggie of them from a local gardener in return for some sewing that I made friends with them. I'd heard that cutting them up and baking them was decent, so that's what I did. During the last 10 minutes, I sprinkled them with hot red pepper flakes and minced garlic. Now those were damned good and I've discovered since then that I like them sauteed, steamed, broiled, boiled, or whatever as long as they're cut up and no, that stupid X in the stem end does not work.

But no, it has nothing to do with gas, except you'll fart after eating any cruciferous veg. Good old northern European fart food, I love it all.

[Hugh_Lebowski]

5. Good story :)

But I still think we're not on the same page ... you're talking about the bitterness ... and I know what you mean. But they also have a noxious smell if you cook them whole and cut them open at serving time. It's reminiscent of sewer gas, and that adds to the unpalatability. Esp. with kids who's noses work better than our old ones.

If you SMELL it ... then it's a gas.

Because anything we can smell ... is gas.

And a HUGE component of taste ... is actually smell.

Anyways we're in agreement how important it is to open it up, so ... let's just agree

[Warpy]

6. That's because the outside is overcooked

I grew up with an Irish mother who;d boil the hell out of cabbage, making the entire house smell like Satan's shorts for days.

I always thought I hated veg until I started eating it out of a garden instead of out of a can.