Sons-in-law and Brussels Sprouts

Brussels Sprouts at Couchon Butcher, NOLA

My son-in-law, Collin, is a wonderful cook.  In fact, that is our first memory of Collin. It was two Christmases ago and he and Katherine had only been dating a few months.  They drove up to Ruston for us to meet Collin and share the holidays.

 I was serving seafood crepes for Christmas Eve dinner. Katherine had told me that Collin liked to cook so I put him in charge of the sauce.  We were visiting and cooking and having a great time. James was grating cheese, but no one had told him how much to grate so he just kept on grating until he had finished the whole block. When Collin was ready for it, I dumped in the whole amount  not thinking that we only needed half of what was grated. Ooops...

Well the sauce seized up into basically a big ball of cheese. It was a dire situation!  But Collin began adding a bit of this and a bit of that and soon there was the prettiest sauce simmering in the pot.  In the end, the crepes were delicious, Christmas Eve dinner was saved, and Collin had made a place for himself in family lore.

Last Christmas, Collin was in charge of a vegetable dish and made the most wonderful brussels sprouts!  If you think you hate brussels sprouts, then you really must try them again cooked like this; it will make a convert out of you!  When we arrived in NOLA for the wedding, we had lunch at Couchon Butcher and they served brussels sprouts prepared just like Collin's.

I would give you Collin's recipe, but like most good chefs, I don't think he used a one.  I found this one by Ina Garten at the Food Network and had good results when I tried it.

Balsamic-Roasted Brussesl Sprouts

Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds Brussels sprouts, trimmed and cut in half through the core
4 ounces pancetta, 1/4-inch-diced
1/4 cup good olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon syrupy balsamic vinegar

Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the Brussels sprouts on a sheet pan, including some of the loose leaves, which get crispy when they're roasted. Add the pancetta, olive oil, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper, toss with your hands, and spread out in a single layer. Roast the Brussels sprouts for 20 to 30 minutes, until they're tender and nicely browned and the pancetta is cooked. Toss once during roasting. Remove from the oven, drizzle immediately with the balsamic vinegar, and toss again. Taste for seasonings, and serve hot.

Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/balsamic-roasted-brussels-sprouts-recipe.html?oc=linkback


Love ya'll,
Shelli