Brussels Sprouts

I can't believe I'm blogging about brussels sprouts.  I hate, Hate, HATE them!  But I've found a way to cook them that I love, Love, LOVE!  I even ate a second helping & wished for a third!

Let me tell you the story...

I lead a homeschool creative writing group, two actually.  One for little kids & one for teens.  Anyway...  the topic of the day was disliked foods.  One of the little kids wrote about brussels Sprouts & I commented how much I hate, Hate, HATE them & a discussion ensued about the merits & disadvantages of having them served to you.  Suddenly, the quiet child, the one who never speaks except to quietly read her piece, piped up and loudly & emphatically stated that she loved the way her mom cooks them.  She uses bacon.

Two things immediately stood out to me.  First, Quiet Child had spoken up!  She must have serious feelings about her mom's brussels sprouts.  And secondly, she uses bacon??  Hmmm.....

That afternoon, I emailed Quiet Child's mom & explained how I hated brussels sprouts but that I'd heard her recipe was to die for & would she share.  She did.

Sorry.  There's no photo.  I ate them all before I even thought about taking a picture.

The recipe is so simple you don't even need a recipe.  Take a bag of fresh brussels sprouts & shred them in the food processor.  (After having cut off the stem ends, I learned from Mark Bittman.  Luckily I thought to look up how to cook brussels sprouts prior to putting them in the food processor because I thought the stems might be a problem.)  I started off shredding them using the shredder attachment but it was making such fine shreds I thought it might liquify when cooked so I changed to the slicing blade.  (In the end, I really liked having the combination of textures (the little shreds didn't liquify) & will probably do that again next time.)  While you are at it, shred or mince a bit of garlic.

While you are shredding your sprouts, start a couple of slices of bacon cooking.  I used 4 slices.  Once the bacon is crispy (mine was almost burnt, but I kind of like it that way) take the bacon out of the pan, keeping the grease, & dump in the shredded brussels sprouts.  Stir.  Cook for a few minutes.  Crumble the bacon into the pan & stir.  Serve.  Eat.  Wish for more.

It's really that simple!  I did add a little more bacon grease to the pan a few minutes into the cooking process because it was looking pretty dry & brussels sprouty.  I wasn't sure how long to cook them but I just let them brown just a tiny bit & they were perfect.  I really did eat seconds and I really did wish for more.  I can not wait to make this dish again.  I have actually dreamed about it!  So, thank you Quiet Child's Mom.  You are my hero!