Brussels Sprouts delux

This is my favorite recipe for Brussels Sprouts. Even if you hate sprouts you will love this recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 large stalk of Brussels Sprouts or a frozen bag will do.
• 1/2 pound of bacon
• Salt and pepper
• Chopped garlic
• 1/4 head of shredded red cabbage
• 2 lemons

 This Christmas I found these great Brussels still on the stalk.

 To prepare the Sprouts, snap off each head and place in a bowl. Give the rest of the leaves and stalks to the chickens. They need a Christmas treat too.

 Give them a good wash and peel off the outside waxy and damaged leaves.

 Shred the cabbage and cook it with the bacon in a cast iron pan. Seriously, invest in a good cast iron pan because it makes all the difference in the world.

 Cut off the end core of the Sprouts and discard.

 Add the garlic to the pan and continue to cook until the bacon is crispy.

 Really crispy.

I mean I guess if you were vegetarian you could omit the bacon...eh nevermind.

 Don't make this if you are vegetarian.

 Score a cross hatch in the core end of the sprouts. Don't cut all the way through or you sprouts will fall apart. The scoring helps them cook through.

 Add the sprouts to the bacon, cabbage, garlic mixture in the cast iron pan.

Cook until bright green.

Sidenote: if your mother used to cook sprouts, broccoli and cabbage until it was gray in color and mushy please note that this is gross and not the correct color.

 Green vegetables should still be bright green after cooking. You will need to cook the sprouts for about 10 minutes on the stove top.

 Add 1/4 cup of water and a lid. This will help steam the sprouts a bit.

 Place the whole pan of sprouts in the oven at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.

Pull them out and they are all toasty roasty good.

I could have let mine roast a bit more but I actually like them a bit harder and greener.

When you take them out of the oven-give them a squirt of the juice of one whole lemon. They need the lemon to help with a the bit of bitterness in the sprouts.

Give each person a small wedge of lemon to put on their sprouts as well. Hot sprouts absorb the lemon juice that you added and they will need a bit more.

My kids devoured these.

You will too!

Bev