The Best Damned Brussels Sprouts You'll Ever Eat

 

Brussels sprouts are a truly divisive ingredient. You either love them or hate them. Naturally, my child hates them and runs screaming from the room if I suggest she eat some. She claims that her school cafeteria served them once and she did not like them, I contend that story is 100% bullshit. 

(UPDATE: It has been four years and I tried feeding these to the Spud again. This time she loved them and ate so many she got a bellyache. I cant win.)

 Fortunately, I watch a shit-ton of America's Test Kitchen and took some of their advice and came up with this absolute gem of a recipe. No joke. I could stand at the counter and eat the whole pound of these if left to my own devices. I imagine the gas would be absolutely spectacular. Try it and let me know!

The Best Damned Brussels Sprouts
You'll Ever Eat*
*Maybe

Ingredients

• 1 pound of Brussels sprouts, rinsed and cut in half
• 3 tablespoons bacon grease (you can make due with grapeseed or vegetable oil but you're going to lose a bunch of flavor)
• 1/2 cup chicken or vegetable stock
• Seasoned salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375F (190C, Gas Mark 5)
2. In a large, oven proof skillet (I used my trusty Lodge cast iron skillet) melt the bacon grease on medium-high heat until it has coated the bottom of the pan.
3. Lay the Brussels sprouts, cut side down in the pan in a single layer. It is important that the cut side is making direct contact with the bottom of the pan.
4. Let the Brussels sprouts sizzle away on the pan for about 5-6 minutes. You're looking to get a really nice sear on the bottoms. 
5. Turn the heat off under the pan and slowly pour in the stock. Then sprinkle the top with the seasoned salt.
6. Put in the oven for about 8-10 minutes. You want the stock to completely cook off in there. 
7. Once the stock is cooked off, take them out of the oven and serve them up!

Good Times!

Homebound Day #4: Shelter In Place

So as we enter into day 4 of homebound, we get the notice. The Governor will be ordering to "shelter in place" until further notice. Pretty much you can leave for food, medicine, or doctor visits. Other than that, don't go anywhere if you don't have to. We actually did have to go out, as our dog has Addison's and needs regular injections of a steroid or his kidneys eventually fail and he dies. Other than that, he's the picture of health. He's had Addison's for about 10 years

Look at that face. He's worth it.

We went into town, took care of it, then headed back home. Many places were empty, but the Sam's Club was absolutely jam-packed.

Breakfast was once again a simple affair of toast with butter and Vegemite and a fried egg. The Spud had a toaster strudel. We skipped lunch as we were getting ready to head out for the dog appointment. The daughter had another tray of lunchmeat, fruit and yogurt with a cookie. The Wife had to make a trip to her school for some supplies. While I waited, I got peckish and had a snack:

Sardines in mustard sauce and Ritz crackers. Don't judge me.

The Wife returned home and we had a pretty nice dinner. Corn on the cob, dill bread, pickled dilly beans, and a smoked chicken that one of my student's parents gave me as a gift for rehabilitating his son. This dad does BBQ competitions, so this chicken was crazy good. For dessert, we polished off the rest of the pineapple cake.

Who said teaching is without reward?

There was plenty of chicken left, so I stripped the carcass and stored the meat, and then did what any survivalist would do during the apocalypse: I boiled the carcass to make stock, which I will freeze for later use. 

Celery seed, onion salt, pepper were added.
Bear Grylls can bite me.

So now we head into the weekend and a serious lockdown. I'm looking to download Tabletop Simulator and finding some people willing to do the same, so I can play games with people. I'm also looking at setting up an RPG group to play online.

Stay safe!