-pops- Posted October 30, 2017 Report Share Posted October 30, 2017 This way of cooking can convert the most vehement sprout hater. Trim the sprouts and cut in half lengthwise. Blanch for a couple of minutes in boiling water then immerse in cold water (this helps retain the green colour). Then, for about half a pound (250g) of sprouts, thinly slice one medium strength red chilli and quickly stir-fry in a little neutral taste oil, preferably in a wok. Add the blanched sprouts and stir-fry over high(ish) heat until the sprouts begin to brown. A few sesame seeds added with the chilli is nice. A good accompaniment to roast meats or allow to cool and use to make bubble and squeak the next day and have with a fried egg or two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irene Posted October 30, 2017 Report Share Posted October 30, 2017 Sounds tempting for the majority, but unfortunately chillies are not for me. I often think that everyone - except me - loves the heat generated from them. Makes me feel like a bit of a wimp! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-pops- Posted October 30, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 30, 2017 You can do it without the chilli. The point of blanching and stir-frying is to get away from the wet Andrex texture of so many attempts at boiled Brussels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catgate Posted October 30, 2017 Report Share Posted October 30, 2017 2 hours ago, -pops- said: This way of cooking can convert the most vehement sprout hater. When I first saw this I thought, "great balls of fire", Pops is after me. In to what will I be converted?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-pops- Posted October 30, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 30, 2017 Converted into sprout-tolerance, perhaps even an aficionado of this much-maligned vegetable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanHo Posted October 30, 2017 Report Share Posted October 30, 2017 Sprouts are my favourite vegetable but I hate it when they are over-cooked. I don't mind them boiled - but only for less than 5 minutes, depending on size, so they are crunchy. I sometimes roast them at 200C, again leaving them crunchy or quickly stir fried with pine nuts - also in tempura batter done in the deep fryer. A tip : They are unpleasant with custard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catgate Posted October 30, 2017 Report Share Posted October 30, 2017 When I was a small boy we were invited (in reality "compelled") to go to my uncle's for Christmas Lunch. (I managed to wriggle out of it all when I was about 13/14 ish) He was Sales Director of a Dye Stuff Company and he would arrive to pick us up about late mid-day in his gold Chrysler. "Sorry I'm a bit late we've been to the "goff club" ". He was "captain" or some such thing. He was also something big in Masonic circles. He was brother to my mother and her sister. He had a son a couple of years older than I, and a daughter a couple of years older than his son. He also had a "live in" house maid. We would always arrive at his house just as his maid and his wife were peeling the sprouts. Upon arrival my other aunt (my mother and uncle's sister) and my mother would also start peeling the sprouts. Oh what a shambles. It was common place for the meal to be just on the point of eating when the radio had to be switched on, to sit in silence as the Kings Christmas message was delivered. When he had stuttered through it we would then start to eat the cold brussel sprouts, cold roast potatoes, cold turkey etc followed by lukewarm Christmas pudding concealing sixpenny pieces. The rest of the afternoon was a sitting about in the lounge until tea time with the room full of uninteresting talk and tobacco smoke. I was very pleased when I became "about 13/14 ish". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanHo Posted October 30, 2017 Report Share Posted October 30, 2017 Ay lad - tha's a reet gud tale. I can recall when sprouts had a lovely strong flavour. About 3 years ago BBC Countryfile visited the biggest sprout farm in the UK which supplied more than half the Nations Xmas market. The head sprouter explained that they had selectively bred, over many years, a strain of sprout that was sweeter, less flavoured and less pungent to suit people's changing tastes and encourage kids to eat them. Hence all the qualities that I enjoyed in a sprout have been diluted on the altar of profit and we are left today with a vegetable that has been flavour neutered. Cabbages have been another victim. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted October 31, 2017 Report Share Posted October 31, 2017 I love sprouts but never boil them. Steaming is far better. We also like them cut into two and put into a stir fry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanHo Posted October 31, 2017 Report Share Posted October 31, 2017 Do you cut them north/south or west/east. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted November 2, 2017 Report Share Posted November 2, 2017 North/south Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gandalph Posted November 4, 2017 Report Share Posted November 4, 2017 I just love sprouts, whole though. I hate them cut. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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