Christmas Time Reminds Me Of: Slightly Caramelized Brussels Sprouts

I don't know why brussels sprouts are so dreaded. As long as they are cooked properly, I think they are delightful. I feel that many veggies get a bad wrap, and it's often due to the fact that people don't cook them well - I mean, who likes brussels sprouts that are very strong tasting, or totally droopy because someone has boiled them to death? I can understand that they are a somewhat acquired taste that that comes with age, but I don't think they should have such a terrible reputation.



Brussels sprouts take 90-180 days to grow. They grow on a long stalk, 2-4 feet in length, in a spiral pattern. Besides being related to cabbage, they are also a close relative of broccoli!

Anyway, here is one way I like to cook brussels sprouts. It's quick, and requires little skill.

Slightly Caramelized Brussels Sprouts
Makes 4 side dish servings

Ingredients
3/4 of a pound of brussels sprouts
1 tbsp of canola or vegetable oil
1/2-1 cup of water
salt and pepper to taste

Peel outer leaves off of brussels sprouts, trim ends (not too much or the whole sprout will fall apart!) and cut in half. Heat a shallow bottomed pan. Add oil and brussels sprouts. Place enough water in the pan so that the brussel sprouts are half covered. Season with a little salt and pepper.



Place lid over the pan. Simmer for 5 minutes.



Remove lid, and let water completely evaporate. Taste a brussels sprout. If it's reasonably tender, caramelize the brussels sprouts (let them brown, stirring occasionally) gently, making sure not to blacken them. If not, add a bit more water, and simmer. Taste again. Once they are tender, caramelize them. Adjust seasoning as necessary.

Christmas Cupcakes

Christmas Cupcakes can also be made on other days than Christmas!

Ingredients: 250 grams butter, 250 grams sugar, 4 eggs, 250 grams flour, 1 sachet vanilla sugar, baking powder, 2 tablespoons cocoa powder, 50 grams plain chocolate,

Preheat the oven to 160 degrees. Put in a muffin form the paper shapes (for these special days in green and red). Mix 250 grams butter with 250 grams sugar until creamy. Add gradually 4 eggs and mix until you have a pale batter. Add 250 grams flour, 1 sachet vanilla sugar and baking powder and mix it well. Fill the cupcakes with the 3/4 of the batter. Sprinkle over the cupcakes about 50 grams finely chopped plain chocolate. Add with the rest of the batter 2 tablespoons cocoa powder and mix it well. Shovel it in the chocolate cupcakes so the chocolate is well covered. Place the cupcakes for about 30 minutes in the preheated oven. Decorate the cupcakes possibly with red and green icing. Enjoy!

Christmas Morning Cinnamon Rolls

So what if we skipped right from Hanukkah to Christmas? That’s allowed, right? (And yes, we recognize both in our household, and thus both deserve equal attention when it comes to food).

Contrary to what you might believe, we actually have been not only eating but actually cooking food in these past few weeks. And I’ve got a couple of recipes backlogged that we ate and loved and even photographed, but just haven’t gotten around to posting (whoops).

Maybe it’ll be my blogging resolution to post things immediately after we eat them, at the very least to show you that we’re eating something other than microwave dinners and take out (rare, yes, but it happens).

Anyways, aside from the fact that we barely made it to the grocery store before it closed last night, we managed to cook some pretty delicious stuff today.

It all started with fresh cinnamon rolls in the morning (or, early afternoon… it was nearly noon before they were done).

I saw this recipe on Never Bashful with Butter and just had to try them. We made them for the 2nd time this morning (the photo above is of the 1st batch a few weeks ago), this time trying a variation with plain vanilla extract instead of almond. Unfortunately we ran out of powdered sugar, so they didn’t get the oozing frosting glazed on top, but they almost don’t need it… a slight dusting of sugar is enough to make you fall over in bliss.

I made the dough last night, let it rise for a few hours, then punched it down and chilled it overnight. I rolled and filled them this morning, then let them proof for 30 minutes in a cold oven over a pan of boiling water (advice via Alton) before baking. Next time I’ll even try rolling them out the night before and proof and bake in the morning, so they might actually stay breakfast instead of a substitute lunch.

Can I just warn you that once you’ve made cinnamon rolls from scratch, you may never be able to buy the tubed ones again.