Wednesday, February 05, 2014

Brussels sprouts with bacon and almonds

Rooskapsas, peekon ja mandel. Brussels sprouts, almonds and bacon.

Brussels sprouts, yes or no? 

I say yes, especially now, mid-winter. Cheap, cheerful and seasonal!

Here's a dish based on the lovely Nigel Slater's recipe that I found on BBC's website (see here), though I first read about it on this Estonian blog and on this Estonian blog). I still get a fresh batch of Brussels sprouts at my local farmers market almost every weekend, and my family seems to love them. The kids, I must admit, seem to prefer them raw, so I always put a couple aside for them.

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Without further ado, here's the recipe. However, do check out this recipe on Nami-Nami, posted just a few months ago - sautéed Brussels sprouts with lemon - that's lovely, too!

Brussels sprouts with bacon and whole almonds
(Rooskapsad peekoni ja mandlitega)
Serves 4 to 6

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1 kg Brussels sprouts
about 300 g smoked ham or bacon
2 Tbsp butter
150 g whole almonds

Trim the sprouts - cut the stem shorter, remove the ugly outer leaves. Halve the Brussels sprouts.

Cut the ham/bacon into 1 cm dice.

Melt the butter in a large heavy frying pan. Add the ham/bacon and fry over moderate heat, stirring regularly, until the meat is golden and starts to crisp. Add the prepared Brussels sprouts and sauté for 5-6 minutes more over medium high heat, until the cabbage is cooked and begins to brown on edges.

Throw in the almonds and fry for another 2 minutes, just to heat through.

Serve immediately, though I enjoyed nibbling on this dish much later as well.

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Brussels sprouts recipes from other foodblogs:
Pisike ja pisut segi (recipe in Estonian)
Taimetoit.ee (recipe in Estonian)
Juustukuningad (recipe in Estonian)
101 Cookbooks
Simply Recipes
Two Peas and their Pod
Smitten Kitchen

3 comments:

tanita✿davis said...

I have such a keen respect for the versatility of this veg and a deep love for it -- funnily enough, I got that in California, not Glasgow! Roasted is still our favorite way to eat them, but I did discover adding nuts to them this past autumn - and smoky almonds are THE BEST.

I love that your kids are like, "Meh, we'll just have them raw." I'll have to try them that way...

Meeta K. Wolff said...

I absolutely adore brussel sprouts and this has everything I love in a good side: bacon & nuts. My vegetable queen Pille xo

Lydia (The Perfect Pantry) said...

I would have said no, but with bacon? Isn't everything better with bacon? I must try!