Cafe Fernando

Creamy Braised Brussels Sprouts

I would have never imagined that I’d find myself daydreaming about Brussels sprouts one day.

It happens to me a lot with ice cream, Nutella-filled mini doughnuts, bagels and Korova cookies, but never with Brussels sprouts.

That was until I took a chance and tried the Creamy Braised Brussels Sprouts recipe from Molly Stevens’ “All About Braising”.

Brussels Sprouts

I ordered the book back in the summer and waited anxiously for the winter months to come. This is one of the few recipes I’ve tried from the book, but I can already say this: If you can only buy one cookbook this winter, this should be it.

Braising is an uncomplicated and miraculous cooking technique that will put every ignored vegetable in your refrigerator to good use and flavor even the cheapest cut of meat. The book starts with a very thorough explanation of the technique and teaches you the principles needed to master the art of braising.  There are 125 recipes in total – from meat and poultry through seafood and vegetables.

Creamy Braised Brussels Sprouts 2

So how do these tiny green bastards become so utterly delicious? First they take a hot, creamy bath and just when they start going into a deep sleep, you wake them up with several squirts of lemon juice and suddenly, they are alive again.

I’ve so far prepared this dish three times and made a few changes along the way. First of all, I like my vegetables a bit undercooked so that I still get to bite into them. Thus, I reduced the braising time from the original 30-35 minutes to only 10. Also, the recipe calls for a cup of heavy cream, -and I would have also never imagined I’d be saying this- but I’ve found the result a bit heavy for my liking. I then reduced the heavy cream to quarter of a cup and used a combination of whole milk and vegetable broth for the remainder of the braising liquid. The resulting dish is sensational.

You know deep in your heart that you want to love Brussels sprouts, too. And if this recipe doesn’t do it, nothing ever will. Enjoy!

CREAMY BRUSSELS SPROUTS RECIPE

Recipe adapted from “All About Braising” by Molly Stevens.

Ingredients

Serves 2-4

  • 1 pound Brussels sprouts
  • 3 tbsp unsalted butter
  • Juice of a lemon
  • 1/4 cup heavy cream
  • 1/2 cup whole milk
  • 1/4 cup vegetable broth (or water)
  • Salt and freshly-ground black pepper

Method

  1. Wash and trim the base and ragged outer leaves of Brussels sprouts. Cut them in half and set aside.
  2. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat.
  3. Add Brussels sprouts and cook until they begin to brown (5-10 minutes). Season with salt and pepper.
  4. Pour in the cream, milk and vegetable stock and reduce to a low simmer. Cover with lid and braise over low heat for 10 minutes.
  5. Transfer the Brussels sprouts to your serving dish with a slotted spoon.
  6. Add the juice of a lemon to the remaining sauce in the skillet and reduce, on medium-heat, until it develops a fawn color, about 3-5 minutes.
  7. Pour over the Brussels sprouts, toss and serve hot or warm.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  2. Oh, these look divine! (And I’m totally with you…never thought I’d be saying that about Brussels sprouts, of all things!)

    +Jessie
    a.k.a. The Hungry Mouse

    Reply

  7. I am sorry…I was distracted by the Nutella-filled mini doughnuts.. LOL

    I will admit…the Brussels sprouts do sound tasty. 🙂

    Reply

  9. Poor Brussels sprouts. Much maligned. I’ve always love them. They are also very healthful. High in protein and rich in Vitamin C. Also contain plant phytonutrients that help prevent cancer. So there… eat your Brussels sprouts!

    Reply

  26. This is one of my all time favorite cookbooks. So many wonderful recipes. We’re making the porter maple rosemary glazed short ribs this weekend. I’ve never been a big brussels sprout fan, but this could definitely change my mind!
    Phoo-D

    Reply

  30. What’s going on over on the Turkish side of your blog? My Turkish isn’t good enough to read much except the word “Congratulations” over and over. What’s up? Thanks, Sarah

    Reply

    • Sarah – Cafe Fernando was chosen as one of the World’s 50 Best Food Blogs by the London Times. I was going to mention it here as well, but haven’t got the time to write the post yet. Here’s the link to the list, in case you want to have a look.

      Reply

  32. Congratulations! You deserve it for your efforts. Looks like they mined your site for the others, too. I’ve always thought you had exceptional blogs linked on your site, seems the Times agrees. Thanks for letting me know, and congratulations again, SJ

    Reply

  34. Hi Cenk,

    I love this one ~yummy! OK, I know I mentioned before (in your Turkish blog) that my family loved this recipe and I’m going to ask something else but I just wanted to say it out loud again. I love this recipe! 🙂 Anyway. I’m going to San Francisco later this month for a conference and hopefully I’ll have some time visit a couple of places. Any suggestions? Anyone you want me to say hello for you? 🙂

    Reply

  35. I have a slightly different take on Brussels sprouts (not to detract from the posted recipe–it looks divine!) I trim and cut them the same way, place them on a baking dish cut side up, drizzle with olive oil, kosher salt and crushed walnuts. 30 minutes at 350, and they are simply amazing! You might want to reduce the time as you prefer your veggies less tenderized, but there is a carmelization that takes place that makes the “tiny green bastards” become simply awesome!

    Reply

  38. I did it and I love it!
    I wanted to like those little buggers since I got do know them. But every time I tried a new approach I got disappointed. Mushy and bitter!
    I am also deeply in love with this technique and used to full success on chicoree.

    Reply

  40. I’ve heard nothing but good reviews of Stevens’s All About Braising, but as a vegetarian on a budget, I go back and forth about whether it’s worth the investment. I only have so much in my cookbook budget, and I generally reserve it for books with a high proportion of vegetables. I know I’m about six months late commenting on this, but let me know!

    Reply

  41. I’ve been obsessed with this recipe, having made it about 4 times now. The results have varied cause I’ve changed the prep steps several times, but I’ve enjoyed them every time. I’m currently attempting to bake them since I’m making a huge batch at once and don’t want to break them into 3 batches on the stove.

    Reply

  42. the dreaming about food i would not normally dream about i had recently about cooked salmon (i’ve always liked raw and smoked but cooked, no until i did it this way http://www.howsweeteats.com/2012/03/toasted-sesame-ginger-salmon/)

    so i had big hopes for this recipe, being on a hunt for recipe which will trick me into liking vegetables. and it did almost worked but not quite (the dreaming thing) but i saw great potential so i adapted it to green beans with the following changes:

    1. i seasoned with salt and pepper when stir-frying the beans, and after adding the cream and just before serving. it may sound a lot but the sauce was incredibly tasty without tasting either salty or peppery so i believe it’s important
    2. instead of cream+milk+broth i used low-fat single cream (15%)
    3 just before adding the cream i added a few small cubes of farmer’s quality smoked dry cured bacon (it gave a fantastic taste to the final sauce)
    4. as much i love lemon juice i thought that the amount added in the original recipe was not working out for me in terms of taste balance so i just added a squeeze.

    the result was dreamlike and believe me i never dreamed about green beans before.

    i may go back to trying it for sprouts but i will leaf them this time. i had them once served as single leaves in a creamy sauce and it was delicious.

    thank you for this post, it really inspired me and it’s very hard to inspire me with vegetables

    Reply

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