Brussel Sprouts

cuddlymarm

Hi:wave:

My SIL has banned my BIL from eating brussel sprouts for the obvious reason.
Does anyone know if there is a way of cooking sprouts that will cut down on the windyness that they can cause?:eek:

Thanks in advance:rotfl:

singlehouseholder

That is wau rough of her, sprouts are scrummy- he should be allowed to eat them!!! Tell her to remove her thumb from the poor mans forehead and let him eat the sprouts-long live sprouts!!! On a serious note, dont think theres a way to make them "less windy," he could experiment though, that might be fun. I usually steam them and dont have as much parumps as when I used to eat them at mothers house, who boiled them?? What is Christmas without a sprouty pump to blame on wife/husband/partner/child/dog/budgie/goldfish......

Bambam

That is such a shame. What is Christmas dinner without sprouts? Tell 'em to buy a dog then BIL can blame that. :rotfl:

welshcakes

As a child, brussel sprouts were always an essential for Christmas Dinner which was fine except I detested them and in our house the rule was, you can only leave the table with a clean plate.

It took me til I was 22 yrs of age (and still having xmas day round mum & dads) to suddenly realise I didn't have to eat them, I was a grown woman with my own job and mortgage!

My OH loves them so I have to buy a measley 5 sprouts in Asda each year. But in my opinion, they are like mushy grass just less tasty.

cazmanian_minx

There's a fantastic sprout recipe on the back of the free 2007 calendar that came with Sainsburys magazine recently:

Pan-fried sprouts with chorizo, red onion & crunchy ciabatta

Serves 4

500g Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
75g (3 oz) ciabatta, cut into small cubes
110g (4 oz) chorizo, rind removed and chopped
1 small red onion, peeled and sliced
1 clove of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
sea salt

Steam the sprouts for 2-3 minutes until par-cooked. Heat the oil in a large frying pan and, when hot, add the ciabatta. Toss the cubes in the hot oil for 4-5 minutes or until golden, adding a sprinkling of sea salt towards the end, then tip into a bowl.

Next, add the chorizo to the frying pan and cook it for a couple of minutes, tossing it now and then, until it releases some oil Add the sliced onion and garlic to the pan and continue to fry for a further 2-3 minutes. Add the sprouts and stir-fry everything together for 3-4 minutes. Tip into a serving bowl and sprinkle with the ciabatta cubes.

Per serving: 210 cals, 11g fat of which 3.4g saturated fat, 17.8g carbohydrate, 11.2g protein, no added sugar, 0.7g salt, 5.8g fibre.

When I made it I left out the ciabatta completely - I didn't have any and other half is not supposed to have too much salt. Still tasted great!

Caz

N9eav

The key to flatulent-free sprouts

The secret lies in not cooking them for too long

A farmer is hoping to spread festive cheer around the dinner table - by revealing the secret of producing flatulent-free sprouts.
Freda Neale, who grows five tonnes of the vegetables each year at her farm in Burscough, near Ormskirk, Lancs, claims the secret lies in the cooking.
She says sprouts should only be cooked for six to eight minutes.
"Overcooking causes chemicals in the sprouts to react and emit sulphur," said the sprout expert.
"This also gives them their bitter taste and makes them - and those who eat them - smell." Mrs Neale claims the best way to ensure tasty and 'fragrance-free' sprouts is buy fresh, young, bright green sprouts, preferably with the stalks still attached. She also advises chewing each mouthful at least 10 times to ensure it is quickly broken down by the time it reaches the gut.

CFC

Everyone says to cook them lightly so that they're nearly still crunchy, but I like them really really well cooked and definitely dead. How do you lot like them?

Anne_Marie_2

Definitely nice & with a bit of a "bite" to them. Soggy is a big no no!
Worst I saw was in works canteen, they had even lost that last bit of green and were a sorry state of grey! :rolleyes: And the smell..............._pale_

Quasar

I like all my vegetables as little cooked as possible, still firm and crunchy. I would add that sprouts and broccoli are my number one favourite, and the healthiest too!:)

Anne_Marie_2

Quasar you would have been proud of me yesterday then. Had a broccoli & courgette souffle quiche for my main course, and had crunchy sprouts as a side dish..............the rest ate steak and no sprouts! :rolleyes:

Quasar

Anne_Marie wrote:

Quasar you would have been proud of me yesterday then. Had a broccoli & courgette souffle quiche for my main course, and had crunchy sprouts as a side dish..............the rest ate steak and no sprouts! :rolleyes:

Shame, because all vegetables of the Brassica family - that being broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower and some others - are the healthiest of all, with considerable anticancer properties (broccoli being the strongest). But as usual, overcooking destroys most of their vitamin contents and the other nutrients, and the minerals are also lost if the cooking water is thrown away. The only nutrient which is not destroyed is beta carotene, this being the bright orange pigment present in carrots, which in broccoli etc looks dark green because it is mixed with chlorophyll, another important component of a healthy diet.

Sorry for the lecture...:o