Hi there everyone and Happy Christmas Eve from Matt’s Menu. This is going to be the final post before the big day, but given that its only tomorrow, that may not come as too much of a huge surprise. As soon as all of the festivities have died down then normal service will resume. There will be plenty more recipes to come on Recipe Fridays, a lot of fun (to read, if not to participate in) Challenge Matt challenges, some lovely and inexpensive dishes for Banquet on a Budget and many more features in the coming weeks and months.
I have been having a long, hard think about what recipe to put as my final before-Christmas dish and then it came to me. Why not show a really great way to serve up a festive staple that can sometimes find itself sat on the leftovers plate. I am talking, of course, about the dreaded sprout.
Now Brussels sprouts have quite a bad reputation at the best of times but especially at this time of the year. They are one of those side dishes that nearly always appear with your big Christmas dinner, but more often than not, they find themselves left as they aren’t to everybody’s liking. This time last year, I found myself in a similar position as Mrs. Matt stated that she really didn’t like sprouts but was willing to give them a try.
This left me with a quandary. How do I prepare these notorious little grenades of doom in such a way that a person who has never liked them will find them tasty? Thankfully, my creative juices were flowing and I managed to come up with something quite spectacular that we have had on quite a few occasions as a truly great side dish since then. As always, these ingredients are merely guidelines and can be chopped and changed as you see fit.
What you will need:
- 400 – 600g Brussels Sprouts
- 1 Medium Onion – Finely chopped
- 400g Sliced Baby Potatoes – With skins on as it just adds a little to the overall flavour
- 8 Chipolata Sausages – Any thin sausage will do. Make sure they are chopped into slices
- 200g Smoked Bacon – Diced
- 2 tablespoons Honey
How to make:
- In a large saucepan of lightly salted water, add the sprouts and potatoes and start to cook on a medium heat.
- In a large frying pan start to cook the onion and when it starts to sizzle add the honey and stir very well until the onion is coated and has an almost sticky glazed look.
- Add the bacon and sausage to the onion and continually stir until the sausage has been sealed on all sides and the meat is cooking nicely. Allow to cook for about 5 minutes stirring well. I like to add a very generous splash of red wine here to bring out the extra flavour, but that is entirely up to your own tastes.
- At this point the sprouts and potatoes should have come very close to the boil, if not having boiled for a minute or 2. Drain the veg and add to the pan with the meat and onions. Season to taste.
- Stir well and continue to cook on a medium heat for 5 to 10 minutes until the potatoes and sprouts break apart to a steady pressure but still have a nice bite to them.
- Serve and enjoy
There you have it. A nice and easy way to do a wonderfully rounded vegetable medley where no single ingredient is the star, but at the same time, not one ingredient is overwhelmed. You can still taste each and every individual element and it gives you another way to serve the dreaded sprout.
I sincerely hope that you do decide to take the time to give this one a try as I think you will be pleasantly surprised. All that is left to say, is that from Mrs. Matt and from myself, we hope you all have a wonderful festive period and we hope to hear from you soon, here on Matt’s Menu.
Keep cooking.
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