It's Thanksgiving weekend in Canada. I might be serving brussels sprouts. I hate brussels sprouts. Like seriously hate them. For years people tried to convince me I just hadn't tried the right recipe.
They were right. Turns out you need to deep fry brussels sprouts and then cover them in sauce. Here's the world's best brussels sprouts recipe. For people who hate brussels sprouts.
Let me bring you all back to an unusually cool night in September of 2016. I was on vacation with family in Tofino, British Columbia. After a day of fall surfing, complete with wetsuits and burning lungs, we all warmed up and headed to a local restaurant that had been recommended.
Shelter. (no, this isn't a sponsored post, the restaurant is a very important character in this mystery)
We weren't sure if we were going to get in because it was packed with other people who probably didn't surf all day and therefore in my mind were not as deserving of food as we were. I stink eyed people who seemed to be lingering over their coffees but they just stink eyed me back. Which I think was very rude and not at all in keeping with stink eye protocol around the world.
When someone gives you the stink eye you recoil in fear and get the hell out of sight. Anyhow. We were finally shown a table at the back of the outdoor patio, where we grabbed our menus and started perusing.
British Columbia surprised me in that I thought there would be a whole lot of vegetarian options in the restaurants there but there weren't. I'm not a vegetarian so I didn't care. I was just surprised. I can't remember what I ordered for my meal that night. I can't remember it one iota. What I can remember is what we ordered as an appetizer. I remember it vividly for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is, I died from it.
There's no other explanation for me liking brussels sprouts. I must be dead.
The exact day I died was September 21st. The day my family outvoted me and ordered deep fried brussels sprouts with a parsley/honey dressing.
Brussels sprouts. I ate them. I loved them. I'm so ashamed.
Here's my history with brussels sprouts in case you don't know.
We left the restaurant, and everyone else resumed their vacation as if nothing had happened. As if the world hadn't split open, as if pigs weren't flying, hell wasn't freezing over and horses weren't growing horns.
I did the only thing I could do; when I got home I did a bit of research, tracked down who the chef at Shelter restaurant was, found his email address and sent him a quick and possibly alarming email.
"HALPPPP. HATE ... LOVE ... YOU ... EAT ... WAHHHHH ... BRUSSELSPROUTS! , NEVERWANNABALSAMICBAKEBARFSOAWFULDEVILHEADACK. SNARFSLNGIEBKIH ... ~ your fan, Karen Bertelsen".
Remarkably, chef Matty Kane, of Shelter restaurant is fluent in Frantic and he knew exactly what I meant in my email. He sent me the recipe right away.
Ingredients
- 100 g apple cider vinegar
- 25 g peeled shallot
- 30 g peeled garlic
- 40 g curly parsley
- 100 g honey
- 50 g olive oil
- 160 g grapeseed oil
- 5 g smooth dijon mustard
- 2 g salt
Instructions
- Use either a blender or a an immersion blender to combine all the dressing ingredients thoroughly.
- Put prepped brussels sprouts into deep fryer set at 350 degrees for 2 minutes.
- Toss with enough apple cider vinaigrette to lightly coat and top with fresh grated parmesan & toasted sourdough breadcrumbs.
- Serve immediately. Seriously. Right away.
Turns out there is a way I like brussels sprouts. I like them if you deep fry them. And I like them if you toss them in a delicious apple cider vinaigrette.
I think it's important to clarify my position on brussels sprouts at this point in time. I like brussels sprouts.
But only when they don't taste like brussels sprouts.
To my Canadian followers, think about having these for Thanksgiving. You can prep the sauce right now and even cook the sprouts a day in advance. Just drop them in the deep fryer again prior to serving for a minute to recrisp them.
Happy Thanksgiving long weekend my fellow Canadians. See you all again on Wednesday with the conclusion of my great floor debacle.
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I like Brussels sprouts. The take-away for me was clicking the link on your history with Brussels sprouts and then the link for that fantastic rasp at Lee Valley! I will be popping into the Niagara Falls store to get one!
They're great. I use mine all the time. ~ karen!
Et tu, Karen? AS a fellow (well, we used to be fellows in this) Brussels sprouts hater, I took comfort in the fact that you also found that people always say, “You Just haven’t tried the right recipe.” No, I think they taste nasty however they are prepared, like liver. Yuck! Ok, I admit that I haven’t tried your recipe, but I don’t have a deep fryer. So, i’ll Probably try the dressing and put it on something that tastes better, like Romaine lettuce, or a fire hydrant, or anything other than a B.S.
Love the story and the recipe. I will try this at American Thanksgiving.
Brussels sprouts are like liver -- you either HATE it or LOVE it -- I love brussels sprouts but hate liver and no matter how you cook it, sauce it, or disguise it -- it is still liver! Thanks for your emergency email to Chef Matty -- I will try this new way of doing Brussels to see if I can convince my brussels haters that they are yummy! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and look forward to the next installment in your flooring adventure :)
We were at the Shelter at the end of August and I was going to try the Sprouts, as per your recommendation, but hubby said it was a definite no. :( I know we will back again soon, as we have lots of family on the "wet coast", with increasing amounts of grandchildren!! So, I will stick to my guns next time and order the sprouts. BTW, the Shelter is part of Cactus Club chain. Hopefully they might start making these a part of their menu, new Cactus is opening near Sherway Mall soon!!
One of my favorite restaurants also has deep fried brussel sprouts that are TO DIE FOR... they are tossed in a light apple cider vinaigrette and then plated over some garlic aoli ... I have gone there a few times and ordered two sided of burssel sprouts as my dinner. They are that good. I'm sure you could recreate that easily :)
Noooo!!! I was waiting anxiously for the next installment of the Great Floor Debacle and you gave us Brussels sprouts!
You can't leave me on a cliffhanger like that...
Ha!! Cliffhanger hangs until next week. :) ~ karen!
Thanks for giving us a recipe to print without a photograph. I hate using up all my ink printing a grainy, black and white photo of a recipe. Thank you! So much! : )
The recipe looks great!
You died on my birthday so happy birth/death day to us both.
I only eat one Brussel sprout a year; on Christmas Day. My mum always said I should eat them so I have one in honour of her. We live in different countries so she doesn't even know I do it but you have to listen to your mum don't you? You may have convinced me to try them in this recipe though; if you like them, they must be fabulous.
Can you fry these in a skillet as pictired? Thanks
I wouldn't Rose. A skillet isn't deep enough to prevent a possible fire. I'd use a dutch oven if you want to fry them stove top. I use a deep fryer. The cast iron pan is just for serving. ~ karen!
Got it, thank!
Two questions:
1) How many brussels sprouts in the recipe?, 2) Shouldn’t the chef be credited as the creator/author of the recipe (perhaps saying you’re the author is suffice? Not trying to be a jerk, I promise!)?
It's however many brussels sprouts you want Katie. The sauce recipe makes a LOT of sauce. The plugin I use for recipes just automatically adds my name as the author since 99.9% of the time I'm the originator of the recipe. I'll take a look to see if that can be changed on this one. ~ karen!
Thanks, Karen. Appreciate the reply. Happy thanksgiving!
OK, I will be the one to say it. You’re just doing this again, right before another very unpleasant US of A event. (“Now this should distract them,” she thought to herself.) Thank you again for the distraction. Happy Thanksgiving!
I love brussels sprouts and have always loved them. I'll bet this would be just as good if you roasted the sprouts and used the same dressing. Roasted brussels sprouts are amazing!
Congratulations!! I have been secretly hoping that you one day you would find a brusselsprout you would like. I do a similar dish and can have ONLY that for the whole meal. Almonds and lemon included :-)
Wow. I love brussels sprouts, but this recipe is amazing! Thank you so much for sharing.
It really is good Victoria! Hope you like it! ~ karen
Dear Negative Brussel Sprout Nellies: many of us want to curse the all-might brussel sprout because our fore mothers boiled them, threw some salt on them, & then told us we couldn't leave the table till we had eaten all of them but we couldn't even get the family dog to choke them down. In my opinion, they were never intended to be boiled. They were bitter tasting and a tad bit stinky!!! I believe they are meant to be baked or fried as in this post. If anyone has not tried them since the dark ages of boiling, do give them another chance. You won't be disappointed!!!!! Who knows, even your mother may change her old ways.....
I always knew you'd come around! My favorite salad these days is made with baby kale, a spicy red caesar dressing, and deep-fried brussels sprouts. Oh and a handful of puffed rice for crunch, though sourdough croutons sound like they'd do the trick. So delicious. The brussels sprouts taste sweet and nutty. The other way I love them is pan fried in butter and salt and then more butter until they are very dark (so dark customers sometimes send them back thinking they are burnt), then hit with a squirt of lemon juice.
Now if you could persuade me that carp is a delicious fish, prepared in any way whatsoever, I'd be impressed. Especially after the famous Carp Spewing all over the Stairs incident, which happened back when I was 10 years old. Brussels sprouts? Pah. Hate them, but I'd eat them (and have) even just to be polite.
I'm with you!! But I came to terms with the fact that I like them a few years back. I even mentioned on the brussel sprout post that they are pretty good roasted, to which you responded "NO" I will only eat them if they are crunchy (fried or roasted basically) if they are even remotely wet, or shiny which suggests that they might be wet all you can do is say NO!
Okay missy, the jig is up. I knew you liked Brussel sprouts all along, just making up your distaste for them to conjure up the storyline. I get it, I'm all about an Academy Award performance especially if the script follows the book version. But you were your own undoing by trying so hard to hate such a wonderful easy delicious versatile veggie. I can see it now; your gardening space next year with the most offensive cruciferous taking center stage. Break a leg, wrap it till it's mended and eat your veggies. YAY for Brussel sprouts !!!