Brussel Sprouts
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Trim and thoroughly wash the Brussels sprouts.
Bring a pot of water to a boil and add coarse sea salt and a small piece of common washing soda.
Cook
Add the Brussels sprouts and boil uncovered for about 15 minutes.
Drain the sprouts through a colander.
Serve
Serve with butter sauce or mayonnaise.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Brussels sprouts
- The main vegetable, cooked whole until tender in the boiling water.
- Common washing soda
- Makes the cooking water alkaline, which helps the sprouts keep a bright green colour.
- Butter or mayonnaise
- Adds fat and richness to the cooked sprouts as a sauce or dressing.
The step that matters
Boil uncovered for about 15 minutes. Brussels sprouts can go from tender to grey and mushy quickly. Overcooking breaks down their sulfur compounds, which produce a strong cabbage-like smell and bitter flavour, so timing matters.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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