January 3
One of the weirdest things that happened when I started this blog was my struggle when I had to measure ingredients. I never, ever measured anything (other than for baking purposes) before I started this blog and it really threw me off. My process for making sauces and dressings was to throw things into a bowl, taste and adjust as I went. Basically, it was very difficult for me to guess what a shake of this or a squirt of that measured in terms of teaspoons and cups. One of the disasters that stands out in my mind was when I tried to make these charred brussel sprouts for the blog last year. I had been making versions of these brussel sprouts all winter and they were one of our favourite dishes. I felt like I had the process down perfectly: lightly steam, drain, char in the same pan and dress with a delicious sauce. But, when I tried to measure out what I normally just throw into my pan as my sauce, everything was off. It was disgusting. The biggest problem was that I used way too much of everything and the brussel sprouts were drowning in their glaze. I never attempted the blog-version (i.e. measuring) of these again, until now. We finally bought our first batch of brussel sprouts this year and I forgot how much I love them. I can’t believe we have gone so many months without these. Either way, they are back and this time, I measured with much more skill. Now you can make them too!
These charred brussel sprouts are the ultimate side dish. I love vegetables with a slight bitterness to them. I also find that brussel sprouts have a similar taste to some of my other favourite vegetables like asparagus and artichokes, but I’m not quite sure how to describe it. Does anyone know what I mean? Either way, I love how quickly these come together and how delicious they are. I discovered early on that there was no need to turn on the oven to get charred sprouts (I use this method with potatoes too). The easiest way to do it is to fill a pan with 1/2 inch of water, steam your sprouts so they are about halfway cooked, drain the pan and turn up the heat. With some oil and some sauce that caramelizes well, these sprouts are sautéed and charred in about 10 minutes. Yum. On top of that, even though I am happy to eat the whole batch of these with a final glaze of sauce and a bit of coarse salt, it’s all so much better with a dipping sauce. This creamy, sweet, salty, spicy sauce is the perfect accompaniment to these charred brussel sprouts (and probably to a multitude of other charred vegetables).
I love how this is a one-pan dish. You steam the brussel sprouts until they are halfway cooked in the pan, drain the water from the pan, crank up the heat, and then char the sprouts in the same pan.
Fill up a large pan with about 1 inch of water. Bring the water to a boil.
Add brussel sprouts to the pan and cover with a lid. Let the brussel sprouts steam for about 5-7 minutes (depending how big your sprouts are).
While they are steaming, in a large bowl mix together the soy sauce, sesame oil and maple syrup.
Remove sprouts from water and toss them in the soy sauce, sesame oil and maple syrup dressing.
Pour water out of the pan and turn the stove to a high heat.
Add a splash of sunflower oil to the pan.
Saute brussel sprouts until they start to char, rolling them around occasionally to get a char on all sides.
Once the brussel sprouts are charred, remove from pan, pour over any extra dressing and sprinkle with coarse salt.
Serve hot, with dipping sauce.
Mix all of the ingredients together in a small bowl.
http://mysecondbreakfast.com/charred-brussel-sprouts-soy-maple-glaze-recipe/Charred Brussel Sprouts with a Soy Maple Glaze was last modified: January 2, 2016 by