Sunday, February 03, 2008

Brussels sprouts

Yesterday while I was in the supermarket, I noticed they had brussels sprouts in the frozen foods section. The frozen foods section is very small in Japanese supermarkets, compared to in New Zealand, and I'd never seen brussels sprouts there before. I don't see brussels sprouts anywhere very often anyway, but sometimes they turn up in the vege section, and usually quite expensive.

Seeing those made me want some brussels sprouts, but there weren't any in the fresh vege section. But I didn't want frozen, so I decided to check out another supermarket.

I crossed to the other side of the railway line where there is another big supermarket and also a small new one. I was going to check the big supermarket, but first I decided to go into the small one to get some shiitake. They always have wonderful big shiitake there.

While I was in there Auld Lang Syne started to play over the speaker system. This signals closing time, so I grabbed my mushrooms and hurried to the counter to pay. But then – a miracle! – I spotted some brussels sprouts.

I wasn't expecting to see them there, but that wasn't the biggest surprise. The biggest surprise was the size of the bag. There was only one bag left, and it looked like I had a choice of a lot of brussels or none at all. I picked up the bag and asked one of the workers if there was a smaller bag, because that was too many for me.

He said there wasn't, and went back to bringing in the outdoor displays. It was clear that if I didn't make up my mind quickly I would lose my chance to have brussels sprouts for dinner. So I bought them.

The problem now is that The Man doesn't like brussels sprouts, I don't know how long brussels sprouts keep, and I have about thirty of the damned things. Our freezer isn't big enough to freeze them (we have a very small freezer at the bottom of our fridge), so now if I am not to waste these, I will be eating brussels sprouts every day for a while. I had six last night and have satisfied my immediate brussels sprouts craving, but I don't want to waste them.

Does anybody know any interesting things you can do with brussels sprouts?

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Saute the sprouts in lots of ghee or unsalted butter for seconds only - serve with plenty of salt.

Anything, anything, but bring out their full flavor. The Man is right - sprouts are fundamentally inedible... :-)

kenju said...

I don't know how to prepare them. My mom used to make the frozen ones and hoever she did it, I liked them, but I don't know what she did. Mr. kenju isn't a fan of them, so I don't bother.

OzBurger said...

Interesting things to do with Brussels Sprouts. I would put together a pipe with large chamber at the end using PVC pipe.

Covering the sprout in newspaper, filling the chamber with hair spray and providing an ignition spark, I'm sure you could launch your excess Brussels Sprouts into the next neighborhood!

torrygirl said...

I'm pretty sure the solution to an excess of any kind of food is to make soup. I've never tried brussel sprout soup, but most vegies taste the same once you soup-ify them.

Keera Ann Fox said...

I have no advice to give, because I happen to like Brussel sprouts, and will use them in lieu of meatballs in my spaghetti (smothered in parmesan cheese, natch). I'm chiming in because today, at my supermarket, I noticed cauliflower from Spain, broccoli from Spain, and - Brussel sprouts from Brussels. I've never seen that before. :-)

Unknown said...

what did you do with them? I steam them then whizz them with my whizz stick with olive oil, salt and pepper! They make a lovely bright green mash - even Logan Brown serves it!

Shammi said...

Probably a bit too late with this but any time you have too many brussels sprouts in the future, here's a tip :) You can oven roast sprouts with olive oil and any spices or herbs that you like - they're SCRUMMY!

Here's a link to the recipe if you need it

Faerunner said...

I've found that lightly sautee-ing? them in butter with some chopped almonds is delicious, as is serving them boiled with a dash of vinegar.

I suppose you could also use them in shepherd's pie as a substitute for the cabbage/lettuce... Hrm.

Anonymous said...

Hello,

Could you tell me in which supermarket in Brussels you always can find these shiitake ?

Thanks a lot!

Anonymous said...

Hello,

forget it, I didn't see that you live in Japan :-(