A convert: Annalena learns to love brussels sprouts

Well, yes , it happened. A bit of background here. Given what the experts call my "food profile," whatever the hell that is, I should have always loved brussels sprouts. No question about it. However, the experts were wrong. I had never learned to like them. Tried, but couldn't. Actually, let me clarify that. There was one brussels sprouts dish that I had enjoyed: it had equal parts of shaved sprouts, pecans, and apples, was cooked as a pan fry in butter, and had honey added to the end.

GOOD. Brussels sprouts brittle. Don't really count, now, does it. So I would pass them up. If they came on a plate, I would ask for a substitute. Generally no problem, as Annlena loves many of the so-called "ucky" vegetables, and the kitchen would just make a swap.

So, what happened? Well, a few weeks ago, at one of our favorite restaurants, Barbuto, the chef sent out a freebie side dish. Brussels sprouts with fried pancetta. Ok, thinks I. I can't fairly sit here and pick out all the pancetta and let everyone else eat the sprouts (I'm really NOT that bad a person), and I certainly can't say to the server "Tell Ryan thanks, but no thanks."

Oh dear. So I bit into one. It was good. So was the second one. And the next one.

Let's jump forward a few weeks. I'm sitting in a restaurant with my sexy friend Brad, and he orders a side dish of brussels sprouts with chestnuts.

Again, thinks I, "I can't be rude, and say something like 'enjoy them, I hate them'". Out comes the sprouts, with the chestnuts, in a rich butter sauce. They were the smallest ones I had ever seen. Probably no bigger than some engorged nipples (I had to put that in to see if you were paying attention), and so well cooked, and so good, that it may very well be the case that Brad didn't get a single one (sorry if you didn't , Brad. I'll make it up to you. I promise).

So, with two favorable meetings with a veggie I hate, I had to reconsider this position. What was it about the two dishes that they s hared? Thinking about it, of course, there was all that fat. But the other thing was the texture. Both plates of sprouts were well cooked, almost to the point of being soft. And Annalena, being the food snob that she is, thought about what happens when she cooks cabbage, and the advice she gives: "cook it long, cook it soft." BS's are in the cabbage family. Maybe.... And chestnuts. Hmmmm. Nice color contrast. Fat? Butter sounded better than pork fat, although both sound good, don't they. Finally, size DOES matter. I liked the smaller ones better.

Off to the Greenmarket to create the dish. And so I did. You can too. You need half a jar of chestnuts, or one of those vacuum packs to give you about 6 ounces of dry chestnuts. Also, about a pound of the smallest BSs you can find. If you can only find big ones, quarter or half them lengthwise. Clean off the little dirty stub at the end. You also need about half a stick of butter.

Cook the sprouts in a big pot of well salted water. A tablespoon in a gallon of water is about right. When you have a rolling ball, add the sprouts and cook them. You don't want them firm. A knife should go through them very easily. When you're there, drain them, and get a big pan ready with the butter. Heat it at medium until it melts, and then add the chestnuts. Now, something that chestnuts do: they suck up that butter, sort of the way eggplant sucks up oil. If you are feeling like a calorie spendthrift, don't be concerned and just add more later on. If you are a bit concerned, just add the sprouts after about three minutes of cooking the chestnuts. If you want a moister dish, add a few tablespoons of water, but this isn't necessary. Just toss everything together for about two minutes, and then taste and add some salt. And you're done.

I thought, very seriously, of finishing this off with white truffle butter, and I'm glad I didn't. We served this at a dinner with our friend Adam, along with duck legs that I had braised in zinfandel (the recipe is in this blog, somewhere), and fregola pasta. I must say that there were no sprouts left at the end of the meal.

If , like my friend Chris, you love this vegetable, you won't need convincing. If you don't care for them, try it anyway, and if I'm wrong (I never am. Ask Guy), I'll make you a chocolate chip cookie