Thank you, Alice Waters, for tonight's brussels sprouts inspiration. Let me just make a plug for her book, Chez Panisse Vegetables, because it really is a must have in your culinary library. I refer to it often when I need ideas on how to cook a vegetable. I also recommend her Fruit book, for the same reason. And, I like that some of her recipes are written like the way I like to cook - more with a method, and less with measurements. That's how all her brussels sprouts recipes were written.
My original thought on dinner was to make this recipe:
"Brussels Sprouts Pasta - Cut the stem out of each sprout and separate it into leaves. Thinly slice the tiny hearts if you can't tease apart all the leaves. Slice red onion very thinly and chop some garlic. Start cooking pasta (a sturdy dry type, such as farfalle or penne; orrechiette is good because it has the same size and shape as the brussels sprouts leaves).
-Heat a saute pan, add a little olive oil, toss in the sprout leaves, salt and pepper them, and saute for about a minute over high heat. Then add the sliced onions and a pinch of hot pepper flakes, and continue to saute until the sprouts are tender and a little browned, 2-5 minutes. Remove from the heat, add the garlic, and toss. If the garlic appears to be browning, add a splash of water to the pan. Squeeze a little lemon onto the sprouts, and when the pasta is done, add it, drained, to the saute pan and toss everything together. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Serve drizzled with good extra-virgin olive oil. If you want, toss the pasta with some toasted bread crumbs, but if the sprouts are very sweet and tasty, don't bother."
Since we had noodles for dinner last night, I decided to cook farro instead. And, I went with a combination of three recipes, plus a little more. To save myself from having to type all of them, I'll just go put down what I did.
Browned Butter Balsamic Brussels Sprouts & Delicata Squash -
Heat a pan on medium high until pretty hot. Add about one tablespoon of butter to the pan. Allow to sizzle until the butter starts to brown (taking care not to let it burn). Add the sprout leaves (follow Alice's method of separating leaves above), and toss to coat with butter. Season with salt and pepper. Allow to cook for about 1-2 minutes. Add chopped garlic & toss quickly. Add a little balsamic vinegar & toss. Add a little chicken stock (enough to make a little saucy).
If you can do this at the same time, in a separate pan (I'm not sure this was really necessary, but I had the pan & the space to do it), saute thinly sliced delicata squash with a little olive oil on medium heat. Add thinly sliced red onions & cook until squash & onions start to become tender. Season with salt & pepper, and add to the brussels sprouts. Finish the dish with another tablespoon of butter, and adjust the seasoning. Serve over farro.
For the farro, I cooked it just like I would cook risotto. Here's a basic method to cooking risotto (only I start with sweating finely diced onions before adding the grains):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risotto
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