Pan-Browned Brussels Sprouts

Vegetables are a part of every dinner for us as I love them. While other kids were feeding their broccoli and carrots to the dog under the table, I would eat all of my veggies but hide pieces of meat under my plate. I'm lucky that Jon also loves veggies. He tried Brussels Sprouts for the first time about 2 years ago, and now we eat them about 1 or 2 times a month.

Tonight Jon cooked dinner for us - his amazing roast beef with homemade gravy. I usually steam sprouts in chicken broth with garlic, or roast them; last night I made Pan-Browned Brussels Sprouts (recipe found on epicurious.com).

I didn't have pine nuts but that's ok because we both don't care for nuts in our food.

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound Brussels sprouts
• 2 large garlic cloves
• 1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 tablespoons pine nuts (didn't use these)
• Added: 1 shallot, sliced

Directions

• Trim Brussels sprouts and halve lengthwise.
• Cut garlic and shallots into very thin slices.
• In a 10-inch heavy skillet (preferably well-seasoned cast iron) melt 1 tablespoon butter with oil over moderate heat and cook garlic and shallots, stirring, until pale golden.
• Transfer garlic and shallots with a slotted spoon to a small bowl.
• Reduce heat to low and arrange sprouts in skillet, cut sides down, in one layer. Sprinkle sprouts with (pine nuts) and salt to taste. Cook sprouts, without turning, until crisp-tender and undersides are golden brown, about 15 minutes. Our roast beef and gravy were both ready, and the sprouts were taking a while to cook, so once they had browned a bit, but were still not cooked, I added approximately 3 tbsp to the pan and covered it and let them steam for about 3-4 minutes.
• With tongs transfer sprouts to a plate, browned sides up.
• Add garlic, shallots, and remaining 1/2 tablespoon butter to skillet and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until (pine nuts are more evenly pale golden), about 1 minute.
• Spoon mixture over sprouts and sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper.

The taste of the sprouts were similar to oven roasted sprouts, but just a bit lighter. They were crispy and golden brown on one side, and bright green and a bit tender on the outside. I always say that garlic makes everything better, so mixing garlic with butter really makes everything better!

After dinner I stayed up until 2 AM watching my PHILLIES take on the Rays, and it was definitely worth it. On to game 4 tonight!!!

GO PHILLIES!!!