Brussels Sprouts are a must at any Irish Christmas dinner, and made this way they will have your fussiest guest go for seconds!
Time | Activity | Scheduling |
15 mins | Prepping the sprouts | 1 day before serving |
2 hours | Drying the sprouts | 1 day before serving |
12 hours | Resting time | Overnight before serving |
2 hours | Coming to room temperature time | On the day of serving |
15 mins | Prepping the sprouts | On the day of serving |
20 mins | Cooking | |
Ingredients:
Half of a large blond onion
2 nets of brussels sprouts
4-6 narrow smoked streaky rashers (depending on your liking)
75-100 gr (half a bag) of cooked chestnuts (depending on your liking)
Vegetable oil
Method:
The day before clean and wash the sprouts, making sure you leave them with part of the stalk, as otherwise the water will enter the sprouts core and they will become all soggy
Put them into salted boiling water and cook only until they get to be "al dente" (cooked but still hard)
Drain the sprouts, then lay them down evenly in a single layer on a baking tray which you have lined with a thick cotton tea towel to absorb the moisture. Leave them for 2 hours
Store in the fridge, placing a couple of kitchen paper pieces both at the bottom and at the top of the container before closing the lid
On the day, take them out of the fridge, open the lid and leave them to get back to room temperature for 2 hour, this is when you decide if you need to cut them in half to get them to be bite-sized
Cut the rashers in chunky bite size pieces
Cut the onion in small (but not tiny!) dices
Cut the chestnuts in half
Fry the onions and the rashers in a little vegetable oil at a medium temperature in a large non-stick pan, covered with a tight lid
Stir frequently and as soon as the onion is cooked and the rashers have rendered, add the chestnuts and cook another 3-4 mins
Add the sprouts and stir them carefully, cooking on a medium heat uncovered and stirring frequently as they tend to stick (add a splash of water if needed) for 15-20 mins