The Best Roasted Brussel Sprouts

~a funny fact about the nester~

one halloween, i couldn’t go out for trick-or-treating until i ate my dinner veggies. 
my older brother who was in charge of taking me out, threw my uneaten veggies into the bushes out front! 
we lied to my mom and told her that i had finished them. 
as a child i hated vegetables, but this is not the case today!

little known fact about brussels sprouts. did you know that brussels sprouts as we now know them were grown possibly as early as the 13th century in what is now belgium. also, according to wikipedia, “brussels sprouts, as with broccoli and other brassicas, contain sulforaphane, a chemical believed to have potent anticancer properties.”

our little competition in our family. how many of you have been subjected to a thanksgiving meal in which one of your relatives brings a dish of bitter brussel sprouts? well, i’m one of those people who always brings the sprouts. but, unlike those that you have encountered, i have a great way of roasting them with a very special ingredient that takes away the bitterness. alright, i have converted many of my family members over to enjoying brussel sprouts, which i feel is a bit of a victory. my kiddos love these veggies and will often request them for dinners. but, today’s blog post is not only about my recipe but also my husbands! you see, we both enjoy cooking on the weekends and he thinks he is a better cook then me. so, it makes sense that he would come up with his own version which he strongly believes is better than mine! as you can see… we aren’t at all competitive! so we decided to go head to head with our different recipes and let our panel conduct a taste test and decide which one is the best. we don’t have the resources like america’s test kitchen, but we do have our  two children, my brother and my mom… they are a very sophisticated bunch!  :o)   i thought it would be also interesting to have our panel and my instagram followers decide which dish has the best presentation. so let the competition begin!  

happy happy nester’s 
oven roasted brussels sprouts

1  pound of fresh brussels sprouts
1/2 cup good olive oil
1/4 tsp sea salt
3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
3 cloves garlic
2 tablespoon grated parmesan cheese

preheat oven to 350 degrees

clean and trim the outer leaves of brussel sprouts. cut off as much of the stems as you can and then cut in half lengthwise. place in bowl and mix brussels with 1/2 cup olive oil, 1/4 tsp sea salt, 2 tablespoons brown sugar, 1 tablespoon granulated sugar, and 3 cloves minced garlic. pepper to taste. mix well and spread on a cookie sheet. at this point i always taste the sprouts for bitterness and seasonings. add more sugar, salt and pepper if you feel something is lacking. place in a 350 degree preheated oven. bake for 20 minutes. take out sprouts and stir in an extra tablespoon of brown sugar and a tablespoon of granulated sugar. also, add 2 tablespoons of grated parmesan at this time. return to oven and cook an extra 10-15 minutes until they are tender, make sure to watch them closely since they can brown quickly. the sugar should be slightly carmelized and the brussels will be sweet and tender! about 3 servings

double or triple recipe if you are serving a crowd of people.

preparation. my brussels sprouts will be oven roasted. so here, i’m beginning my preparation with the cleaning of garlic. you definitely want to use fresh garlic, that is the best. once i’ve cleaned off the outer skin, i prefer pressed garlic just because i’m too lazy to chop it. (ok, i know this photo looks staged, but all the ones my hubs took were blurry. you know all that beer can go to one’s head too quickly!). 

• 1 bottle of home-brewed, dry-hopped India Pale Ale
• 1 bottle of home-brewed Belgian style ale (heavy on the beet sugar & Abbey yeast)
• A nice heap of Brussels sprouts (about enough to fill your cowboy hat)
• Some super extra mega-virgin olive oil (you really want to be sure about that virginity)
• Kosher salt (when you’re looking for a manly salt, you can count on the Rabbis)
• Coarsely ground cane sugar (I pound mine into grains with the backside of an ax)
• Plenty of garlic

second judge. i just love this photo of my son! he of course, favored my husband’s sprouts. i’m sure there was so type of bribing going on in regards to my husband’s votes! my brother was the deciding vote and he went with the safe route and he liked both dishes equally, but i must add that he had seconds of my brussel sprouts, just saying… so we had a tie!

and the winner of the presentation…

the instagramers who follow me, voted on the style of our presentation and i must say that my photo won! so the nester may have come ahead if you factor the appearance, but truthfully if you like both recipes, enjoy!

thanks to my husband and his crazy writing and cooking talents! and of course thanks to my kids. also, i want to thank my intstagram followers for participating in the happy happy nester’s crazy antics! i’m sure we’ll try and post our little “her vs him” competition monthly! thanks for stopping by and please subscribe by email if you want to keep up with us. by the way, if you have a special way of preparing brussels sprouts, i would love to hear from you. so write a comment or just let me know if you tried our recipes. and again thanks so much for visiting my blog!