Brussels Sprouts with Leeks and Bacon

Do any of you have a favorite brussels sprouts recipe? Before the holidays, I was in the waiting room of my doctor's office, reading Good Housekeeping. A recipe caught my eye- I had been looking for a way to prepare brussels sprouts ever since I ate the best sprouts I had ever tasted at my friend Phil's house for his annual holiday get together a couple of years ago. His dish included chestnuts. I asked Phil for the recipe, but he is one of those people who doesn't measure anything. When I saw this recipe in Good Housekeeping, I made a note of it! I finally got around to making it this week, and it was exactly what I was looking for- even without the chestnuts.

You can refer to the recipe in its entirety for specifics but here is the routine with my twists. The recipe calls for twice as many sprouts as I bought, so I cut the other ingredients in half, except (of course) the bacon. You can prepare the sprouts the night before by washing them and trimming the tough stem. Put it in a pan, pour 3/4 of a cup of water over them. Cover and simmer for 12 minutes or until tender. Drain well and put it a tight container and put in the refrigerator overnight.

To make the rest of the dish- cook 4 strips of bacon cut into 1/4 inch slices over medium heat until they brown and render their tasty and delicious fat. Remove with slotted spoon and reserve- but don't turn down the heat!

Place sprouts in the pan. Add 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and freshly ground black pepper. Cook for about 10 minutes until browned, stirring frequently. Remove to bowl and keep warm.

Add olive oil and leeks to pan- the leeks have been sliced once lengthwise and then crosswise into 1/4 inch strips- the same as the bacon. Add salt and pepper. Cook 12-14 minutes until leek is tender and browned. Add bacon, sprouts and 1 tablespoon of cider vinegar (I had no cider vinegar so I used balsamic). Cook on medium high heat for 2 - 4 minutes, stirring frequently. The recipe calls for fresh chopped parsley at the end but I didn't have any, so I didn't use it. The end result did not suffer in the least. The sprouts were perfectly tender throughout, and the taste of the leek, bacon and touch of balsamic were just what they needed to push the flavors through the roof!

This was one of those dishes that I could eat every day. One and a half pounds of sprouts was much more than enough for two people. I think the recipe in the magazine was intended to be used as a holiday side dish, in which case you might need the 50 ounces of sprouts. In any case- we loved it. Without as much time as I used to have to cook and share recipes, I have chosen to be selective and make what I love the best. So far, so good...and the eggs.