Food Porn Nation

The idea behind this recipe was inspired from my meal at Swine & Co, in Sydney and my visit to the US. They do a lot of deep fried brussel sprouts there! I wanted to do something similar for Christmas but it had to be quick and easy. I didn’t do a test run before Christmas, all I knew is that I wanted the brussel sprouts to be cooked in butter and bacon fat until the sprouts was blistered and brown. I wanted to create the illusion that they were deep fried by cooking the sprouts in bacon fat and butter. Then I wanted to top it off with crunchy bits of bacon to have the texture of crackling. This turned out really well and it was such a delicious way to enjoy brussel sprouts that I had to share!

Enjoy! x

Ingredients:

• 500g of brussel sprouts
• 6 rashers of streaky bacon, pancetta or bacon lardons (streakier the better)
• 50g butter
• oil
• salt

Method:

Slice the streaky bacon into thin long pieces. Approximately 1 inch long and 0.5 cm wide.

Lightly oil the pan and cook bacon in batches over a medium to high heat until they are bronzed, crisp and all the bacon fat has rendered off. Make sure you do not overcrowd the pan with bacon otherwise the bacon will stew and become soft. When the bacon is cooked, remove the bacon and reserve the bacon fat in the pan. Place the bacon on kitchen paper so it is evenly spread out. This will help the bacon to remain crispy.

While the bacon is cooking, boil the brussel sprouts in salted boiling water until they are half cooked. Roughly 3 minutes. You can spoon one out to test that they are still firm. Run under cold water to stop the cooking process. When cooled and ready to handle, slice them in half so they keep their shape. Set aside.

When you have finished with the bacon. Reserve half of the bacon fat from the pan to be used for later.

With half of the bacon fat left in the pan, add butter and oil until melted. The oil will prevent the butter from burning. Cook the brussel sprouts on a high heat until the edges begin to darken. Set aside and repeat this step with the other half of the bacon fat, butter, oil and the remaining brussel sprouts.

Return the first batch of the brussel sprouts to the pan and add one half of the crunchy bacon bits and stir through for 2 min. Place the brussel sprouts into a serving dish. Add more butter and mix through until melted through. Top with the remaining crunchy bacon for serving.

Serve as a side for any roast, like my Roast Pork served with Caramelised Apples, White Wine & Sage sauce.