How to make Brussels sprouts as a guest at a dinner party

December 21, 2015 9:56 AM

Help me figure out how to make Brussels sprouts as a guest at a dinner party?

I’m a pretty novice-level cook (been cooking really for just a year or so). I feel like this is kindof a rookie question, but I can’t figure out how to solve this other than asking the green.

I’m going to a dinner party for five couples and each couple is bringing something. I’m planning to bring brussell sprouts. (I am bringing these because it is a miniature-themed dinner party, and veggies are needed, and my claim is that these are tiny cabbages).

My plan has been to make oven-roasted Brussels sprouts (something like these). The challenge (maybe a small one) is that the host has a not super-large oven, and is using to it to make some little savory pies. I’m not sure how to best do this:

1) We could try to cook the sprouts in the oven at the party with the pies. But I think the sprouts want to be cooked hotter than the pies, because you want the sprouts to brown. (I think the sprouts are like 400 degrees or more and the pies are a lot less than that)

2) I thought (this is my first choice) I could cook the sprouts at home, maybe an hour or so before the party, and bring them over, and just warm them up in the oven. Would that work out okay? Does anyone have any tips for how to best do that? Are they going to dry out or something?

3) I guess I could just cook the sprouts in a way doesn’t interfere with the hosts oven? Like boil them (But that doesn’t seem as delicious) or pan-fry them (but that seems labour-intense if you’re cooking for ten people…)

4) Or do something else altogether?

Any and all tips/suggestions/advice/opinions much appreciated!

posted by ManInSuit to Food & Drink (30 answers total)

Roasted brussels sprouts are great reheated. Cook them at home and reheat them there. You can even reheat them on the stove top. Or serve them at whatever temp they cool to. If you cook them in a heavy casserole and put on the lid and wrap it in a casserole wrap thingy (or a blanket) they will stay hot for an hour.
posted by mskyle at 9:58 AM on December 21, 2015 [13 favorites]

I do my sprouts in a big skillet on the stovetop, hot hot hot with a thin layer of heat-tolerant fat, get them nearly burned, and then into the oven fairly low to soften up on the inside a little.

But yeah, I think you could get away with cooking them at home and bringing them up to temperature in the oven.
posted by Lyn Never at 9:59 AM on December 21, 2015 [2 favorites]

#2 works for me.
Check out Mark Bittman's recipe for roasted brussel sprouts:
http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1890-roasted-brussels-sprouts-with-garlic

You do most of the cooking on the stovetop, at home. Then you can bring it over to your friends' and warm 'em up.
posted by entropone at 10:02 AM on December 21, 2015 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thanks!!!

(a big skillet sounds very good in terms of nearly-burned deliciousness, but I am imagining it might be a lot of work if I'm making sprouts for 10 people. I think the sprouts are the only/main veg, so I imagine I need to make a lot. Like maybe ten sprouts per person?) We pretty much have just one big cast-iron skillet here, and one smaller one.)
posted by ManInSuit at 10:02 AM on December 21, 2015

I personally think roasted sprouts are fine at warm room-temperature, too, so I'm not sure you even need to do a ton of reheating. Another option would be to do a raw, shaved Brussels sprout salad, which is SO yummy. I do one that it 50-50 raw kale (thinly sliced) and raw sprouts (very thinly sliced). Massage the kale w/ a little olive oil and salt until it breaks down, then add the sprouts and dressing and toss again (I do a red wine vinaigrette, but I think a lemon juice-based vinaigrette would also work very well). Add a bunch of Parmesan cheese at the last minute. So good. It would fit in with the theme even better if you use baby kale instead of regular kale!
posted by rainbowbrite at 10:03 AM on December 21, 2015 [1 favorite]

Cook ahead and warm at destination. For heaven's sake sprouts are easy to mess up, so do a practice run first! Lots of fat (butter, bacon, olive oil) and salt. Slow is your friend.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 10:03 AM on December 21, 2015

Response by poster: Ruthless Bunny : "easy to mess up"? How? Now you have me worried. :)
posted by ManInSuit at 10:05 AM on December 21, 2015

We have done this many times. Our go-to for thanksgiving for the past several years has been roasted Brussels sprouts. We cook them at home and reheat them at our hosts' place, either in the microwave or in the oven when things are close to being ready for the table. The oven is best. Drying out is not a problem - you want the brown parts to be a little crispy (folks will fight for those pieces). If you are concerned about dryness, we also bring over a sauce, which is just a bottle of balsamic vinegar that has been reduced to a honey-like consistency. There are flavored balsamics that work well for this (the past two thanksgivings we have used a cranberry balsamic and OMGYUM).

Also, blurkerspouse has found that a quick steaming of the sprouts before roasting allows them to roast easier and without that bitter taste that they can sometimes have. He is a treasure.
posted by blurker at 10:06 AM on December 21, 2015

Honestly your biggest concern should be making sure you have adequate browning not the final serving temp of your sprouts. timing and ensuring every item is hot at a potluck is a mess, which is why i prefer room temp-ok dishes or try to bring my own crock pot/warmer etc which sounds like is not on the table in your situation.

it sounds anal retentive as hell, but my go to sprout method involved heating the living hell out of a cast iron pan on the stove while the oven heats up (take your over to 425, dont blast the heat under the cast iron, medium high and a good 5-10 minutes of pre heating are what you want). once your cast iron is hotter than hell place the sprouts cut side down (cut them "vertically" in half, that is throught he root section not across their equators, as it were) on the well greased pan. DO NOT CROWN THEM EXCESSIVELY (only one layer) and LEAVE THEM ALONE. 5 minutes or less should give you the start of real good color. then stir and throw em in the oven for another 10-15 minutes until they are tender all the way through and browned on other sides (some may fall back on their cut sides after the tossing, this is fine).

finish with another sprinkling of salt and pepper (you should have seasoned them on their way into the pan) and, if youre me, throw in some rehydrated dry cherries (or maybe currants to go with your mini-theme) and a couple tablespoons of sherry vinegar so you have some sweet and sour to offset your browned, salty, and cruciferous tastes.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 10:21 AM on December 21, 2015 [3 favorites]

the procedure above may need to be repeated more than once if you only have one skillet and are feeding 10 people. i would gladly serve the above dish hours later at room temp.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 10:22 AM on December 21, 2015

par-boil and shock them at home, and then brown them in a skillet with the fat of your choice when ready to serve.

I don't like the texture of reheated roasted b-sprouts. Also you'll be able to serve them whole this way making them look even more mini-cabbage-y
posted by JPD at 10:23 AM on December 21, 2015

Oh don't roast them whole, cut them in half and make sure the cut half is in the (lots of) fat.
posted by mskyle at 10:27 AM on December 21, 2015 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: This is all insanely helpful! I am new at cooking but not at all new at over-worrying the small details of everything, so I appreciate all the super-specific tips! I am leaning toward the skillet method. I realize in addition to a cast iron skillet, we also have a largeish lighter non-stick pan. Could I use that so I can cook more sprouts at once? Or do I really want to just use the cast iron pan? Also - how many sprouts would you cook in this situation? I am guessing maybe 75 sprouts for ten people? (There will be salad, I think, but no other veg...)
posted by ManInSuit at 10:29 AM on December 21, 2015

Unless you love counting things id think of the volume you will need to buy/cook in terms of weight/volume more than count. The USDA says a serving of brussels sprouts is 1c or 88 grams. they dont measure super neatly and id be inclined to round that up to say 100g or 4 oz. so for 10 people you'd want between 2.5 and 3lbs of sprouts (there are 16oz in a lb).
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 10:34 AM on December 21, 2015

If you're going that route, you want cast iron only. Nonstick isn't as good for getting the browning you want, and is also unsafe to transfer to the oven.

I'm cooking ahead for Christmas (so I can do the bulk of the cooking at the restaurant), and my brussels are getting halved, blanched (cooked about 2 min in hard boiling salted water, then shocked in an ice bath), then roasted with smoked bacon, olive oil, and a bit of sherry vinegar. Chill, reheat in a warm oven for 20 minutes the next day. Any temperature over about 200F will be hot enough.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 10:36 AM on December 21, 2015

I vote roasting in the oven and bringing in a covered dish. I also agree you don't need to reheat them, they are delicious as is. I toss them in olive oil, sprinkle fresh ground pepper and salt on, and roast them whole in a casserole dish. 30 minutes or so at 400 degrees? Poke them periodically to see that they get soft throughout. If you have time a trial run is good, but I think it's a pretty easy dish (and I'm no experienced cook).
posted by JenMarie at 10:42 AM on December 21, 2015

Like maybe ten sprouts per person?

No way, more like 3 per person, 5 if you're being generous and think they will be delicious (so everyone wants them). I like sprouts and have never eaten even close to ten in one sitting, and lots of people are ambivalent about them.

Personally I'd roast them and reheat in a pan. We reheat our leftovers the day after and they're fine. Cooking from scratch in the pan is also good. You could cook them in two batches if necessary. The trick is to use salt and some good olive oil for roasting and add chopped up bacon before you roast them. Bacon makes everything delicious.
posted by shelleycat at 10:56 AM on December 21, 2015

If your sprouts are small maybe six or seven. Even delicious sprouts are strong, a big serving with no other vege isn't a great idea.
posted by shelleycat at 11:00 AM on December 21, 2015

I cut them in half, par boil them for 4-6 minutes and then pan fry them in butter until the are browned on the exposed flesh. Pretty simple and easy and always tasty.
posted by grumpybear69 at 11:38 AM on December 21, 2015 [1 favorite]

My roommate likes to heat up frozen Brussels spouts in a pan on the stove. Maybe I'm weird but I like them much better than roasted because they come out very tender that way. She also buys the kind of come with bacon bits to mix in at the end, so that may have something to do with it.
posted by shponglespore at 11:44 AM on December 21, 2015

Ruthless Bunny : "easy to mess up"? How? Now you have me worried. :)

I'm going to put mini-cabbages in the Bunny's mouth: Brussels sprouts are very hard to mess up, and I'm sure that's what she meant. Just cook them until brown. You're going to be fine.
posted by Dashy at 11:48 AM on December 21, 2015

Agreed with all that oven-roasting and re-heating is completely fine and will be delicious, but just in case you do decide that you want a stovetop option, I'll recommend Orangette's brussels sprouts braised in cream, which are a truly insane kind of delicious, and very, very easy.
posted by dizziest at 11:59 AM on December 21, 2015

I love roasted Brussel sprouts, and I don't think they're hard to pull off well. (Seriously, they're one of my favorite foods, and I'm not much of a veggie lover, in general.)

In my opinion, the key is that you want them very browned, almost caramelized, on the outside, but still nice and soft on the inside. If you cook them too high heat, they will brown outside but stay too hard inside. Too low, and you get mush without the browning.

What I do: After you wash them, cut off the stem end, pull off the loose and/or discolored outer leaves (but just the outer layer; don't start ripping off a bunch of layers of leaves). Definitely cut them in half. It helps them brown better, and also helps you avoid the problem of browning on the outside but not getting soft enough on the inside.

I always cook my Brussel sprouts in the oven (more set it and forget it then stove top and best for large quantities). I pour some olive oil on a sheet pan, and if I'm feeling fancy, I'll use a pastry brush to distribute it evenly. Then, I throw the Brussel sprouts on the pan and roll them around to get them coated in oil. I also sprinkle them with kosher salt, and I throw in some peeled garlic cloves.

(Use two pans or cook in batches if needed. You don't want to overcrowd the pan because it might keep them from browning as effectively.)

I would say 400 is a good rough temperature to start with, although this is very much ymmv. Personally, I usually start at slightly higher heat, then turn down the heat a bit once they're browned enough but maybe not cooked all the way through. The good news, if you keep an eye on them, and poke them with a fork occasionally to judge interior doneness, you'll be fine. Just be prepared to make temperature adjustments as you go.

You could probably get away with having them slightly underdone since you'll be re-heating them. I agree with others that stove top or in the oven should be fine. I frequently re-heat roasted Brussel sprouts in the microwave and they're still pretty darn good, but for a dinner party I would probably avoid this if possible.

If they're on the large size, I would estimate 3-4 per person. If they're on the smaller size, go for 5-7 per person.
posted by litera scripta manet at 12:05 PM on December 21, 2015 [1 favorite]

This recipe is foolproof. I agree that you should reheat the sprouts (and sauce) when you arrive.
posted by capricorn at 12:11 PM on December 21, 2015

If heating at home and then bringing to the party, newspaper is an excellent insulator. I had to make several dishes ahead of time for Thanksgiving, I covered the hot dishes with foil then lined an insulated grocery bag with folded newspapers. Everything was piping hot an hour and a half later.
posted by gryphonlover at 12:18 PM on December 21, 2015 [1 favorite]

Don't try to transport the brussel sprouts hot - they'll steam themselves mushy. Roast them at home, but leave yourself enough time to let them cool off once they've fully cooked, and then reheat in your host's oven.
posted by oh yeah! at 1:11 PM on December 21, 2015 [1 favorite]

I am new to brussels sprouts and I made them at a dinner party recently, in a skillet, and they turned out pretty great. I chopped them in half, and then I got my skillet nice and hot with olive oil and threw in half of my sprouts to start. I seasoned them with salt and pepper and added some butter for good measure, and once those were nice and browned, I set them aside temporarily in a bowl. Then I did the same with the rest of them, and when they were browned, I reintroduced the rest into the skillet (note - my skillet has nice high sides, if yours is shallow, maybe try doing this in a cast iron dutch oven or the like). So next, I added a small splash of water to get some steam to soften them up, maybe just 2 tbsp, and added more butter, and then my flavour, which was some Worcestershire, four cloves of garlic, maple syrup, some red wine vinegar, and towards the end I added some chopped pralines. They were definitely a hit, and even if they weren't crispy-crisp like some people seem to prefer, they were flavourful, nicely seared, and softened nicely by the steam. It wasn't too hard too pull off either.
posted by to recite so charmingly at 2:16 PM on December 21, 2015

If you really want to make these at the dinner party, you don't need the oven at all. I'm gonna be lazy and quote myself:

Trim stalks and halve (maybe cut any extra-large ones smaller). Toss in just enough olive oil to give them a light sheen. Brown in a heavy pot over high heat, stirring once in a while to achieve more dark spots. Throw in a few tablespoons of water, cover, and lower heat. Cook over low heat until fork-tender (not too long!). Add salt of choice, fresh-cracked pepper to taste.

Now, you might object that they won't be crispy, but in my opinion Brussels sprouts leaves are too thin and tiny, and taste like wax paper when crisped. It's the roasty caramelization that makes the dish so good. If you want crunch, add well-rendered bacon or toasted nuts or fried onions.
posted by zennie at 5:10 PM on December 21, 2015

On failure to preview, my recipe is a more basic version of the one above it. The main trick is to use a pot large enough that you don't steam the veg instead of browning, but then you need to be able to cover the pot to trap the burst of steam from the splash of water.
posted by zennie at 5:19 PM on December 21, 2015

My husband reminded me last night that we add pine nuts to our sprouts and bacon roasting mix. This adds a really nice crunch and nuttiness that offsets the caramelised sprouts really well. So that's what we're doing for Christmas this year anyway.

I just googled "brussel sprouts bacon" and read some recipes then did some kind of aproximate average of all of them. Don't overthink this too much, it will be very good even if you don't do everything perfectly. For example, if your non stick skillet is bigger and easier to use then use it. It really won't make that much of a difference (particularly since you won't be putting it in the oven at the end anyway). Just watch what you're doing, don't burn or undercook anything, and you'll be good.
posted by shelleycat at 1:58 AM on December 22, 2015