We celebrated Thanksgiving this past weekend. This was our sixth Thanksgiving outside of the U.S.. Sometimes this fact makes me blue; Thanksgiving is my most favourite holiday. I love to cook up a huge feast for many, many people. Being in a new country (that doesn’t celebrate the holiday), not knowing many people, it can be tricky figuring out who to invite to dinner.
I settled on inviting our neighbours, Mike and Jude. I lovely couple of empty-nesters who have taken our large, loud brood under their wings and have quickly become honorary aunty and uncle to our girls. We also invited our friends, Claire and Aidan—also empty-nesters, also very kind to our family and also British aunties and uncles.
The first question I asked upon our guests’ arrival was this: ‘How do you feel about Brussels sprouts?’ All four gave me a unanimous ‘LOVE them!’
I felt a sense of relief knowing that I would not be responsible for eating the kilo of tiny cabbages myself...
The evening was grand. Very low-key. Lots of food, hours of stories told around the table followed by screams of laughter. The little girls were bounced on knees and the big girls were shown some astounding magic tricks involving coins and ears.
It felt like family.
At the end of the night, I was packing up doggy bags for everyone to take home some of the left-overs. I couldn’t help but point out to the Mister that of all the dishes I prepared, we had the fewest sprouts left, to which he responded, ‘Yes. I disliked these sprouts the least of any you’ve ever cooked.’
Well, I’ll take what I can get...
Brussels Sprouts in Lemon-Parmesan Cream
This is an incredibly easy recipe (takes no longer then cooking sprouts and buttering them) but taste extremely posh—really delicious!
1 kilo (2.2 pounds) Brussels sprouts, outer leaves and stalk end timed, then halved top to stalk end
Zest of 1 lemon, finely chopped
6 ounces (a heavy 150 grams) heavy cream
¼ cup (100-150 grams) Parmesan cheese, finely grated
Salt and pepper to taste
1) Simmer prepared sprouts in lots of salted water until just tender, about 5 minutes.
2) Drain well then pour in the lemon, cream and cheese. Taste and season with salt. Stir well to coat all sprouts, then cover to keep warm (this will also thicken the sauce). Serve hot.
Makes 6-8 very rich (and tasty) portions
1 comment:
Yummy. This sounds really good. I think I'll make it for Christmas dinner.
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