It's that time of year

[Audio Al]

Fill yer boots everyone :D

Had my first of the season , YUM
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http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v240/bigboobs/sprout.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/bigboobs/media/sprout.jpg.html)


6 Mins max , dont over cook them :)

[Wakefield Turntables]

YUK! I only eat them at Xmas. ;)

[The Black Adder]

they give me really wind... Paaarp!

Nice though..

Nearly time to harvest magic mushrooms too!... lol

[Barry]

Thanks for the reminder Al.

Yes, it's time to start cooking the sprouts for Christmas Day lunch, so they will perfect! :lol:

[Marco]

Al (A.K.A ’the fartmeister’), no wonder your arse is always rife!! :D

Marco/

[Marco]

Nearly time to harvest magic mushrooms too!... lol

Now yer talkin’… I’m going up the fields later, armed with some crisp bags! :eyebrows:

Marco.

[struth]

I'll pretend I didn't read that:lol:

As for sprouts. They make me chuck!

[CageyH]

Sprouts taste better uncooked.

[Audio Al]

Sprouts taste better uncooked.


You mean Lion sprouts ? RAWWWWW :D

[Audio Al]

YUK! I only eat them at Xmas. ;)

Why eat them at all , choose a veg you like maybe ?

[Wakefield Turntables]

Why eat them at all , choose a veg you like maybe ?

Its a family tradition in which i have 2 sprouts plonked on my Xmas dinner plate (DONT ASK!!!), its my attempt at being seasonal. :(

[walpurgis]

Nearly time to harvest magic mushrooms too!... lol

I said that last week. Nobody noticed.

[Gordon Steadman]

We had the first out of the garden three weeks ago. Huge bloody great things more like mini cabbages. I hate to think how big they are going to be by christmas.

I think Ronnie must have been putting the horse sh.... manure on the wrong plot, the roses seem a bit underdeveloped. Still, she knows what she is doing - she tells me.

[walpurgis]

6 Mins max , dont over cook them :)

Well I like sprouts 'melt in the mouth' soft. Same with Asparagus.

[Gordon Steadman]

Well I like sprouts 'melt in the mouth' soft. Same with Asparagus.

Yeah, my mum used to overcook them too:ner:

No green veg should be cooked soft - so says I. Boil all the goodness out and ruin the flavour. How dare you consider eating sprouts in a different way to me anyway?

[Audio Al]

No green veg should be cooked soft - so says I. Boil all the goodness out and ruin the flavour. How dare you consider eating sprouts in a different way to me anyway?


:rfl::youtheman:

[walpurgis]

Back in the fifties and sixties, you'd have been ridiculed for serving 'Al dente' vegetables. It's only so called 'Nouvelle cuisine' that has led to this fad for crunchy veg!! So there!!! :ner: :ner:

[Gordon Steadman]

Back in the fifties and sixties, you'd have been ridiculed for serving 'Al dente' vegetables. It's only so called 'Nouvelle cuisine' that has led to this fad for crunchy veg!! So there!!! :ner: :ner:

I'll 'ave you know that I'm a Gordon Blue chef so I know what's what. Sloppy, slimy overcooked veg has nothing do with fashion and everything to do with retaining flavour and a vitamin or two.

So there to you doubled:ner::ner::ner::ner:

Oh and I suppose I could allow its just possible for people to disagree with me about this one little thing:cool:




Even if they are wrong.........:eyebrows:

[Roy S]

Well I like sprouts 'melt in the mouth' soft. Same with Asparagus.

Probably healthier chucking the veg away & drinking the water :D

[jandl100]

they give me really wind... Paaarp!


yeah :( - my wife loves sprouts and suffers from the same problem. :doh: :lol:

[brian2957]

Yup one of my favourite veggies . They're absolutely perfect when cooked in an electric steamer . Had a big plateful last night and the wife had to suffer the consequences . :lol:

[Andrei]

Can somebody tell me where the hell the name Brussel Sprouts comes from. They are not exclusive to the EU or Brussels or Russels or whatever. With a parsnip between a pair it looks like an albino has got gangrene in the goolies.

[Joe]

Can somebody tell me where the hell the name Brussel Sprouts comes from.

Google is your friend:

http://www.foodtimeline.org/foodfaq.html#brussels

Brussels sprouts
The general consensus of the food historians is that Brussels sprouts were first propagated in northern Europe sometime between the 17th and 18th century. Ancient/Classical Mediterranean claims are unclear and not documented to the satisfaction of scholars. Presumably they are based on the fact that cabbages, from which Brussels sprouts originated, were grown in this place/period. Notes here:
"Brusssels sprouts...Members of the cabbage family that descended from the cabbage (Brassica oleracea) and were named for the capital of Belgium, Brussels sprouts are immature buds shaped line tiny cabbages...Although the cabbage is native to the Mediterranean region (where it has been cultivated for some 2,500 years), Brussels sprouts were developed in northern Europe (the cabbage was carroed there by the Romans) around the fifth century--or prehaps even later. One source claims that the plant was cultivated near Brussels in the thirteenth century; another places the first recorded description of Brussels sprouts in 1587; still another claims that they have been widely grown in Europe only since the seventeeth century; wheras at least one more source insists that they have become popular in Europe only since World War I. Of course, these claims are not necessarily contradictory. Brussels sprouts reached North America with French settlers, who grew them in Louisiana, but they have been popular in the United States only during the twentieth century."
---Cambridge World History of Food, Kenneth F. Kiple & Kriemhild Conee Ornelas [Cambridge Universtiy Press:Cambridge] 2001, Volume Two (p. 1738-9)

"Brussels Sprouts, Brassica oleracea, Gemmifera group, a many-headed subspecies of the common cabbage. The main head never achieves more than a straggly growth while many miniature head buds grow around the stem...Some authors have referred to the possibility that they were known in classical times, and cite stray references from Brussels in the 13th century and documents about wedding feasts of the Burgundian court at Lille in the 15th century. However, sprouts only became known in French and English gardens at the end of the 18th century and a little later in N. America, where Thomas Jefferson planted some in 1812."
---Oxford Companion to Food, Alan Davidson [Oxford University Press:Oxford] 1999 (p. 110)

"The cabbage is the oldest of the edible varieties of vegetables which provided inspiration for the gatherers in their plant-hunting and their culinary creativity...The magic of cultivation has now created some 400 varieties...Brussels sprouts gown ever since the seventeenth century for the little buds sprouting from the stem..."
---History of Food, Maguelonne Toussaint-Samat, translated by Anthea Bell [Barnes & Noble Books:New York] 1992 (p. 690-1)

"Firmly ensconced as they now are, brussels sprouts...seem to be a comparatively recent addition to the British table. The first recorded reference to them comes in Charles Marshall's Plain and Easy Introduction to Gardening (1796), and their description ('Brussels sprouts are winter greens growing much like borrcole [kale]') suggests that they may first have been valued for the tuft of leaves at the top of their tall thick stem rather than the small green buttons growing up it...The first cookery writer to mention them seems to have been Eliza Acton, who in her Modern Cookery (1845) gives directions for cooking and serving them in 'the Belgian mode', boiled and with melted butter poured over them. But why brussels sprouts? They seem always to have been popular in Flanders and northern France, and market regulations for the Brussels area as long ago as 1213 mention them, but when the name was actually conferred on them is not clear."
---An A to Z of Food and Drink, John Ayto [Oxford University Press:Oxfod] 2002 (p. 44-5)

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the earliest print reference to Brussels Sprouts appears in 1796. The fact that these compact cabbages were known prior to this time means they were likely called something else. While Eliza Acton gets the credit for publishing the first English language recipe, we wonder if Hannah Glasse beat her to the punch.

[1747]
"To dress Cabbages, &s.
Cabbage, and all Sorts of young Sprouts must be boiled in a great deal of Water. When the Stalks are tender, or fall to the Bottom, they are enough; then take them off, before they lose their Colour. Always throw Salt into your Water before you put your Greens in. Young Sprouts you send to Table just as they are, but Cabbage is best chop'd and put into a Sauce-pan with a good Piece of Butter, stirring it for about five or six Minutes till the Butter is all melted, and then sent it to Table."
---The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy, Hannah Glasse, facsimile 1747 edition with introductory eessays bu Jennifer Steadaand PRicislla Bain, a Glossary by Alan Davidson [Prospect Books:Devon] 1995 (p. 10)
[1845]
"Brussels Sprouts.
These delicate little sprouts, or miniature cabbages, which at their fullest growth scarcely exceed a large walnut in size, should be quite freshly gathered. Free them from all discoloured leaves, cut the stems even, and wash the sprouts thorougly. Throw them into a pan of water properly salted, and boil them quickly from eight to ten minutes; drain them well, and serve them upon a rather thick round of toasted bread buttered on both sides. Send good melted butter to table with them. This is the Belgian mode of dressing this excellent vegetables, which is served in France with the sauce poured over it, or it is tossed in a stewpan with a spice of butter and some pepper and salt; a spoonful or two of veal gravy (and sometimes a little lemon-juice) is added when these are perfectly mixed. 9 to 10 minutes."
---Modern Cookery for Private Families, Eliza Acton, facsimile 1845 edition with an introduction by Elizabeth Ray [Southover Press:East Sussex] 1993 (p. 291)

[Gordon Steadman]

Yup one of my favourite veggies . They're absolutely perfect when cooked in an electric steamer . Had a big plateful last night and the wife had to suffer the consequences . :lol:

Aha, must try that. We always do the rice in the steamer but for some reason, it never occurs to me to do the veg in it too:scratch:

[Barry]

Aha, must try that. We always do the rice in the steamer but for some reason, it never occurs to me to do the veg in it too:scratch:

I steam all vegetables, apart from root vegetables: carrots, parsnips, swede, turnips and potatos. In gereral anything green is steamed: beans, peas, leeks cabbage, cauliflower, roberta, asparagus and brocolli - as well as sweetcorn.

[Beobloke]

I steam all vegetables, apart from root vegetables: carrots, parsnips, swede, turnips and potatos.

I steam all these as well. Except parsnips, obviously, becuse they are the work of Satan and have no place in a kitchen or, especially, on a dinner plate.

Talking of "that time of year", I notice my local Co-Op has mince pies in stock now, which has made me absolutely furious. Not because of the pies, but because they have NO brandy cream to go with them and undoubtedly won't until December. Absolute sacrilege...

:steam:

[struth]

Roasted Parsnips in honey are great...Parboiled first of course.Nice with yams as well

[struth]

Can somebody tell me where the hell the name Brussel Sprouts comes from. They are not exclusive to the EU or Brussels or Russels or whatever. With a parsnip between a pair it looks like an albino has got gangrene in the goolies.

They are supposed to have originated there I believe. The Belgians love 'em apparently.....another reason to leave the EU:eyebrows:

[Gordon Steadman]

I steam all these as well. Except parsnips, obviously, becuse they are the work of Satan and have no place in a kitchen or, especially, on a dinner plate.

Talking of "that time of year", I notice my local Co-Op has mince pies in stock now, which has made me absolutely furious. Not because of the pies, but because they have NO brandy cream to go with them and undoubtedly won't until December. Absolute sacrilege...

:steam:

Ha!! Parsnips are great. Having a pro gardner for a wife has certain advantages food wise.

Mincemeat is made here fresh and you have reminded me that Christmas puds need to be done too:eek:

Our local supermarket has just had a delivery of mincemeat!!! It'll be gone by tomorrow. It was the difficulty in getting it here that prompted me to make some and its a different thing entirely. We have lots of brandy in France though (well, Cognac is near enough for me) and several cows.

[Yomanze]

I use use a sieve that is big enough to straddle a pot, fill up a few cm of boiling water, cover and voila a homemade steamer that works just as well as the dedicated ones. I like steaming curly kale for 10 or so minutes with chopped onions and garlic, with a knob of butter broken up and put on top for it to melt through.