No, you don’t download this baby on your phone, it’s strictly for your belly.
‘Tis the season for potlucks and office parties and gatherings of all sorts. So here’s an easy, in season, appetizer you can trot out easily and quickly. Seriously, it has two main ingredients outside of cooking spray and pepper. You’ll need a cast-iron pan or foil and any oven-proof pan with a roasting rack. If you read any of my recipes, you’ll know that I love cooking with Cast Iron. Prefer it, actually. Lastly, tooth picks. Don’t get the kind with the plastic thrills because the toothpicks go in the oven.
How much you make is really up to you. Each slice of bacon will cover two halves of one Brussels sprouts. This makes two bite-size portions. So, decide how many guests you’re feeding and make sure you have about four bites, at least, for each guest. For me, I just fill it until my cast-iron pan is full. Leftover bacon or Brussels sprouts can always be used in another recipe down the road.
The easiest way to grease the pan for the oven is with cooking spray, but you could rub olive oil on the pan or a stick of butter. I would avoid using bacon grease or lard in this recipe because of it may overpower the sprouts.
I always eyeball the bacon piece center to the top of the dome of the sprout and allow the ends of the strip to meet at the bottom of the sprout. Some may overlap. Don’t stress on it. Makes it nice and neat for plating if you decide to plate your appetizer instead of eating out of the cast-iron pan. I have a country kitchen. We’re not afraid to serve our food in the pot.
Depending on the size of your sprouts, you might want to check on these at 20 minutes of roasting. We like ours a bit crispier and I’ve been known to keep them in for 35 minutes.
Even picky people seem to like this one. You won’t make the vegetarians happy, but next week, I’ll provide an appetizer recipe if you have vegetarians coming to your holiday gathering.
Equipment:
Cast-iron pan — or foil-wrapped oven-proof pan with roasting rack
Plain wooden toothpicks
Ingredients:
Bacon slices, cut in half horizontally
Brussels Sprouts, fresh, with ends trimmed and cut in half.
Pepper to Taste
Cooking spray
Directions:
Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Spray your cast iron with a coating of cooking spray. Wrap bacon piece around each Brussels sprout half and secure with wooden pick. Place sprouts cut-side down on in the pan. Sprinkle with fresh-ground pepper to taste. Bake in oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until bacon is crisp and Brussels sprouts are tender.
Serve immediately.
[…] week we are visited by the two of Pentacles. We cook up some Bacon-Sprouts appetizers. We visit with the Aquarian Tabernacle Church. We get the download on the upload of the new moon […]