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Easy cheesy Brussels sprout gratin

by Jeanne Horak on December 14, 2012 15 Comments in Christmas, Vegetable side dishes, Vegetarian

Sprout gratin title © J Horak-Druiff 2012

 

**STOP PRESS** The Randomizer.org has spoken and chosen the winner of the Bluebasil gourmet brownies giveaway – and the winner is EMMA  HOWARD! Congratulations, Emma – we will be in touch soon via e-mail to arrange for delivery of your prize! **

Over the summer, I spent a weekend in Paris and met up with my good friend Val who lives there.  After a morning in the Orsay Museum, we met up with Val and her other half Pete for a lovely lunch in a bistro near the Saint Sulpice church and then tried to decide what to do after lunch.  The menfolk were keen to find a bar to watch rugby (I mean, what else could you want to do on a summer afternoon in Paris?!) and Val and I were less enthusiastic, so we said we would go sightseeing.  As the boys disappeared around the corner, we made a beeline for the Marché Saint Germain where we could see a number of stalls selling scarves, antiques and jewellery.  At the very first stall, my eyes alighted on a beautiful amethyst ring.  “Go on – try it on!”, said Val. “No, I can’t”, I replied, “Nick will kill me if I buy yet another ring!”. “Well, just trying it can’t hurt, right?” wheedled Val. And so I tried it, and it not only looked like a million bucks, it also fitted like Cinderella’s proverbial slipper.   And before I knew what I was doing, I was handing over the cash… just as Nick appeared behind me like some sort of avenging anti-shopping angel, saying “So this is how you do sightseeing, huh?!”.  And before I could answer him, Val turned to him, smiled sweetly and said: “What can I say – I am an enabler.”

 

Brussels sprouts © J Horak-Druiff 2012

 

Enablers get a bad rap. If you look up “enabler” in the dictionary, the meaning you will most often find runs along the lines of “one who enables another to persist in self-destructive behaviour by providing excuses or by helping that individual avoid the consequences of such behaviour”.  But before this negative meaning took centre stage, to enable also had a positive connotation, namely patterns of interaction which allow (or enable) individuals to develop and grow. When I was very young, my parents travelled to India for a conference.  They came back with some glorious temple rubbings and a number of exquisite silk scarves – which I still have.  They also came back with dire tales of being the only ones on the tour bus who were not constantly ill.  My father put this down not to the fact that they drank only Coca Cola from sealed tins for the duration of the trip while everyone else was on tap water, but to the fact that they had assiduously avoided all salad-like vegetables during their visit.  In fact, my father believed lettuce to  be the bearer of Many Bad Things – the veritable Beelzebub of the vegetable world. It is therefore safe to say that he stronglydiscouraged his children from indulging in this madness and rolled his eyes each time my mom made or ordered a salad, warning her of the dire consequences that awaited her.  I was quite happy to have a parent officially sanctioning avoidance of vegetables, of course. And then one day on holiday in Plettenberg Bay, my mom took the radical step of ordering our takeaway Cranzgots pizzas with a side order of cheese salad. Of course, I loved cheese and tried to scoop just the cheese out of the salad bowl but try as I might, the salad came with it. And so, to get at the cheese, I ate the salad, and I loved it – as did my dad.  To this day, I still adore salad – so you could say that cheese was the culinary enabler that unlocked my palate and allowed me to develop and grow into a salad-lover.

 

 

Brussels sprout gratin diptych © J Horak-Druiff 2012

 

In fact, the  more I thought about it, the more I could not think of a savoury dish that cannot be improved by the addition of some sort of cheese. And so with this theory uppermost in my mind, I started pondering whether cheese might not also be the enabler and catalyst  that could convert the legions of Brussels sprout haters at this time of the year to Brussels sprout lovers?  This recipe is not rocket science and you can dress it up a little if you like with bacon bits or wholegrain mustard or fancy cheeses – but I love the simple version which only has two secrets: don’t overcook the sprouts; and make sure there is a generous amount of cheese involved. The sprouts lose their horseradish-y tang and don’t have time to become mushy, and the contrast between their bechamel sauce blanket and the crispy topping is gloriously indulgent. This bake makes a wonderful addition to a Christmas dinner table, and  one that guests will be unable to resist.

Other Cooksister Brussels sprout recipes you might enjoy include:

  • Simple sauteéd Brussels sprouts
  • Sautéed Brussels sprouts with caramelised garlic, lemon and chilli
  • Shredded Brussels sprouts with pancetta and pine-nuts

 

Brussels sprout gratin final © J Horak-Druiff 2012

 

 

5.0 from 2 reviews
Brussels sprout gratin
 
Print
Prep time
15 mins
Cook time
20 mins
Total time
35 mins
 
This easy, cheesy Brussels sprout bake will convert even the most ardent of sprout haters!
Author: Jeanne Horak-Druiff
Recipe type: Vegetable side
Serves: 2-3
Ingredients
  • 500g Brussels sprouts (outer leaves trimmed and cut in half vertically)
  • 1 Tbsp butter
  • 1 Tbsp plain flour
  • 500ml single cream
  • pinch of nutmeg
  • salt to taste
  • ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
  • 75g grated mature Cheddar cheese
  • about ¼ cup panko breadcrumbs
Instructions
  1. Pre-heat the oven to 180C.
  2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a fast boil, then drop in the sprouts. Return to the boil and allow to boil for 3 minutes, then remove from heat immediately and drain well.
  3. In a heavy-bottomed pan, melt the butter, the stir in the flour and allow to cook for a few minutes.  Gradually add the cream and  stirring the saucepan rapidly after each addition. Keep stirring over medium heat until the sauce thickens. Add the nutmeg as well as salt to taste
  4. Tip the cooked Brussels sprouts into an ovenproof baking dish, pour over the sauce, then sprinkle the Cheddar evenly over the top and the crumbs on top of the Cheddar.
  5. Bake in the a preheated oven for 15-20 minutes until the gratin is bubbling at the edges and starting to turn golden brown on top.
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London Feb 2013 workshop badge

I will be teaching at an amazing 2 day Supperclub | Food Styling and Photography Workshop in London, together with the talented Meeta and  Sumayya, on 15 & 16 February 2013.  The workshop will include a hands-on food styling/photography workshop with Meeta, a session on overcoming the challenges of restaurant and low-light photography by ME(!), as well as a culinary tour led by Sumayya where participants will learn different cooking techniques used in the Indian/Pakistani kitchen, create some mouth-watering dishes, and indulge in an array tantalizing South-Asian street food.  Full details are available on Meeta’s blog – so do pop along and reserve your place now!

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  1. Jeff @ Cheeseburger says

    December 14, 2012 at 7:31 am

    This brussels sprout gratin recipe looks delicious. It just happened that I’m looking for recipes to add to my Christmas menu list.

    Reply
    • Jeanne says

      December 19, 2012 at 1:37 pm

      Well, look no further! I have a list of my Christmas recipe neatly arranged for your viewing pleausre right here: https://www.cooksister.com/wondering-what-to-make-for-christmas-dinner

      Reply
  2. Margot @ Coffee & Vanilla says

    December 14, 2012 at 12:13 pm

    I must try this for a change, looks yummy!
    We always just boil Brussels sprouts and then top them with breadcrumbs with melted butter, sugar and salt – Polish way 😉

    Reply
    • Jeanne says

      December 19, 2012 at 5:44 pm

      Breadcrumbs, butter and salt I get – but sugar?? Interesting! Might have to try that as a little experiment… 🙂

      Reply
  3. Rosa says

    December 14, 2012 at 5:50 pm

    The kind of gratin I love to make! Brussel sprouts are so delicious and extremely versatile. One of my favorite veggies.

    Cheers,

    Rosa

    Reply
    • Jeanne says

      December 19, 2012 at 5:29 pm

      I know – I simply don’t get it when people say they don’t like sprouts. There are *so* many ways you can do them, surely you can devise ONE that you like?!

      Reply
  4. Sylvie @ Gourmande in the Kitchen says

    December 15, 2012 at 4:49 am

    Okay that’s it I need to get myself some Brussels sprouts, I have had them on the brain lately but this did me in. I want to see that ring by the way, I’m always swayed by jewelry when I’m traveling.

    Reply
    • Jeanne says

      December 19, 2012 at 5:28 pm

      Oh Sylvie, you do inedeed need to make yourself this divine dish! Also, I posted a pic of the ring on Instagram especially for you yesterday – I added your handle so you can find it in your mentions 🙂

      Reply
  5. Sarah | Shine Food says

    December 17, 2012 at 9:51 pm

    Why, yes, I do believe this would win over any brussels sprouts disbelievers! Yum!

    We’re collecting holiday recipes for the Shine Supper Club and this would make a great contribution. Hope you’ll join us!

    Reply
  6. Meeta says

    December 19, 2012 at 7:02 am

    I absolutely adore brussel sprouts and am constantly looking for new ways to make them. i do not think I have ever had them as a gratin yet though. I also love the positive enablers — their effect is often liberation.

    Reply
    • Jeanne says

      December 19, 2012 at 5:19 pm

      Oh you have no idea just how enabling the cheese it in this dish – also the crispy panko, obviously! It’s thee perfect balance between virtue and vice! ;o)

      Reply
  7. Marianne Ward says

    May 8, 2013 at 5:43 pm

    I made these several times last winter for holiday pot luck dinners and special occasions. They are always outstanding and there is never anything leftover. I used to make these years ago and then forgot about them. Thank you for reminding me to bring them back.

    Reply
  8. Deena kakaya says

    September 28, 2013 at 12:02 pm

    Wowsers, I’ve not done sprouts like this before! Will now though. I make a stuffed Brussels sprouts curry, hope you’ll check it out on my site xxx

    Reply
  9. Kim McCulley says

    October 11, 2016 at 12:45 am

    Faranheit please.

    Reply
  10. Don says

    December 10, 2016 at 2:52 am

    Your recipe calls for single cream in the Brussel sprouts. What is single cream?

    Reply
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Jeanne Horak is a freelance food and travel writer; recipe developer and photographer. South African by birth and Londoner by choice, Jeanne has been writing about food and travel on Cooksister since 2004. She is a popular speaker on food photography and writing has also contributed articles, recipes and photos to a number of online and print publications. Jeanne has also worked with a number of destination marketers to promote their city or region. Please get in touch to work with her Read More…

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