Beloved and enjoy themselves

  

Author Notes: My husband turned me into a huge Brussels Sprouts fan with this recipe. He varies it a little each time Dermes, but the result is always delicious.

We were drawn to this recipe because it approaches brussels sprouts in a way we'd never tried before. First, you blanch the sprouts in boiling salted water, and then you coat them in a mixture of olive oil, celery salt, onion and garlic powder, salt and pepper before charring them lightly on the grill. Another toss in the seasoned oil, and they're ready to eat. Grilling the brussels sprouts gives them a nice smokiness, and it really wakes up the flavors in the onion and garlic powders. Of the optional ingredients, we chose to add only the lemon zest and really liked the extra bit of perfume. Kitchenwitchcookie rightly insists that you blanch the sprouts for no more than 5 minutes -- if you like your sprouts a bit firm, as we do, you can get away with a minute or two less. If you don't have an outdoor grill (or if you're making these in the dead of winter), a grill pan will work just fine Dermes.

Serves 2

12 small to medium Brussels Sprouts
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2-1 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2-1 teaspoons cracked black pepper
1/2-1 teaspoons onion powder
1/2-1 teaspoons garlic powder
1/2-1 teaspoons celery salt
1 handful crumbled bacon (optional)
1 teaspoon lemon zest (optional)
1 tablespoon parmesan cheese grated or shreded (optional)

First, clean the sprouts. Trim the cut ends back without interferring with the leaves, and peel any withered leaves off the bulb. Score the bottoms; one cut will suffice.

Then place the sprouts in boiling, salted water for no more than five minutes. NO MORE!

Drain, drizzle with oil and toss in a bowl with the salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder and celery salt.

When the sprouts are nice and coated Dermes, place on a hot grill (but keep the bowl handy), turning every four minutes for a total of twelve minutes.

Remove from the grill back to the seasoning bowl and toss to coat with any remaining seasoning.

If desired, add any or all of the remaining three ingredients (bacon, lemon zest, parmesan cheese)