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Brussels Sprouts
Remove the wilted or yellow leaves from the sprouts; cut the stock close to the heads, and soak in cold water for an hour or more.
Planned tor a Drain well and empty them into boiling salted water, allowing one teaspoon of salt to two quarts of water. Boil rapidly for fifteen or twenty minutes, according to the size of the heads; when done, turn into a colander and pour cold water over the heads. Reheat in butter and seasoning or in cream sauce.
A plain boil-and-refresh method that still works, with one number worth adjusting. The line "Planned tor a" is stray type from the original page and belongs to nothing.
- The hinge: cooking timeFifteen to twenty minutes will leave the sprouts grey and sulphurous. Small heads need about 5 minutes in fast-boiling water, large ones 7 to 9; test with a knife tip at the base, which should meet slight resistance.
- "Cut the stock close to the heads"Stock here means the stalk end. Trim it flush rather than deep, so the outer leaves stay attached and the sprout holds together.
- The hour's soakCold soaking was commonly recommended for field-grown sprouts, often to dislodge insects, though this recipe gives no reason. With supermarket sprouts a rinse is enough, though a short cold soak does revive limp ones.
- Salt ratioOne teaspoon to two quarts is light by modern standards. A tablespoon per two quarts seasons the sprouts as they cook and is closer to current practice.
- The cold waterPouring cold water over the drained heads stops the cooking and sets the colour. Do it only if you are reheating later; if serving at once, drain and dress straight away.
- Reheating in butterToss the drained sprouts in foaming butter over fairly high heat until the edges take a little colour, then salt and pepper. Cream sauce means a thin béchamel, about 1 tablespoon each butter and flour to a cup of milk.
- YieldThe original gives no quantity. Reckon about 1 lb of sprouts for four as a side dish, and more if they are the main vegetable at the table.
Brussels sprouts take their name from the region around Brussels, where they are generally traced to market gardens of the sixteenth or seventeenth century; they reached American seed catalogues in the nineteenth. The instruction to boil hard, refresh in cold water, and finish separately in butter or cream sauce is the standard vegetable procedure of the period: it let a cook prepare vegetables in advance of service and reheat them to order. The long boiling time reflects larger, coarser field sprouts and their lasting reputation for smelling of the schoolroom.