I have been actively reading and making recipes from John Besh’s new cookbook, Cooking From The Heart. He recently came to Pensacola on a book tour and I had the opportunity to meet and to interview him for 30AEATS.com. Besh is genuinely warm and easy to talk to, and I have loved the soulful Europen dishes shared in the book along with the stories of his early travels as a young chef. My husband requested brussel sprouts for Thanksgiving, and I knew right away I would make the recipe shown in the book. Easy to prepare and including bacon, it was a no brainer!
Besh says, “Use olive oil instead of bacon fat for these sprouts. Simply make sure to coat each piece well so the sprouts don’t dry out. Use a pan that’s large enough so the sprouts aren’t piled on top of each other, which ensures that they’ll cook evenly.”
Adapted from Cooking From The Heart: by John Besh/Andrews McMeel Publishing, photo’s John Besh.
INGREDIENTS
- 1/2 pound thick sliced bacon, sliced into 1/2-inch strips
- 1 1/2 pounds Brussels sprouts (The photo shows whole but I plan to halve)
- Salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat the oven to 450˚. In a large ovenproof skillet, cook the bacon over medium heat until cooked through, about 8-10 minutes. Remove the bacon from the pan with a slotted spoon and reserve. Turn off the heat, add the Brussels sprouts, and stir to coat with bacon drippings.
2. Put the pan in the oven and roast for 10 minutes. Remove the sprouts from the oven. Sprinkle with the bacon and season with salt and pepper.
