Basically, i stole this recipe from my friend Jeff, but since he has too much taste to read me, he’ll never know and i can prance around calling it my own.
You’ll need:
A large, non-reactive frying pan with lid.
Two pounds of tight, little Brussels sprouts. If you can’t get little ones, use medium size ones and cut them in half. If you can’t get tight ones, wait until you can.
4 lemons. I love Meyers, but i think the additional sourness of Eurekas is called for here. Still, if you have a tree groaning with Meyers, they’ll work fine.
1/4 cup olive oil.
1/3 cup capers, with the liquid.
garlic cloves to taste, larger ones split in half.
First, catch your Brussels sprouts. I get mine from Lou Iacopi at the Ferry Plaza Farmers’ Market and they’re gorgeous this time of year – small and tight. Pull off the the outer leaves, especially the little ones around the stem and all loose ones. Trim the stem, but not so much that that leaves are about to fall off.
Saute them in the olive oil. Periodically gently stir them, or better yet, toss them with that little jerking motion you use for classic omlettes.
While the sprouts are cooking, cut the lemons into eighths, seed them, squeeze each into a bowl, and drop the rind in. Pour the capers and their liquid into the bowl with the lemons.
Here’s the prepped sprouts and the squeezed lemons and capers. And yes, i threw in a leftover lime this time.
When the sprouts have just started to brown, add the garlic cloves and continue cooking until the sprouts have browned.
Dump the bowl of lemons and capers into the pan, give it a quick stir, clap the lid on, and reduce the heat.
After 3 minutes, snatch a sprout out to test. They should be tender but, please, not mushy. Depending on how well you browned them, they may need as much as 5 minutes.
And no, i didn’t forget the salt. There’s enough in the capers.
This dish is a good one for a pot luck, as it can thrown into a covered casserole and reheated, especially if you didn’t overcook it.