Swedish Bachelor Farmer’s Brussel Sprouts

We once had a Swedish bachelor farmer for a neighbor. He was the one to introduce me to brussel sprouts.

His huge field adjoined  ours.  Every year he would get on his tractor and plow his field- for days up and down, over and over.  The first year and even the second we were duped into thinking he was getting ready for planting but year after year the field lay fallow.

Leaving our property, we would wave to Swen as we passed him, on his tractor, plowing always plowing.

One year we finally asked him if he was going to plant something. “No.”

“Why do you plow your field every year?”

“It’s good for the soil.”

That was it; it was good for the soil which would never ever grow a crop.  Swedish bachelor farmers are a different sort of neighbor.  He saved, in his house, every single newspaper he had ever received and also let his hundreds of cats live amongst the newspapers in his house.  Swen slept on the back porch, even in winter.

But back to the brussel sprouts.  Swen Humpla never planted in his huge field but he did have a small fall garden out his back door and one of the things he grew was brussel sprouts which he proudly showed us one day as we were trekking past his house for our 1/2 mile walk up to our mail box and would we like to have some?

I had never seen such a thing, weird miniature cabbages growing like barnacles up a stock.  Not to be rude, I thought we should accept them and then take them home and throw them out in our big field to help the soil.

That was not to be.  Andrew was ecstatic over these green gnarled balls and made quick work of getting them off the stem.  He then went on to wax lyrical about the beauty of these green things and how to keep that bright green color; it was essential to add baking soda to the water when boiling them and heaven forbid you boil these dainties too long and they become mushy.  Mind you, I grew up with a dad who thought eating anything besides corn from a can was adventurous so what did I know?  And Andrew was very excited about this supposed vegetable so maybe they would be palatable.

They were fairly good so whenever I wanted to make Andrew’s day, I could always buy brussel sprouts and boil them up with baking soda and all his cares would slip away.

So, very proudly this past week I, yes me not Andrew, came up with a new recipe for the once suspect now beloved brussel sprouts.  And it turned out well.

I would recommend it with your Thanksgiving dinner for a little variety and color.

1.  Trim stem ends and halve about 2 lbs. brussel sprouts.

2.  Place in a oven proof dish and drizzle lots (1/4 C.) of olive oil over the sprouts (they are a very thirsty vegetable)

3.  Add 1/2 Cup chopped pecans, 1 tsp. large chunk salt (you know I mean Maldon salt) and 1/2 tsp. cracked pepper and toss together.

4.  Bake in 350º oven for 20-30 minutes.

5.  Remove from oven and add a knob of butter and lightly toss.

6.  Serve promptly or place in a warming drawer until ready to serve.