Pre preparing sprouts.

Some good ideas here. Thank you all. I have Sainsbury's frozen ones in the freezer which are ok, but wanted to do something better for Christmas day.

We are a family of brussel sprout lovers. I buy at leats three large stalks of sprouts to see the seven of us through the Christmas season. Anexpensive way to buy sprouts, but it keeps them fresh over the holiday period, otherwise I buy them loose.

Gwyllt

I make dogs food from fresh ingredients
Callistemon21 if by consiquences you mean farting they were fine cos used to veg and I give them sprout trimmings when we eat them

Yes, and Brussells sprouts can be very moving 😁

One of our dogs loved root vegetables, carrots, swede etc, he would sit by my feet at the kitchen sink when I was peeling, hoping to catch any bits that dropped.

Ladyleftfieldlover

All this adding bacon, chestnuts or whatever to Brussels to make them palatable… I’d rather just have the bacon and chestnuts and chuck the Brussels in the bin!

So would I, but some in the family love them including DH. They also go mad for red cabbage which I detest so I buy M&S quickly decant and get rid of the container. It takes hours and stinks the kitchen and house out for days.

Cook red cabbage in advance in the oven or in a slow cooker. Shut the kitchen door to the rest of the house and turn the oven hood on. Possibly go out and meet friends for coffee or some therapeutic shopping (should such a thing exist)

Shove in the freezer and reheat on the big day.

We cook red cabbage outside, in a slow cooker.

I ask dd1 to make ours!!

I've got a recipe for roasted sprouts that I might try.

Someone used to insist that sprouts tasted rubbish until after the first frost, so uncooked sprouts always go into the freezer as soon as I buy them. I've never found them bitter.

Chardy In recent decades sprouts have been selectively bred to be less bitter, so I think you are unlikely to buy sprouts with a bitter taste these days.

Chardy

Someone used to insist that sprouts tasted rubbish until after the first frost, so uncooked sprouts always go into the freezer as soon as I buy them. I've never found them bitter.

Actually, my Mum always said that, I'm not sure if she meant frozen solid or just tinged with frost, as there weren't freezers in households in those days.

I usually cook on the day, but last week we tried a pack from Aldi with pancetta, butter and some sort of glaze. I’ll be buying them again, when I can find them. They must have been very popular.

They sound good, Molly, Were they frozen or fresh.

There were loads of packs of reduced sprouts in our Waitrose yesterday. I was tempted to buy them and freeze, but I can't risk any disasters on Christmas Day.

Frozen kittylester. I don’t usually buy frozen sprouts, but they looked tempting.

Thanks, guess where I am going later!

Chardy

Someone used to insist that sprouts tasted rubbish until after the first frost, so uncooked sprouts always go into the freezer as soon as I buy them. I've never found them bitter.

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In my innocence, I thought that sprouts, like sugar beet, weren't harvested until the first frost had got them, as the freezing converted the sugar in them. The same process that makes potatoes inedible if left in the earth when the frost comes.

Callistemon21

I'm 😲 wondering what the consequences were of the dogs eating all those sprouts, Gwyllt 😁

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I was wondering about the dogs' reaction to being rinsed off.

Do people still put bicarb in the "green water" lkke my mother used to?

No,no,no,no,no. Bicarb was used to restore colour when cabbage was boiled for 20 minutes or more. Bicarb also reduces the vitamin contentof the cabbage.

Nowadays, cabbage is cooked only for minutes, and bicarb is not necessary.

I do not think anyone does it these days.

I dont know why youre all saying put them on now? Is that a joke on them needing a long time to cook🤔

I thought bicarb was only for dried mushy peas? They used to have a white tablet of it in the packet?

Yes tinged with frost- the first frost of winter- meaning for when to be picked.

I know that the bicarb was an old-fashioned thing. My mother always used it and it did make the cabbage and other greens a lovely colour and improved the taste. I achieve the same effect by putting them in ice cold water straight out of the saucepan (watch them change colour!) and then keeping them warm with a bit of butter.

As well as adding chestnuts at that stage, I also have a recipe where you add seedless white grapes instead. Just toss in butter with the sprouts for a bit. Looks and tastes nice with the roast.

I've never understood the need to shred sprouts and toss them in a frying pan with all sorts of spices. They have their own taste and don't need "enhancing". In fact. I like to nibble any left over whole cooked sprouts straight out of the fridge. Like little sweets.

The few people in our family who will eat them are happy having them roasted. I just just drizzle them with oil, season well and chuck in the oven for 20 mins ish

We love our sprouts, already had them a few times this month, we prepare them (and everything else) Christmas Eve then just 5 mins simmer on the big day, I don't think the texture is good if frozen