In a couple hours I’m going to be doing a reverse sear on some nice ribeyes. I also want to roast some brussel sprouts with olive oil. The problem is this: the sprouts need a high temperature in the oven (around 400) and the steaks need it low (something like 250).
Both dishes will suffer if not served immediately after they are ready.
Anyone have an idea how the sprouts will turn out if I let them cook low with the steak and then crank up the heat during the rest/sear portion of the steak cooking? My thought is that I’ll only succeed in drying out my veggies.
Boy, I dunno. Seems to me doing it the way your propose would cook the brussel sprouts without giving them the high temp sear that would caramelize them without totally destroying the veggie’s structure.
Even broiling already cooked veggies doesn’t seem like it would do the trick.
Maybe the two techniques are mutually exclusive. Sorry.
I would do the sprouts in the skillet the way billfish suggests. They’ll come out better than roasted. The par boil idea is interesting, maybe steaming them instead, not long before you turn up the heat for the sear.
Parboiled is just an ugly step child of boiled IMO.
Spouts have a nice nutty flavor. Carmelizing/burning them a bit just brings out the flavor. Do what I said (damnit! ) to give them the carmelization, then do some final cooking on the grill to “finish” cooking them and/or give them the on the grill smoky flavor.
The advantage of this is that you can control the first part if you just check the pieces as they cook face down. Looks too low? Turn the heat up a bit. Looks a bit high? Turn down the heat a bit.
Once cut faces carmelized, take out of pan. Take a few taste tests. Figure out how much long they need to be cooked. Then decide how long they might need on grill to finish cooking.
PS. I think most times most people OVER cook sprouts.
IMO most people actually like sprouts if they are just actually warmed up/cooked a bit.
You don’t actually NEED to cook them.
I think many folks don’t like them because somebody cooked the fuck out of them.
Carmelize them (do a few batches in the skillet (maybe throw some black pepper and garlic/onion powder in the oil first)). Once these are done set aside to finish off in the grill.
Just count on the grill getting the sprouts warmed back up. A bit of smokeyness or bit more cooking is mostly a bonus.
Bill’s method is fine, but I would just roast them the usual way and then throw 'em in for the last 5-10 minutes of your reverse sear to warm them up. Then again, I like my Brussels sprouts very roasted and salted (and that’s how I made them last night; just a single layer roasted at 400 for about 40 minutes.)
I shredded my last batch of brussels very fine with a mandolin and fried in pork fat with onions in a hot cast-iron skillet. More surface area means more browning means more flavour! Then I variously
(a) mixed in spuds for bubble and squeak, and
(b) scattered over tortilla chips with cheese and guacamole (with peas!) as weird-ass nachos.
I’ve got them in the oven, and will hope that the reheat works okay (good idea, don’t know why it was in my blind spot). The problem is that I’m not at home and the skillet situation is less than ideal. I’m not confident of getting a nice quick carmalization. That’s also why I’ll be finishing the steaks on a grill rather than in a pan.
y’know, I forgot that I have one of those Krups rapid-heating toaster ovens (the ones where the heating elements are glowing bright orange within seconds.) When I roast vegetables in it they’re also getting broiled for part of the time, so that will speed things up.
and now after reading this thread I’m going to have to try the skillet method. I’ve never boiled vegetables, and ever since I’ve started roasting them I’ve pretty much stopped steaming them anymore.
The sprouts turned out just fine. I did 'em in the oven and then reheated them just before serving. They crisped back up just fine.
I would, however, like to brag a bit on my ribeyes. I’m just going to put up the photo evidence. The picture quality isn’t great put I think it shows what it needs to.
The topping is a mushroom sauce that wasn’t terribly necessary (I just ate a bit of it on the side of mine), but was also quite tasty.
) to give them the carmelization, then do some final cooking on the grill to “finish” cooking them and/or give them the on the grill smoky flavor.