Love em' or Hate em'?

Let's talk about brussels sprouts.  YES....it is actually spelled brussels sprouts.  HAHAH!  I'm dying.  Never in my life did I think that was how it was pronounced. 

I feel like you either love em' or you hate em'.  This holiday, I think you should give them another try.   You tried them when you were a kid, you say?  Give them one more chance.  You just might be a little more mature now than you were back then.  :-)

It was about a year ago that I was on one of my "alone time" shopping trips.  My go to places are...of course, Target...but let's not forget good ole' Trader Joe's.  I don't shop there for my normal every day groceries.  When the holidays come, I love to head over to Trader Joe's and see what fun and unique things I can add into our holiday celebration.  Anyway...on this particular trip I saw the fresh brussels sprouts still on the stem.  I LOVED the way they looked and wondered if they could make a fun side dish.  So I bought them to go along with our prime rib Christmas Eve dinner.  Not only was I trying Prime Rib for the very first time.  I had never made brussels sprouts before.  Why not just try everything brand new on what is probably the most important dinner of the year?!? (I was nervous.)  I brought them home and our boys were super impressed.  They had no idea what they were, but they thought they were pretty special.  

To make a long story short, the prime rib and the brussels spouts turned out amazing. 
Here's how I made them. 
P.S - It's not rocket science.  

Start by setting your oven to 400 degrees.
Step 1:  Trim off each sprout off the stem.  (Is that what you call them??  a sprout? a brussel?)  
Step 2: Wash em off and then dry them really well.
Step 3:  Cut off the end just like you are cutting of the end of a teeny tiny head of lettuce.  They will separate if you cut too much off, so try to get just the hard end.
Step 4: Spread the sprouts out on a large baking sheet.
Step 5:  Grab a head of garlic and get a least 5 cloves peeled.  I crush them with the back of knife.  Then mix them in on the pan.  
Step 6:  Drizzle a heavy amount of olive oil over it all.
Step 6:  Sprinkle Grillin Magic!  Start with just a bit.  As you taste throughout the cooking process, you can decide if you need to add more.  But, you can't add less.  :-)
Step 7:  Throw them in the oven for about 30-40 minutes.  You'll want to mix the pan around for even browning during the process.  The browning is what makes them taste so great!
Step 8:  Taste em...add more GM if necessary. 
Step 9: Add some fresh parmesean cheese over the top and mix.  
Step 10:  Put them under the broiler for just a couple minutes if they need to be crisped up a bit.  (I always like them to have the extra crunch).  

Serve your brussels sprouts in a great big bowl.  Some like a little squeeze of lemon over the top to brighten them up.  I'll leave that up to you!  Bacon can fit in here well too.  yum!  

Give it a try.  If they turn out great post a pic on our facebook page so we can see!