Fried Brussel Sprouts with Cranberries and Bacon

All parts of the title of this dish are delicious. Brussel sprouts are always a favorite side of mine, and combined with the rich flavor of bacon and the tart flavor of cranberries, they are a formidable dish. Now take that, and fry it. Yeah, I went there. The one part of this dish to be careful about is not crowding the sprouts while frying. I learned this the hard way because I was pressed for time and didn’t divvy up the sprouts in enough batches. In my impatience, the sprouts weren’t able to really crisp up while frying. The dish was really delicious, and the flavors were very complex, but it didn’t have the crispy component I was looking for when I dreamt up the dish. Next time, I will know, DON’T CROWD THE BRUSSEL SPROUTS!

Ingredients:

3 lbs brussel sprouts

5-6 slices of thick cut bacon

1 cup of fresh cranberries

Oil for frying (canola or vegetable)

To Cook:

1.     Halve the brussel sprouts, cutting the brown stem off and pulling off any brown or dirty leaves

2.     Cut the bacon into small pieces

3.     Heat the oil on medium high in a large heavy bottom pot and add one brussel sprout when the oil is hot to test it out, if it gets very bubbly around the sprout, you’re good to go

4.     Add the sprouts in batches frying for 7-8 minutes until the leaves are starting to brown

5.     About 4 minutes into each batch, add a handful of bacon and cranberries and fry with the sprouts (alternatively, you can fry all of the sprouts and then fry the bacon and cranberries separately)

6.     Lay paper towel on a baking sheet and when the sprouts are done, carefully spread them across the paper towels to absorb the oil and get them crispy

7.     Move to a serving bowl and lay down new paper towel for the new batch, repeat until all sprouts are fried

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