Panzano Brussels Sprouts

Bear with me on this one...first I have to give you the background on how this became one of my favorite go-to vegetable side recipes. My husband and I recently went to Denver for a wedding. Since our 1st anniversary was about the same time we decided to celebrate at a nice restaurant. Not surprisingly, eating out is one of my favorite activities (note to self: go to gym tomorrow. no joke. really go this time).  Is food addiction equivalent to a hobby? Well, it is now friends.

A little bit about me: I am a breed classified as a hyper organized planner. I read up fully on dining and activities when visiting any city - even if I've been there before. A girls gotta know the hot spots right? So during my extensive bout of OCD research, I found Elise Wiggins. Executive Chef of Panzano.

This restaurant was lovely, but much bigger than I expected and was a-hoppin'. Although it wasn't a  romantic anniversary stare-into-your-eyes type of setting we expected - we had a lovely time. We ordered the following and the meal was delicious.

Fresh baked bread, sundried tomato tapenade

Fried brussel sprouts with apple cider reduction, pistachio, rosemary & apple

Beef tenderloin medallions, butternut squash puree

Lamb ribs with feta, walnut and fig reduction

Seared scallops, asparagus risotto, and parsley butter sauce

So now that I've traveled down memory lane and drug all of you behind in my wake, I'll get to the point. These brussel sprouts are UNREAL. Even if you don't like brussel sprouts, you'll love these. I've made them about 10 times and each time, they get better. We cleaned the plates of the ribs and brussels sprouts and for other plates had leftovers. Yes, that is correct. I passed over SCALLOPS and TENDERLOIN for brussel sprouts. Conviced? Give it a try. Here's how:

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups apple cider
• 1/2 cup shelled pistachios, toasted and chopped (you can buy these already shelled)
• 2 tsp of dried rosemary 
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 granny smith apple
• 2 tbsp of oil for frying - choose one with a high smoke point
• 1 lb brussel sprouts - trimmed and cut in half:

Directions:

1. In a small sauté pan, pour in the 2 1/2 cups of apple cider. Bring to a rolling boil on med-high heat for approximately 10-15 minutes until reduced to a thin syrup (will be slightly runnier than a syrup). 
2. Combine chopped pistachios, rosemary, salt & pepper in a bowl and set aside
3. Julienne slice the granny smith apple. I use a mandolin, or you can do it by hand. That is a bit of work, so if you need a plan B, just use a cheese grater and call it a day. Works just fine.
4. Take the julienne slices of apple and place in bowl of water until fully submerged - this will keep the apple from oxidizing and turning brown while you finish the other tasks.
5. In a medium sauté pan, heat the oil over medium-high heat and toss in those sprouts!
6. Stir about once a minute so they begin to brown but not burn. For about 5 minutes. 
7. Once sprouts are somewhat easily pierced with a fork, pour in half of the apple cider syrup.
8. Let the cider simmer and reduce around the brussels sprouts and stir for about 1 minute. Since you are still on med-high heat, the once thin syrup will begin to form a thicker reduction. 
9. Pour in the other half of syrup and continue for another minute. 
10. Toss in the pistachios/salt/rosemary/pepper and stir
11. Pour brussels sprout mixture from pan onto serving platter.
12. Using a cloth or paper towel, pat dry the apple slices and place them on top of of the cooked brussels sprouts mixture. 

Step 1 - Boil apple cider until reduced to thin syrup

Step 2 - combine pistachios, salt, pepper, rosemary

Step 3 - Julienne the apple w/ mandolin or grater

Step 4 - Apple slices in water to prevent oxidation 

Steps 7: Added syrup to fried brussels sprouts

FINAL PRODUCT!

Special thank you to Panzano for this recipe. They printed this out for us as we left that night. Super nice - thanks gang!