Brussel sprouts & chicken sausage

[Michael Haubert]

Took a very quick trip to Joshua Tree National Park and wandered around the Cottonwood Springs area, out toward the Eagle Mountains. Wanted to share one of my meals: Brussel sprouts and chicken sausage:

How to prepare: Cut raw Brussel sprouts in half, length wise. Steam blanch the sprouts for five minutes. Remove from boiler and dehydrate for 10-12 hours at 145 F. Cut some precooked chicken sausage (e.g. Aidells) into small pieces and dehydrate. Store the amount of sprouts & sausage you would like to have on the trail in a plastic bag.

At camp, boil enough water to cover the sprouts and chicken sausage in the bag and place into a cozy for ~15 minutes until rehydrated. Drain any excess water. Heat so olive oil in fry pan and then sauté the sprouts and sausage for a few minutes. Add some salt, crushed red pepper and garlic powder to taste. Mix well. Remove from heat and enjoy.

I had this with some hash browns. Mashed potatoes would be good, too. Try it with some pinot noir or other red wine, etc.

Michael

And a few more pics:

[brent driggers]

That looks real good. They go very well with bacon too

[Matthew / BPL]

That sounds lovely. Brussel sprouts and sausage is one of my favorite combinations. Some balsamic vinegar drizzled on top would not be unwelcome.

[Diane Pinkers]

While dehydrating, how did the house smell?  I’ve been reluctant to dehydrate any Brassica veggies since a really unfortunate episode with Broccoli slaw–my boyfriend almost banned the dehydrator from the house.

[Michael Haubert]

@dipink I dried these quite a while ago, but I don’t recall any particularly strong odor while drying. I did dry them in a well ventilated area, though. That always helps. (The most intense aroma I’ve had while drying a food item was a red Thai curry sauce. That one was BAD, and lingered for days.)

We get Brussel sprouts quite a bit and I can make more. I’ll let you know about the smell when I do.

Michael

PS. @cadyak Yes! Everything is great with bacon! I’ve done this with shelf stable bacon and it’s great. I used the chicken sausage in an effort to make this dish a little healthier. But bacon and sprouts = awesome.

[Michael Haubert]

Just to circle back on the question about any smell while dehydrating: I recently dried another batch and I don’t think it smells bad at all. No strong aroma in my experience. I think the blanching/steaming process had some aroma but not strong, in my opinion. I hope that helps.

Michael

[Pedestrian]

In my experience the bagged Brussel sprouts tend to smell when removed from bag and while cooking.

The fresher the sprouts the less likely they smell at all especially when bought on the stalk.

 

[Author]

Posts