Brussels Sprouts with Bacon, Apple and Cheese

Before I made these I have never had Brussels Sprouts! I have heard that you either love them or hate them, so I wanted to give them a try! My husband said "I never thought I'd have to eat Brussels Sprouts after I left my moms house 10 years ago" so needless to say he was none too thrilled with the notion of eating them.

I chose Alton Brown's recipe because it called for bacon and blue cheese-two of my husband's favorite things. This recipe was really good! I had no clue how much 1 oz. of blue cheese was and I think I put too much in...my husband gobbled this up AND ate seconds...while I thought it was a bit too "blue-cheesey" for my taste! I also used turkey bacon instead of the real stuff which was fine but it obviously didn't render much fat so I had to add a half tbsp. of butter after I took the bacon out.

Overall this was a great meal and I will be serving it again!

Ingredients
Source: Alton Brown

6 slices bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (I used 4 slices of turkey bacon)
1 small onion, julienned
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 small Granny Smith apple, cored and chopped (I used half of a Pink Lady apple...it was all I had!)
1 recipe Basic Brussels Sprouts, recipe follows
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon whole-grain Dijon mustard
1-ounce blue cheese, crumbled
Pinch freshly ground nutmeg

Directions
Place the bacon into a 10-inch straight-sided saute pan and set over medium-high heat. Cook bacon until crisp and brown. Remove bacon and all but 1 tablespoon of the fat from the pan using a slotted spoon. Decrease the heat to low. Add the onion and cook just until they turn semi-translucent, approximately 3 minutes. Add the salt and apple and continue to cook for another minute. Add the Brussels sprouts, heavy cream and mustard and cook just until the Brussels sprouts are heated through, approximately 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the bacon, blue cheese and nutmeg. Serve immediately.

Basic Brussels Sprouts

• 1 pound Brussels sprouts, rinsed (I used 10 Brussels Sprouts)
  
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Cut off the stem end of the Brussels sprouts and remove any yellowing outer leaves. Cut each Brussels sprout in half from top to bottom. Place the Brussels sprouts, water and salt into a 3 to 4-quart saucier and cover. Place over high heat and cook for 5 minutes or until tender. Remove and serve immediately.

Yield: 4 servings