The 27th of December is, more or less, the first day that feels outside of the vague block of time we know as "the Christmas period". Not quite over, but definitely waning; people are going back to work, public transport starts running as usual again and (some) people look ahead to the New Year.
I'm eschewing any public notions of forward resolutions, and looking back over the past couple of days. It's safe to say that Christmas is a complicated time for many people. It took me until the moment I left the office on the 24th to feel the slightest bit festive. Getting the tube and then the train back to my parents' house felt like the busy working-mom from 95% of Hallmark movies who realises that her family life is more important than her high-powered corporate career and instantly rushes home to make hot cocoa for her kids.
My feelings about being with my family are bit complex, and certainly less cutesy (I don't like hot chocolate, for one). I'm not going to go into the nuts and bolts of it all as it doesn't make for enthralling reading but the atmosphere at my parents' home, while not hostile by any means, is strained. It felt less like we were enjoying the day, and more that we were just trying to get through it.
This was all anticipated; I'm well-aware that "spending time together" does not often happen without someone getting mildly annoyed. I'm sure they probably tired of me frequently saying "let's just do the things that don't stress us out". But, then perhaps if everyone had followed my advice then we may not have got out of bed in the morning.
The 27th of December feels like the day you can start talking about this. People who still feel the elusive magic of Christmas need to be protected at all costs. I don't want to pollute anyone's feeling of enchantment with my own apprehension, because if you can come into this time with an excitement approaching that you felt as a child then (quite rightly) you should try to mitigate any negativity coming in. I feel safer to talk about Christmas as a "complicated" rather than a "magical" time when the period starts coming to an end.
It's pretty fortunate that we hear a lot more about prioritising your own happiness around Christmas, and not doing things just because you feel like it's the done thing. This is a conversation for another blog, but there is a positive side to all of the above. We often can't get out of bigger situations (e.g. spending the day with family), but we can try to purposely do smaller things that will feel positive. I took a lot of energy to spiritedly narrate a role-playing computer game, which provided us with 45 minutes of laughter. The second tactical positivity-grab I made was to insist of cooking the sprouts. Admittedly, this doesn't sound like much, but it gave me a chance to put my mind to something rather than fermenting in the vague tension.
The challenge was to produce the sprouts in a way that weren't terrible (AKA not boiled into the New Year) and included a few extra elements that would commonly be found in late-December kitchen. It also had to be something that could be acceptably situated within gravy. It was based in the provision of aromatics, acidity, savouriness and sweetness, but in a much simpler way than that implies. A very brief parboil plus pan-frying precludes the sprouts from having a nervous breakdown and chaotically homogenising. I can't promise that the same fate won't befall you, but I can tell you that the recipe below is virtually stress-free.
As a last note, I have to tell you that my father will categorically not eat sprouts unless they are soft and swampy. So, when I put the raw sprouts for the parboil, I had to leave a portion of them in for a further 30 minutes (yes...). As such, this post is in memory of those unlucky few.
Red Wine, Onion & Garlic Sprouts
Prep time: 10 minutes (allow longer if your sprouts aren't pre-trimmed)
Cooking time: 25 minutes
Serves: 4-6 as a side dish.
Ingredients
750g of Brussels Sprouts
1 white onion
3 cloves of garlic
2 tbsps of red wine
1 tbsp of soy sauce
2 tsp of brown sugar
2 tsp of red wine vinegar
1 tbsp of vegetable oil
Salt
Method
Put your sprouts into a large saucepan and add cold water until they are fully submerge. Bring the pan to the boil and let simmer for 1 minute, no longer. This will allow the exterior of sprouts to soften very slightly, allowing them to absorb a greater amount of flavour.
While the sprouts are coming to the boil, finely chop the onion and crush each garlic clove before mincing them.
Warm the oil to a medium heat in a large saute pan or wok, before adding the chopped onion. Fry the onion for about ten minutes or until softened. When you have done this, add the sugar, the red wine vinegar and the garlic and fry for a further 2 minutes.
Add the sprouts to the pan, along with the soy sauce and the red wine and season to taste. Fry the sprouts for 6-8 minutes on a high heat. Once this is finished, taste one of the sprouts to make sure that it is fully cooked to your liking.
Serve the sprouts immediately afterwards or keep in a warm place until you plan on eating them. These will keep in the fridge for about three days and can be reheated either on the hob or in the microwave (however, if you do go for the latter they will soften slightly, but not dramatically). I had the leftovers from mine as part of a bowl of fried rice - which I can heartily recommend!
Notes & Adjustments
The recipe above is based entirely on my idea of what you could reasonably find in an every-day kitchen around Christmas time (with the exception of red wine vinegar - but there are substitutions below) so I haven't added too much. Part of the reason for this was that it was just a last minute thing I made based on what my parents had in their cupboards. But I think there are ingredients that could be added that you might find in cupboards/fridges, but are also worth buying for the recipe.
As promised, you can substitute the red wine vinegar for plain ol' red wine. However, might I suggest that you use a more acidic variety? Although now I've said this, I must admit that I'm not a regular wine drinker, and have no idea what the indicator for this kind of flavour would be. Let's hope that you do (or Google)!
Mushrooms: I think 50g of finely diced chestnut or sliced oyster mushrooms would be a great addition. If they had been in my fridge at the time they would have 100% been a part of this recipe.
For a slightly richer, sweeter taste you could replace the white onion with 2 large shallots prepared in the same way.
Although I haven't put it on the *official* ingredient list, I did add some MSG to this and the perceptible savoury taste did give the dish a boost. However, if you don't have it, then it won't be a particularly devastating omission.
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