I hated brussels sprouts with a passion when I was growing up.  After I met my husband I realized it was because my mom and grandma boiled the vegetable, if you bake/broil or pan fry brussel sprouts they are absolutely delicious.  Two of our guests at our New Years Eve dinner do not like vegetables / salads pretty much at all, but I love them and wanted to serve at least one vegetable dish that everybody could enjoy.  I made a compromise and made brussel sprout gratin that included parmesan cheese and bacon.  The dish was tasty, but I would have preferred brussel sprouts without the cheese and bacon…it just seemed so wrong and detracted from the richness & heartiness of the brussel sprouts.

Ingredients

• 4 hickory-smoked bacon slices
• 4 large shallots, thinly sliced (or 1/4 red onion)
• 2 pounds Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 2 thick slices French bread
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

2. Cook bacon in a large skillet over medium-high heat until crisp.  Remove bacon from pan, and reserving half of the drippings; crumble with hands and then chop finely with a knife.  Add the shallots to drippings in the pan and sauté for 2 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally.

3. Add the Brussels sprouts, season with the salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder and brown for 5 minutes.  Add 1 cup water bring to a boil and then cover the skillet.  Cook for 6 minutes or until Brussels sprouts are almost tender.   Pour the Brussels sprouts mixture into a 2-quart broiler-safe glass or ceramic baking dish.

4. Slice the french bread and cook for 10 minutes in the oven.

5. Break the hardened bread up into quarters, and place in a food processor with the shredded Parmesan cheese, and process until finely ground.  Melt the butter over medium-high heat in the skillet the asparagus was cooked.  Add the breadcrumbs & cheese mixture and sauté for 2 minutes or until toasted, stirring frequently.  Add the cooked, crumbled bacon to the toasted breadcrumb mixture.  Sprinkle the breadcrumb mixture over Brussels sprouts mixture – you can either leave on top of the Brussels sprouts or mix in.  Bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown and thoroughly heated.