Bacon and Brussels Sprouts Recipe

This is my family's favorite recipe for brussels sprouts with bacon. The bacon and garlic cut the bitterness of the sprouts, bringing out their cabbagey flavor. Enjoy, bon appetit, BAM!, er, and so forth.

Ingredients

• 1 pound frozen brussels sprouts
• 3/4 pound bacon
• 4tbsp butter
• 1tbsp minced garlic
• a little Worcestershire sauce to taste and for color (optional)

Steps

1. Lightly thaw the brussels sprouts by leaving them sit out for a half hour or so, or a minute in the microwave.
2. On a cutting board, slice the partly-frozen brussels sprouts in half. Being partly-frozen makes them easier to cut. Cutting in half makes them cook more thoroughly, and they soak up the flavor better. If any still have large remnants of the stalks, cut those off too.
3. Thaw the cut halves all the way; I put them in a colander under running hot water, or a microwave works fine, too. Being 100% thawed isn't that important, cooking will finish any partly-frozen ones left.
4. Heat up a large wok to around 350 degrees. Dice the uncooked bacon (I open the pre-sliced bacon and just use a scissors to cut chunks off) and toss it in the wok. Don't cook it until crispy, but to pre-cook it a little, until it has released grease and the fat has started to solidify.
5. Add the butter and let it melt a bit, then add the garlic and optional Worcestershire sauce.
6. Add the brussels sprouts. Cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally to avoid burning on the bottom. The cut sides will brown up first. The objective is to get the brussels sprouts nice and carmelized on all sides and just a little wilted. You don't want them soggy all the way through; the outside should be soft, but a little solidness (but now raw) in the middle is good. Sometimes, depending on how much the sprouts soak up and how greasy the bacon is, I have to toss in a little more butter to keep things from sticking or scorching from being too dry.

It's probably all the butter and bacon of course, but my kids love my bacon-brussels-sprouts so much that sometimes I double the recipe, which looks like an ungodly amount of brussels sprouts for five people. It's also a simple enough recipe that increasing or decreasing the bacon or garlic isn't super-critical. I usually serve it as a side with steaks.