Althouse: Few benefit from the treatment of being bathed in cream...

December 5, 2016

Few benefit from the treatment of being bathed in cream...

Don't try to friend me on Facebook. I limit my scope over there. I just wanted to show you this:

73 comments:

Dan Truitt said...: I bailed on Facebook about a month ago and haven't regretted it. My life is much less cluttered and focused. I don't like the creeping intrusiveness of FB into our private lives. And I think Zuckenberg is a world-class idiot for allowing the Chinese to use it as a tool against their own citizens. For cryin' out loud, how many billions does this kid want?; 12/5/16, 9:44 AM
MayBee said...: Are you sure those are women's hands?

But yes, I hate that too.; 12/5/16, 9:44 AM
rehajm said...: The photo shows a woman's hands holding out the casserole

If this refers to the photo below your comment that woman has man hands.; 12/5/16, 9:45 AM
WisRich said...: Woman's hands?

I feel Austin Powers coming on:

"That's a man, baby!"; 12/5/16, 9:46 AM
Sydney said...: Agree, man's hands.; 12/5/16, 9:48 AM
Dust Bunny Queen said...: My first thought on the photo of Brussel's Sprout is keep that horrible stuff away from me! Brussel's sprouts are only good for sling shot ammo.

And then, second thought, I think that those are the hands, wrists and lower arms of a guy.; 12/5/16, 9:53 AM
Ann Althouse said...: LOL about the hands.; 12/5/16, 9:54 AM
Ann Althouse said...: It takes a real man to serve creamed Brussels sprouts.; 12/5/16, 9:55 AM
robother said...: I try to be ironically sexist at all times.; 12/5/16, 9:57 AM
dbp said...: I kind of wonder about the algorithm or who is in control of it. I have FB friends who like the NYT and see these posts too. I don't see the posts as often as the NYT has new stories, so does FB just periodically feed this to me? Or does it come from the NYT updating their FB page? When normal pages that I like have an update, it notes that so-and-so posted in the xxx page.; 12/5/16, 10:00 AM
Gahrie said...: Creamed Brussels sprouts are a waste and a travesty. Brussels sprouts should be sautéed in garlic butter with bacon and onions, and then sprinkled with Parmesan cheese and aged vinegar.; 12/5/16, 10:02 AM
traditionalguy said...: It needs butter.; 12/5/16, 10:02 AM
MadisonMan said...: Brussels Sprouts can only be served roasted in bacon fat and sprinkled with salt.

If they're mushy, like in a gratin, they're lousy. You'd be better off to take the gratin, put it in a blender, add some chicken stock, and serve soup.; 12/5/16, 10:05 AM
MadisonMan said...: (Agreed about the hands: Man's); 12/5/16, 10:06 AM
tcrosse said...: My Dad called Brussels Sprouts 'Boiled Farts'.; 12/5/16, 10:10 AM
Bob Boyd said...: The hands are sexually ambiguous. They would find themselves welcome in any restroom in North Carolina...but they shouldn't take the casserole in there.; 12/5/16, 10:11 AM
Laslo Spatula said...: "Few benefit from the treatment of being bathed in cream..."

Bukkake joke to be added later.

I am Laslo.; 12/5/16, 10:12 AM
CStanley said...: Gahrie- what kind of vinegar would you recommend?

Agree with you and Madisonman. My Thanksgiving BS dish was sautéed shredded sprouts seasoned with salt, pepper, and garlic, topped with bacon crumbles and toasted pecans. It was supposed to be hazelnuts and I was so excited to have scored a bag at Trader Joes and then proceeded to burn them when distracted by my daughter's hand blender injury.; 12/5/16, 10:13 AM
WisRich said...: Used to hate Brussel Sprouts. Found recipe for roasting them and then tossing with balsamic/bacon fat glaze, with bacon bits sprinkled on....the bomb!; 12/5/16, 10:14 AM
Anonymous said...: How dare a man be wearing an apron and holding a pan of yummy Brussels sprouts. How dare a woman have strong looking hands and arms. Good thing Donald Trump is President now, he'll put a stop to the NYTs fake news.; 12/5/16, 10:16 AM
Quaestor said...: There's something about casseroles that pique the mindless rebel in me. Every time I see one on a buffet Evil Quaestor, the little me dressed in devil duds, whispers in my ear Do it. Tell them exactly what you think about that dish of culinary vapidity. Channel Brando and throw it against the wall. Nice Quaestor, the candy-ass with the harp, always wins out however, and I take a spoonful or two to push around as if I'm enjoying it.

Casseroles are fundamentally Marxist. All vegetables are not created equal. Casseroles are designed to submerge the delicious and the merely nutritious in to an artificial starchy-cheesy conformity — well, cheese-like; seldom is an interesting cheese dumped in a casserole. I imagine that when Ivan Denisovich and the other zeks got veg it was in casserole form.; 12/5/16, 10:19 AM
Anonymous said...: Oh never mind, it's a dish cloth, but how dare a man hold a dish cloth. NYTs fake news, save us Mr.Trump!; 12/5/16, 10:19 AM
Anonymous said...: It's not a casserole you dumbass, it's merely a pan of Brussels sprouts baked in cream.; 12/5/16, 10:22 AM
Eric the Fruit Bat said...: Pepé Le Pew addressed the newly striped cat as "mon petite cabbage," IIRC.; 12/5/16, 10:24 AM
rehajm said...: The s.o. says sprouts with bacon, sliced kumquat and a little chopped jalapeno. Olive oil, salt and pepper.

I'll cook 'em but won't eat 'em.; 12/5/16, 10:24 AM
David Begley said...: The hands are gender neutral.; 12/5/16, 10:24 AM
Bob Boyd said...: I don't care if the hands are a man's or a woman's as long as they're not the hands of a humorless scold.; 12/5/16, 10:25 AM
Quaestor said...: It's not a casserole you dumbass, it's merely a pan of Brussels sprouts baked in cream.

Commie propaganda.; 12/5/16, 10:32 AM
Ignorance is Bliss said...: a) How do you know those are woman's hands?

b) Who the fuck finds Brussels Sprouts comforting?; 12/5/16, 10:36 AM
Bricap said...: I like a glass of Gruner Veltliner with my Brussel sprouts.; 12/5/16, 10:38 AM
bagoh20 said...: "It takes a real man to serve creamed Brussels sprouts."

A spooge stooge?; 12/5/16, 10:44 AM
GAHCindy said...: That doesn't look like a woman's hands to me.; 12/5/16, 10:49 AM
Quaestor said...: Brussels sprouts, threat, or menace?; 12/5/16, 10:51 AM
Gahrie said...: Pepé Le Pew addressed the newly striped cat as "mon petite cabbage," IIRC.

Mon petit chou chou (my little cabbage head {Brussels sprout}) is a term of endearment in France, similar to "honeybuns" etc.; 12/5/16, 10:51 AM
rhhardin said...: My dog won'e eat anything cooked with brussels sprouts, which is a pretty severe judgment.

In this case steamed brown rice and chicken.; 12/5/16, 10:54 AM
YoungHegelian said...: @Gahrie,

My favorite French term of endearment for the Mrs is ma petite biche, my little doe.

The homonym can be problematic for the unsuspecting listener.; 12/5/16, 11:00 AM
bleh said...: Methinks Althouse is a bit sexist for assuming those hands belong to a woman.; 12/5/16, 11:04 AM
tcrosse said...: Maybe those hands belong to a trans-gendered person, and anyone who says otherwise is a transphobic bigot.; 12/5/16, 11:05 AM
Ann Althouse said...: "It's not a casserole you dumbass, it's merely a pan of Brussels sprouts baked in cream."

Ever used a dictionary, dumbass?

1725 R. Bradley Chomel's Dictionaire Œconomique at Roach, Roaches may..be dress'd in a Casserole.
1849 R. Curzon Visits Monasteries 342 Not a scrap of furniture, not even a pipkin or a Casserole.
1870 U. Dubois Cosmopol. Cookery §727 Capon of Caux, roasted ‘à la casserole’... Braised or roasted in a stewpan.
1898 J. A. E. Roundell Pract. Cookery Bk. 264 Chicken à la Casserole.
1904 C. H. Senn (title) Chafing Dish and Casserole Cookery.
1905 A. Kenney-Herbert Common-sense Cookery 292 A poulet, or pheasant à la casserole.
1906 A. Filippini Internat. Cook Bk. 378 Heat one tablespoon butter in an earthen casserole pan.
1906 A. Filippini Internat. Cook Bk. 565 Sweetbreads en Casserole. Blanch and trim six heart sweetbreads. Place in an earthen casserole dish [etc.].
1958 A. White tr. Colette Claudine in Paris i. 9 The yellow chanterelles that go so well with creamy sauces and casserole of veal.
1960 Observer 17 Jan. 14/4 A casserole, once upon a time, was a pan with a handle, made in tinned copper, earthenware, enamelled iron or some other heat-resistant material... In Britain to-day the casserole has become a portmanteau word for any receptacle in a fire-resistant material, with or without a lid, that goes both into the oven and on to the dinner-table.; 12/5/16, 11:23 AM
Deb said...: Brussels sprouts, threat, or menace?

Ha ! Looked at the first picture and thought "Triffids"!; 12/5/16, 11:28 AM
JAORE said...: The NYT is drafting a policy requiring future dishes be held by at least two hands.

No more than one hand may be demonstrably white and/or male*. The hands from people of color, if more than one is visible, must include multiple, clearly differentiated races.

* A second male hand may be used if, by way of decorative fingernails, rings or other means, placement on the sexual spectrum is indeterminate.

No irony, intentionally or otherwise shall be permitted.

Cruel neutrality will be dealt with harshly.; 12/5/16, 11:30 AM
MadisonMan said...: Is it a Casserole, or is it a Hot Dish, to quote a Minnesotan?; 12/5/16, 11:42 AM
Wince said...: Maybe the funniest Seinfeld sight gag: "Man Hands."

"It's an eyelash. Make a wish."

"I don't want to."

"Make a wish."

"OK... Didn't come true."; 12/5/16, 11:52 AM
TWW said...: What I find most annoying is the "Share if you agree" suggestion accompanying many comments.; 12/5/16, 12:13 PM
Bob Ellison said...: OK, this gets old. Women tend to like bitter vegetables that taste like shit. Brussel sprouts, kale, arugula, on and on. Men tend not to like them, because they taste like shit. (What, do we have superior tastebuds?) Bathe them in bacon bits and cream, and you can make them less shitty, but still shitty, and you'd be better off with french fries or even an iceberg lettuce salad.

Do I misunderstand or overstate?; 12/5/16, 12:27 PM
Freeman Hunt said...: Are the brussel sprouts in there to make it a virtuous casserole? Casserole is so flyover, but maybe if you center the casserole around some less tasty vegetable to make the plebes dislike it, it's suddenly cosmopolitan.; 12/5/16, 12:33 PM
Freeman Hunt said...: If you mention gratin, and it's brussel sprouts instead of potatoes, whoever you're serving will experience inner culinary disappointment and longing. Surely there is a good German word for that.; 12/5/16, 12:37 PM
Bob Boyd said...: Brusselsproutengebleche!; 12/5/16, 12:43 PM
Christy said...: Priceless wit, Freeman.

I always feel very, very common when taking a casserole to a house of sickness or death, but let's face it, casseroles hold up better than other dishes when transported and held for eating.

Roasted sprouts for me. I mourn for bacon, but Turkey bacon will do.; 12/5/16, 12:51 PM
Freeman Hunt said...: Signing up to bring a casserole to a potluck and showing up with a brussel sprout casserole might be considered passive aggressive.; 12/5/16, 1:01 PM
MacMacConnell said...: I like brussel sprouts and everything is better with cream, butter, bacon, cheese and someone mentioned pecans. I put pecans in everything.; 12/5/16, 1:23 PM
Jaq said...: I hate it when I order a side of Brussel sprouts and they have so many calories it could be a main to share. First clue is when you order them, the waiter gushes how great they are. If I wanted cheese fries, I would have ordered them.; 12/5/16, 1:35 PM
Jaq said...: I guess I am alone though, after reading the thread. Althouse had a post about how men, after a certain age, lose the ability to taste some kinds of bitterness and begin to like vegetables more. Definitely happened to me. I used to tell the wifey she could have just raked up behind the weedwhacker when she served a salad. Now I eat very little meat.; 12/5/16, 1:49 PM
Dust Bunny Queen said...: Women tend to like bitter vegetables that taste like shit. Brussel sprouts, kale, arugula, on and on.

@ Keith. I'm a woman and I hate hate hate all of those things. Brussels sprouts in particular with cooked cauliflower coming in a close second. Strangely enough, I can tolerate raw cauliflower as long it is covered in some sort of flavored dip like cool ranch.

They both taste like acetone. Fingernail polish remover or paintbrush cleaner, both of which I have had the unpleasant experience of accidentally tasting. Bitter, chemical aftertaste that you cannot get rid of.

No amount of people telling, try it you will like it....or my way of cooking it is the best is ever ever ever going to get me to do anything but spit those disgusting Brussels sprouts out. PTOOOEY!

Brussels sprouts are just nasty. I don't care how much butter, cream, bacon whatever. They taste like chemicals.; 12/5/16, 2:03 PM
Bart Hall (Kansas, USA) said...: My mother-in-law is from the western Netherlands. Here's how she taught me to cook them.

Small spruitjes [brussels sprouts], under an inch in diameter. Trim their bottoms and incise an X about 5 mm deep. Drop into well-salted boiling water for 3 minutes, 4 max. Remove, drain, and drop immediately into a frying pan (cast iron is best) with abundant butter.

Sizzle for 5 to 8 minutes. Add nutmeg and black pepper to taste. Serve immediately. Lekker. [=nom, nom].

Large brussels sprouts are dreadful.; 12/5/16, 2:12 PM
JML said...: No to the BS. And speaking of BS, I have received no less than 9 suggested posts on FB since last night. This is after I started to use Ghostery ...; 12/5/16, 3:23 PM
Ignorance is Bliss said...: Dust Bunny Queen said...

They taste like chemicals.

Everything tastes like chemicals. Some chemicals taste better than others.; 12/5/16, 3:25 PM
David said...: A woman's hands? How do you know. They are nicely manicured but no nail polish. I seem to remember we had a women's hands issue once before. Perhaps we could say they are girly hands, not women's.; 12/5/16, 3:29 PM
David said...: Here is how I prepare brussels sprouts (with my small girly hands.)

1. Cook the sprouts al dente in salted boiling water well before the meal is to be served. The morning or the night before works fine.
2. Shock in cold water at the end of the cooking to prevent their getting overcooking mushy.
3. Set the sprouts aside (refrigerated if for a long time) in a dish covered by a damp towel.
4. Saute the sprouts in butter just before serving. Depending on the rest of the meal or my mood, I will add garlic, thyme, sage or lemon. You can add pine or other nuts. The point of the saute is to heat them up and flavor them. You don't want to cook much more or you get mush.
5. Serve and enjoy.

I believe this is a Julia Child trick but I'm not sure where I got it. (Not my invention.) You end up with sprouts totally without the sulphur odor or the metallic taste them can have. Texture is great and they are quite elegant in the butter and spice.

Plus it's a vegetable dish that (after the initial prep) can be readied and served in about two minutes. No tricky time coordination issues.; 12/5/16, 3:42 PM
David said...: shock in ICY COLD water. Cold tap water is insufficient.; 12/5/16, 3:44 PM
David said...: Mucho typos--bring back preview.; 12/5/16, 3:45 PM
David said...: "Roaches may..be dress'd in a Casserole."

Maybe try my brussels sprouts technique on roaches. You try first and let me know.; 12/5/16, 3:49 PM
David said...: I think I'm the only one left on this post. Arrived late.; 12/5/16, 3:49 PM
Fred Drinkwater said...: Many veg with foul taste when boiled turn out completely different if roasted instead. Sweet, even.
Brussels sprouts, green beans, asparagus, bell peppers ...
Tweak to taste with garlic, salt, pepper, olive oil, onion, bacon, etc.
Also, turn the oven up a bit. No, a bit more than that.; 12/5/16, 3:55 PM
Fred Drinkwater said...: David,
A Commenter never arrives too early, nor does he arrive too late; he arrives precisely when he needs to.; 12/5/16, 3:57 PM
Fred Drinkwater said...: Gahrie,
The girl who taught me "mon petit chou" (never chou-chou for some reason. She was Alsatian, so who knows...) also taught me "une haleine de baleine" ("whale breath"). It was that kind of relationship.; 12/5/16, 4:02 PM
Bob Ellison said...: I like asparagus. Great grilling veggie.

Brussels sprouts are best tossed right in the fire. The outer leaves burn off while marinading the inner sprout. When you leave them among the coals for sixty minutes, they catch on fire.

My father says, "every Brussels sprout we eat means one fewer cabbage brought into the world."; 12/5/16, 4:40 PM
Dust Bunny Queen said...: Everything tastes like chemicals. Some chemicals taste better than others.

Quite so. The world is made up of chemical Acetone is one of those chemicals (tastes) that I prefer to avoid. Gasoline and kerosene as well. Y'all who can't taste it are free to enjoy.

What is so annoying, at holiday dinners especially, is all those smug assholes who insist on trying to change my mind. Foist their family recipes on me. Tell if ONLY I tried it their way I would like those little cabbages of death.

I get it. Some people like them. I don't. I'm not stopping you from enjoying them. Eat and enjoy. When offered I politely decline. I generally say: "Thank you but they aren't my favorite. I'll have some more yams". Or "No thanks, I prefer the salad instead." But. noooooo. Like rabid adherents to some religious cult, they feel the need to try to convert me to eating those little bitter, acrid gas bombs.

If I say I don't want it. I don't want it. Next time they go up against the wall. Mo fos!; 12/5/16, 5:13 PM
Dust Bunny Queen said...: Brussels sprouts are best tossed right in the fire

And left there.; 12/5/16, 5:14 PM
Anonymous said...: "Casseroles in the United States or continental Europe usually consist of pieces of meat (such as chicken) or fish (such as tuna), various chopped vegetables, a starchy binder such as flour, rice, potato or pasta, and, often, a crunchy or cheesy topping.[2] Liquids are released from the meat and vegetables during cooking, and further liquid in the form of stock, wine, beer (for example lapin à la Gueuze), gin, cider, or vegetable juice may be added when the dish is assembled. Casseroles are usually cooked slowly in the oven, often uncovered. They may be served as a main course or a side dish, and may be served in the vessel in which they were cooked. In the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand, a casserole is named after its dish, rather than its contents. Casseroles in these countries are very similar to stews. The difference is that once the meat and vegetables are browned on top of the stove, they are then cooked in liquid in the oven, in a closed dish, producing meat that is tender and juicy, from long slow cooking. As the heat is indirect, there is also less chance of it burning."

Wikipedia; 12/5/16, 7:49 PM
Freeman Hunt said...: I like roasted brussel sprouts. But this is about tricky casserole.

Someone should write a short story about a woman who hates a family at her church, and when the family experiences a tragedy, she signs up to bring them a meal on the church list and brings baked fish, fiber cereal yogurt parfaits, and brussel sprout casserole.; 12/5/16, 8:52 PM
Largo said...: Some seem to like it. :)

Little Baby's Ice Cream. It's a feeling.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erh2ngRZxs0; 12/6/16, 2:33 AM
mikee said...: Fred, you should reference Tolkein as the (paraphrased) author of your comment.; 12/7/16, 12:17 PM