While perusing Facebook last week, I stumbled upon a “Thanksgiving side dish” that looked amazing and I decided to try out instead of my standard green beans and garlic dish.
“Creamy Brussels Sprouts and Bacon Gratin with Shallots and Gruyère” sounded amazing and their professional photography of the dish made it look even more appealing. So I decided to go ahead and make this dish yesterday for our Thanksgiving dinner.
Boy, was that a mistake!!!
The strong odor of the gruyère cheese completely overpowered the smell of everything else that was cooking and ruined our whole “Thanksgiving atmosphere.” You couldn’t smells the turkey or the butternut squash or the pies or the fresh baked cookies. All you could smell was gruyère.
Not only did it make the dish way too greasy, the flavor was completely overpowering and much too strong flavored for this dish. I personally like brussels sprouts and generally cook them with bacon and onions so it’s not like I am unfamiliar with the flavor. This cheese smells like a pair of sneakers that someone wore barefoot in a 5k race and then didn’t take off for a week. THAT smell coupled with the already slightly farty smell of the brussels was anything but appetizing…
Everyone ate just one brussels sprout and couldn’t eat anymore. What a waste. I think this dish would have been excellent without the cheese or perhaps with 3/4 cup of cheddar and 1/4 cup of parm.
At least it looked wonderful on the table…
Needless to say, I definitely won’t be making this dish ever again…
Anyone want the leftovers?!