Cooking brussel sprouts

Do you like brussel sprouts? I really hated them when I was a child, but now I know that was for 2 reasons:
1. They were not fresh, and
2. my mother overcooked them :(

You may call these "baby cabbages" in Japanese but they aren't cabbages. Please do a search for "brussel sprout plant" on Google and see what the plant looks like. It is certainly not a baby cabbage :)  But actually, it is one of the cabbage family, so it is related to things like broccoli and even rapeseed  -  菜の花.

Brussel sprouts grow along a stem so they look a little like a bunch of grapes. Please try to eat recently picked ones because the older they get, the more bitter they become. Fresh ones are quite sweet! And DO NOT overcook them! They will become really bitter and horrible. My mother cooks them in the typical English/Australian way of boiling them for a loooooong time in water. They become bitter and all the vitamins are lost.

So how do I cook them? It is really easy. The easiest way is to wash them, drain them and cover them with damp paper towel (kitchen towel) and cook them for a few minutes in the microwave oven. This is also a good method for cooking broccoli. It keeps all the vitamins and doesn't make them bitter. Another way is below:

1. Wash the sprouts. Don't drain or dry them.
2. Put them in a non-stick pan. ***
3. Put a lid on the pan. This will help them steam.
4. Steam them for about 3 minutes, rolling them around a few times by shaking the pan. Don't open the lid or the heat and steam will escape. Most of the water will be gone.
5. Take off the lid and cook for another minute until all the water is gone.
6. While you are cooking them, chop one clove of garlic.
7. Put about 1 teaspoon of virgin olive oil in the pan with the sprouts.** Shake them around.
8. Add the garlic. Cook for about 1 minute until the garlic is golden.* Garlic will burn easily so be careful.
9. Finished!

*** I'm using my new, non-toxic pan :)
** You can use 1/2 teaspoon of olive oil plus 1/2 teaspoon of butter. This will give a richer taste.
* The total cooking time from start to finish is 5 minutes. Please don't cook them more.

If you think this dish is too "green" or if you want a stronger taste, add chopped bacon to the pan and don't use any oil or butter.