• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Forager | Chef
  • Home
  • About
  • Recipes
  • Interviews
  • Partnerships
  • Contact
menu icon
go to homepage
  • Home
  • About
  • Recipes
  • Interviews
  • Partnerships
  • Contact
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • YouTube
  • subscribe
    search icon
    Homepage link
    • Home
    • About
    • Recipes
    • Interviews
    • Partnerships
    • Contact
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • YouTube
  • ×
    Home » Wild Mushroom Recipes

    Brussels Sprouts With Pickled Hen Of The Woods

    Published: Apr 29, 2013 Modified: Mar 31, 2023 Author: Alan Bergo

    Jump to Recipe
    Brussels sprout with pickled hen of the woods mushrooms

    Brussels sprouts have come a long way. When I was growing up they were sort of a mystery. I remember eating them only once as a child and I didn't like them one bit. I can still recall people talking about eating them like they were some form of torture.

    Slimy, soft, and stinky are adjectives that come to mind. When overcooked, they can be all of these things. If you've been to a farmer's market and seen the grandeur that is an entire stalk of Brussels still attached to the stem though you may have a different opinion, I sure do.

    I think a big reason for the paradigm shift people have had about Brussels is due to how they're prepared. It used to be that you might heat them in some butter until they are falling apart, which tends to make vegetables in the cabbage family stinky. Now when they're served in restaurants, chefs know that when sliced in half, cooked from raw, and caramelized in some fat, they become delicious, nutty and irresistible.

    With our cool climate in Minnesota, we get Brussels after the snow falls for a bit. When they're around and we have enough of them, one of my favorite ways to serve them is as a side dish. They're very popular, especially if you throw a little pork in the mix.

    Brussels sprout with pickled hen of the woods mushrooms
    Brussels sprout with pickled hen of the woods mushrooms

    With all the richness of cabbage cooked in fat and tossed with bacon, you need something to lighten the Brussels and make them easier to eat. This is where a little acid makes the dish come alive. Just a shot of apple cider vinegar will do the trick, but If I'm feeling creative I might reach for some fun pickles to add. Any kind of pickled vegetable like onions or fiddlehead ferns could work really, but some mushrooms are a shoe in with flavors like cabbage and pork. You could choose any variety of pickled mushroom you like, but hen of the woods have an awesome texture so It's fun to showcase them here.

    Brussels sprout with pickled hen of the woods mushrooms

    More 

    Hen of the Woods

    Hen of the Woods Recipes

    Brussels sprout with pickled hen of the woods mushrooms
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    No ratings yet

    Brussels Sprouts with Pickled Hen of the Woods

    Prep Time15 minutes mins
    Cook Time20 minutes mins
    Course: Appetizer, Side Dish
    Cuisine: American
    Keyword: Brussels sprouts, Hen of the woods mushroom
    Author: Alan Bergo

    Ingredients

    • 4 cups Brussels Sprouts roots trimmed and scored with an X, then halved
    • 3 tablespoon bacon fat reserved from the cooked bacon
    • ½ cup pickled hen of the woods chopped, plus 2 tablespoon of their pickling liquid (basic recipe for pickled hens here)
    • Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper
    • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter optional
    • 8 oz slab bacon diced into half inch cubes

    Instructions

    • In a saute pan large enough to accommodate the Brussels sprouts, render the bacon on medium heat until it has released it's fat and is crisp. Remove the bacon from the pan and reserve.  Place the Brussels sprouts cut side down in the pan with the fat and season lightly with salt and pepper. Cook the Brussels sprouts until golden brown and caramelized and tender about 5 minutes, depending on size.
    • The Brussels will soak up a lot of the fat. If the pan looks like it's getting dry and the sprouts are in danger of burning, add the unsalted butter to cool the pan and flavor them. (This is optional, but a treat)
    • Add the hen of the woods to the pan with the Brussels and heat through along with a tablespoon or so of their pickling liquid to taste, just to make it sparkle a bit. Serve immediately.

    Notes

    A little trick to cooking Brussels sprouts is to score the bottom of them with a knife creating an X; it helps them to cook quickly, and evenly. After they are scored on the bottom, cut them in half.  See a video of this technique here.
    Brussels sprout with pickled hen of the woods mushrooms
    « Classic Fried or Breaded Morels
    How To Pre-Cook Risotto Like A Restaurant »

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Diane

      May 03, 2014 at 6:57 pm

      Ate at Heartland last night but missed You. I Have some questions regarding mushroom classes. Could you email me? Thanks. Dinner was great and it was fun seeing Tony as we knew him from Signature.

      Reply
      • Alan Bergo

        May 04, 2014 at 4:33 pm

        Hi Diane, yeah Tony is a really great guy. Sorry we missed each other, every Friday I have been working on the cookbook that will be released next year, so I've been off Fridays here and there. Shoot your questions directly to my email: alanbergo3@gmail.com

        Reply
    2. Dan Farmer

      April 29, 2014 at 10:34 am

      Brussels sprouts are one of my favorite veggies today, but like you, I couldn't stand them as a kid. Recently, thinking that it would be more convenient than buy fresh sprouts, I bought a package of frozen ones. That was a huge mistake! That may be why we didn't like them as kids... these were slimy and bitter and inedible. I hate to throw food away, but there was no way to salvage those nasty little cabbages!

      I totally agree with you: caramelized, with chunks of bacon, maybe garlic (hmmm... ramps?) is the way to go, in my book.

      Reply
      • Alan Bergo

        April 29, 2014 at 10:39 am

        It takes a lot of prep to make them for a side dish! Thats what interns are good for though, and it's worth it. Yeah freezing has this quasi-cooking effect on things, really bad for Brussels.

        Reply

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    Primary Sidebar

    Chef Alan Bergo

    HI, I'm Alan: James Beard Award-winning Chef, Author, Show Host and Forager. I've been writing about cooking wild food here for over a decade. Let me show you why foraging is the most delicious thing you'll ever do.

    More about me →

    Get The Book

    the forager chef's book of flora
    The Forager Chefs Book of Flora

    As Seen On

    An image showing many different brands and media companies forager chef alan bergo has worked with.

    Footer

    Privacy

    Subscribe

    Be the first to hear what I'm doing

    Contact

    As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

    Copyright © 2025 Forager | Chef LLC® Accessibility Statement

    Rate This Recipe

    Your vote:




    A rating is required
    A name is required
    An email is required