The first time I spent Thanksgiving at Kendrick’s parents’ place, I decided to impress my in-laws-to-be by making this crowd-pleaser side dish (even people who “don’t like Brussels sprouts” – a.k.a. people I think are weird – like it). Unfortunately, I didn’t boil the sprouts for long enough, so forty-five minutes after we were supposed to all sit down to dinner I was still frantically sauteing the damn things while Kendrick’s entire family looked on in pity. Don’t do that, please: even though food purists would frown on this advice, I urge  you to cook the sprouts until they’re fork-tender before adding them to the pan. (This time, by the way, they turned out perfectly.)

JORDAN’S BRUSSELS SPROUTS w/ PANCETTA & MUSHROOMS

What you need:

1 package brussels sprouts, stemmed and halved

Approximately 1 cup of pancetta, trimmed of fat and cubed

1 package mushrooms, roughly chopped

Olive oil

Salt & fresh-ground pepper

1 tbsp butter

What you do:

1. Boil water in a large saucepan and cook Brussels sprouts until fork-tender.

2. Meanwhile, in a large frying pan or wok, heat a splash or two of olive oil, add pancetta cubes, and cook pancetta until nearly crispy.

3. A couple of minutes before you think the pancetta will be done, add the mushrooms and cook until tender.

4. Once the Brussels sprouts are tender, add them to the pan and toss around to coat in pancetta juices. Season to taste, top with butter, mix, serve.

Watch the video here.