Brussels Sprouts Gratin

This is a Brussels sprouts dish that won over even the most ardent Brussels sprout haters!

Ingredients

* 2 pints Brussels sprouts, trimmed, about 1 1/2 pounds
* 3 tablespoons butter
* 3 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
* 2 cups milk, at room temperature
* Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
* 5 ounces Gruyere, grated (about 1 cup grated)

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over medium heat. Add the Brussels sprouts and cook for 5 to 7 minutes, until bright green and beginning to soften. Remove the sprouts with a slotted spoon and drop into a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process.

Make a roux for the sauce: toss the flour in a dry preheated pan. Let it cook for a few moments (no more than thirty seconds), then quickly stir in the butter, and heat until smooth and bubbling, about 1 minute. Very slowly whisk in the milk and continue to cook, whisking frequently, until thick and creamy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add 1/4 of the cheese and stir until melted and smooth. Season the sauce well with salt and heavily with pepper.

When whisking, no Teflon pans! The whisk scrapes off the non-stick coating into your food.

Halve the Brussels sprouts through the core and put them in an even layer in a 2 quart baking dish. Pour the sauce over the sprouts and sprinkle the cheese evenly over the top. Bake in the center of the oven for 10 to 15 minutes until the top is golden and bubbling.

Et voila:

Shiny and bubbly, creamy and delicious!

From the book 5 Ingredient Fix, by Claire Robinson, a Food Network chef who has a show of the same name.