By Elk season opened Saturday. I was in position on the bench above the spring at four-thirty in the morning, which meant getting up at two to make the drive and the walk. The wind was coming off the south ridge and holding steady, which is what you want — keeps your scent moving away from where the animals come down to drink. I sat for three hours and watched the light come up and didn't see a single elk and that was fine. That was exactly what most of the good days look like.
There's a version of hunting that's about the kill and a version that's about the place. I stopped being the first kind of hunter somewhere around my mid-twenties, though I couldn't have told you at the time. Now the morning in the dark on the bench is the point. The elk, when they come, are the conclusion of something I'm already grateful for.
Came home, slept three hours, went to work. Had four horses to shoe over in Absaroka on a Monday to Friday schedule and I pushed two of them into Saturday to make the opener work. Tom Whelan used to say that a good farrier never lets his personal schedule make the horses wait. I've kept that. Even this week when I really didn't want to load the truck Saturday afternoon after eight hours of sitting still in the cold.
Mom's garden is done for the year except for some late kale and the Brussels sprouts, which like frost and come in better for it. We had roasted Brussels sprouts with dinner most nights this week — halved, cut side down in a very hot pan, salt and pepper and a little lemon at the end. Simple vegetable, misunderstood vegetable. People who say they don't like Brussels sprouts have mostly had them boiled to gray, which is a crime against the vegetable. You have to get color on them. You have to get something close to a crust. Then they're something else entirely.
Mom’s sprouts had been sitting out there through two hard frosts by the time I got home Saturday, and that’s exactly what they needed — cold makes them sweeter, pulls the bitterness down. I’ve been halving them and getting color on the cut side in a screaming-hot pan all week, and this garlic-rosemary version is the one that felt like it matched the week: quiet, a little earthy, nothing extra. You don’t need much when the ingredient is already doing its best work.
Garlic-Rosemary Brussels Sprouts
Prep Time: 10 min | Cook Time: 25 min | Total Time: 35 min | Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lbs Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved lengthwise
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- 2 teaspoons fresh rosemary, finely chopped (or 3/4 teaspoon dried)
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- Flaky sea salt, to finish
Instructions
- Preheat. Place a heavy oven-safe skillet or sheet pan in the oven and preheat to 425°F. Getting the pan hot before the sprouts go in is what gives you the crust.
- Prep the sprouts. Trim the stem ends and peel away any yellowed outer leaves. Halve each sprout lengthwise through the core so they lay flat.
- Season. In a large bowl, toss the halved Brussels sprouts with olive oil, sliced garlic, rosemary, salt, and pepper until evenly coated.
- Roast cut-side down. Carefully remove the hot pan from the oven and arrange the sprouts cut-side down in a single layer. Return to the oven and roast for 18–22 minutes without stirring, until the cut faces are deeply golden and the outer leaves are crisped at the edges.
- Finish. Remove from the oven. Squeeze lemon juice over the top, taste for salt, and transfer to a serving dish. Finish with a pinch of flaky sea salt if you have it.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 145 | Protein: 5g | Fat: 11g | Carbs: 11g | Fiber: 4g | Sodium: 290mg