friends and sprouts

I have very few friends in my life that I have stayed in close contact with over the years. Maybe I'm a bad friend (I hope not). Maybe it's because Karen and I have moved so much over the last thirteen years that we've been married. New challenges, new jobs, new communities to connect with and find a place to belong. But there are friends that remain, that you cling to, and to whom you return to know who you are and who you were.

Which brings me to Brussels sprouts.

Our good friend, Lori, hates the sprouts. When I posted on Facebook that I was making them, she threatened to hide my updates, at least the sprouts-related ones. When I told her she could make this same recipe with cauliflower, she asked if I was going to keep naming things until I got to cupcakes, because then she'd be willing to try it.

Lori and her husband, Chris, have known us for long time now. Chris is a teacher, and a good one. He's the kind of teacher that makes you think in more ways than you could ever thought possible. And when he drove me in his car on my first day of me being a teacher, we talked musicals and Sondheim and I knew I found a friend. Later that year, we moved two blocks away from them in Goshen, IN. Proximity wasn't the major factor, but it certainly helped. He and Lori made room for us in their lives. Lori's probably the smartest person I know with the driest sense of humor I've encountered. I remember holding their first son and weeping, knowing just how hard they'd love that boy. Now they have two, and their pictures on Facebook make us miss them more.

I left teaching and Karen and I moved constantly the next few years with new jobs and new adjustable rate mortgages, but we never lost touch with Chris and Lori. Then Chris did a national tour this summer, watching every Shakespearean play in forty days. He stayed with us, and I took him into NYC on a walking tour of food from Penn Station to the East Village, because I knew he had to try David Chang's Momofuku. We ate Berkshire pork ramen and pork buns, and really, it was perfect. They seated us at the counter, and I got to stare at the hands of the chef as he did final prep on dishes flying past us. Art and craft and a razor blade to slice the scallops.

The one thing we missed at Momofuku that we really should have tried was the Brussels sprouts. Crisp burnt edges (but in a good way) from their time in the deep fryer (we bake ours, which is a Chang-approved alternative), coated with a salty/sweet/spicy dressing, and showered with cilantro and mint. The final touch is crisped rice cereal that is seasoned with Chinese seven-spice powder. It's an ugly-beautiful concoction that tastes better than you could ever imagine. It's one of those things that you cannot stop eating, and you're looking at the other person's plate to see if they have any crispy bits left on their plate.

Chris, Lori, and the boys are coming to visit NYC this summer. We really can't wait to see them. And I'm sure we'll be eating sprouts. And cupcakes.

Recipe | Momofuku Roasted Brussels Sprouts