Air Frying Class

Nicholas Gavin is the Culinary Creative Director of ChefSteps, where he develops recipes and is responsible for making all the food look beautiful. Nick has worked at ChefSteps for over a decade; he and ChefSteps co-founder Grant Crilly worked together at Modernist Cuisine. Nick has worked in professional kitchens both in the United States and abroad, most notably at Mugaritz in San Sebastian, Spain.

Nicholas Gavin

The best way to enjoy Brussels sprouts is to roast them, but that doesn’t mean you can just throw them into a hot oven and produce something worth serving. Ideally, they should have a deep roasted flavor, crispy edges, and a still-tender crunch at the core. They shouldn’t be overly charred, bitter, or mushy.The air fryer is a great tool for roasting Brussels sprouts to that perfect doneness. Forced convection keeps the cooking time short, and the blast of heat is sufficient to brown the exterior without overcooking the interior. To amplify all the parts we like about roasted Brussels sprouts, we cut them to a consistent size, exposing their cores and increasing their surface area, which both shortens the cooking time and increases the amount of Maillard browning.Since nicely roasted Brussels sprouts have a robust caramelized flavor, they can stand up to intensely seasoned sauces, like the dressing in this recipe: salty, umami-rich fish sauce and lots of fresh herbs and chiles, tied together with a combination of sweet acidity from tamarind concentrate and lime juice.

Air-Fried Brussels Sprouts With Chile-Tamarind Dressing