Cooking Broccoli
I think about broccoli a lot. Actually, I think about bloccori a lot. I can not separate the two. I am not exactly sure why, as it has been some time, but Grandma called it bloccori and there is not a head of broccoli that goes by without the word bloccori popping into my head. I search my memory for a time when I saw her cooking broccoli, but I don’t believe I ever saw her do so. I remember the rotisserie chickens she bought that came in the foil bags from the store (BTW, We were way ahead of the rotisserie chicken craze. Long before “set it and forget it” entered our lingo as culinary terminology, we were eating rotisserie chicken), but never did I see her cooking broccoli or bloccori. If not cooking broccoli, then I suppose we must have just talked about it. A lot. I am not exactly sure why.
Beyond chatting about it, my experience with cooking broccoli was probably not much different then many other’s experience. Broccoli was bought frozen and cooked in boiling water or, later on, in the microwave, right in the box. When broccoli and cheese sauce was invented that was big for broccoli, but we were traditionalists – frozen, plain broccoli for us. Of course, tastes change and broccoli always seemed like one of those vegetables that could be taken well beyond cheese sauce and away from the boiling water.
Cooking broccoli is very easy and, as with my eggplant, I think it tastes delicious roasted. Since is has only a mild flavor with a few sulphurous notes and some nuttiness that really does go well with many flavors. Lemon is a shoe in, as is garlic. Broccoli’s flavor also goes well with other nutty flavors. Cooking broccoli with almonds, pecans or cashews really makes for a nice pairing. I particularly like pecan as it has a deeper nutty flavor that goes well with bloccori. It is important not to over cook broccoli, because mushy broccoli is just awful. Always go for tender-crunchy. This only takes about 1015 minutes in the oven so it is also quick! Oh, one more thing, peel the stalk! The stalk is tender and tasty under that tough skin! Don’t waste it, eat it! It is delicious!
Here is how I roast up broccoli…
- 1 lb head of fresh broccoli.
- 2/3 a cup of pecan halves
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1 lemon
- lemon flavored olive oil
- salt and pepper
- 1/4-1/2 cup of parmesan cheese
- Pre-heat the oven to 350F.
- Wash and dry the broccoli. Using a sharp knife, cut the florets off including some of the stalk. Cut the floret pieces a little bigger than bite size.
- Trim the stalk of its thick skin and slice it into 1/4 inch slices.
- Finely chop the garlic.
- Zest the lemon and cut it in half.
- Place the broccoli pieces in a large bowl. Add the pecans, chopped garlic and lemon zest.
- Drizzle the broccoli mixture with enough lemon olive oil to coat. Toss well.
- Using one of the lemon halves, squeeze 1-2 tsp of lemon juice over the broccoli. Toss well.
- Season with salt and pepper. Toss well.
- Place the broccoli into a baking pan and bake 12-15 minutes until the florets start getting golden and the pieces are tender but still have some crunch.
- Sprinkle on the cheese to taste.
- Serve hot.
- In a pinch, fresh-frozen broccoli can also be used.
- A variety of flavored oils can also be chosen, such as chilli-garlic.
- For added zing, add a tsp of red chilli flake.
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