Long-cooked broccoli redux

[Jenise]

Okay, so still enamored of this thing, the other night I prepared broccoli two ways and combined the results for service: broccoli cooked about two minutes in boiling salted water, and broccoli blanched for about one minute and then baked for an hour or so with olive oil. In the combination we had the best of both worlds: the color and the crunch of the just-cooked, and the depth and profound sweetness of the long-cooked. I made a rather large quantity since leftover veggies are a favorite breakfast of mine, but I never got that indulgence because the two broccolis ended up in a dish I defy anyone to top: chopped and mixed with herbs and sauteed mushrooms, bound with a chicken gravy velvetted with cream, then baked in a crust. Broccoli Pot Pie, if you will. Ooh la la! I highly recommend both--because of this new method, after many many many years of indifference, I'm in love with broccoli again.

Yum! I will certainly give this a try. Thanks, Jenise!

Hmm. My only experience with long-cooked broccoli is when it's been boiled into gray mush.

This sounds a lot more promising.

-Paul W.

I love Broccoli and must try this.

I'm not sure how the chemistry works, but, then again, I'm not sure how most chemistry works

Wow, Jenise
A broccoli dish my husband might actually eat. This is definitely on my 5 star menu when I get my kitchen back in a few weeks. Thx.

[Jenise]

This is definitely on my 5 star menu when I get my kitchen back in a few weeks. Thx.

Did it pack its bags and leave in a huff or is it just on vacation? (I suddenly picture your kitchen sunning itself in Palm Springs with everybody else.)

This is definitely on my 5 star menu when I get my kitchen back in a few weeks. Thx.

Did it pack its bags and leave in a huff or is it just on vacation? (I suddenly picture your kitchen sunning itself in Palm Springs with everybody else.)

Actually, I packed its bags and sent it to a trash heap -- to be replaced by a newer model. It will look very much the same, except the cabinets will no longer fall off in your hands when you pull them open, and the granite will now be one slab (in absolute black) rather than in tiles. At this point, just waiting for the slab, and for the resurfacing of my hardwood floors. We're almost there! When it's all done, I will not have been able to cook in my kitchen for over a month. I am truly having withdrawals.

[Jenise]

This is definitely on my 5 star menu when I get my kitchen back in a few weeks. Thx.

Did it pack its bags and leave in a huff or is it just on vacation? (I suddenly picture your kitchen sunning itself in Palm Springs with everybody else.)

Actually, I packed its bags and sent it to a trash heap -- to be replaced by a newer model. It will look very much the same, except the cabinets will no longer fall off in your hands when you pull them open, and the granite will now be one slab (in absolute black) rather than in tiles. At this point, just waiting for the slab, and for the resurfacing of my hardwood floors. We're almost there! When it's all done, I will not have been able to cook in my kitchen for over a month. I am truly having withdrawals.

Sounds wonderful, Jo Ann. Sounds more like a facelift than a remodel. Any new appliances?

Jo Ann, I think you need to start a thread with pictures of your reno - we're all intrigued ! Kind of a "work in progress" thing, with final completed pics at the end ?

I wash and trim the broccoli to even sized pieces and put them on a baking pan with Reynolds Release foil drizzled with EVOO; then I thinly slice lots of cloves of garlic and slice red peppers. Toss the mix in the EVOO and sprinkle with kosher salt or sea salt and bake at 400 until the broccoli starts to brown, turning once during the process (about 15 min). My Dad will eat the broccoli cooked this way without any sauce because it tastes really sweet.

It will look very much the same, except the cabinets will no longer fall off in your hands when you pull them open, (

Jo Ann, we knew it was time to go ahead with the kitchen project when a piece of metal hinge found its way into a meatloaf one night!
Good luck with yours.

Jo Ann, I think you need to start a thread with pictures of your reno - we're all intrigued ! Kind of a "work in progress" thing, with final completed pics at the end ?

Not going to happen, Celia. It was too heartbreaking to come home a week ago and see a hole in my house where my kitchen used to be. I wanted to take pictures, but just didn't have the heart. The cabinets are now partially installed with the subsurface in place awaiting the granite slab. The only thing functional at this point is my refrigerator. And most of my furniture is stacked in my living room and my office, and the rest of my appliances in the garage. As I'm typing this, my Kitchen Aid mixer, cuisinart and all thier attachments are at my feet. And the hot water for my tea is lightly simmering on the hot plate on a plant stand in the family room. This is not something I want to remember. But, I will send after pictures. The big thing that happened is a repainting of the entire house (including mill work). That project alone took 2 months. But, I now have spectacular, colored walls! I love art, and my walls now showcase my art beautifully.

Jenise -- I bought all new appliances about a year and a half ago. The only thing I didn't update at that time was the microwave, which is getting replaced now. That is the only disappointment. My space available is too small to accommodate the microwave/convection I wanted. So... See you in pictures!

[Jenise]

I wash and trim the broccoli to even sized pieces and put them on a baking pan with Reynolds Release foil drizzled with EVOO; then I thinly slice lots of cloves of garlic and slice red peppers. Toss the mix in the EVOO and sprinkle with kosher salt or sea salt and bake at 400 until the broccoli starts to brown, turning once during the process (about 15 min). My Dad will eat the broccoli cooked this way without any sauce because it tastes really sweet.

Sounds great--isn't it nice to produce a perfect vegetable without sauce or butter? I had never baked broccoli before (this all started when I saw long-cooked broccoli on a pizza in Los Angeles recently) and since then, tried baking it from both raw and blanched. Have you tried pre-blanching? Have to say, I found the blanched version a bit better--the hydration acts protectively to preserve color and it kind of shocks those natural sugars (any carb-counter knows broccoli's full of natural sugar) into the forefront.

Jenise -- I bought all new appliances about a year and a half ago. The only thing I didn't update at that time was the microwave, which is getting replaced now. That is the only disappointment. My space available is too small to accommodate the microwave/convection I wanted. So... See you in pictures!

Well too bad, but if that's the only concession you had to make you didn't do badly at all. Sounds like you've lived in that home a long time and have built a trove of precious memories.

Jenise, I can't wait to try this. I love broccoli but was unhappy with my previous attempts at roasting it. The pre-blanch hydration part sounds like the piece I've been missing for the results I want. What temperature did you use for roasting? And for a whole hour, huh?

After making broccoli palatable to the masses, how about coming up with a recipe that incorporates zucchini, that isn't just as good (or better) if you leave the zucchini out.....

Have you tried slicing the zucchini into strips and sauteing with onion and then at the very end add a splash of teriyaki sauce? I love it that way. Sometimes I'll throw in sliced mushrooms.

[Jenise]

Jenise, I can't wait to try this. I love broccoli but was unhappy with my previous attempts at roasting it. The pre-blanch hydration part sounds like the piece I've been missing for the results I want. What temperature did you use for roasting? And for a whole hour, huh?

Roasted at 250, Trudy, and for a little over an hour, about an hour and fifteen. I knew from my trial run at it that 60-90 minutes got in the good zone, and beyond that it over-roasted and lost some of that sweetness. Still in Denver?

[Jenise]

After making broccoli palatable to the masses, how about coming up with a recipe that incorporates zucchini, that isn't just as good (or better) if you leave the zucchini out.....

So, not a zucchini fan, I take it?

Roasted at 250, Trudy, and for a little over an hour, about an hour and fifteen. I knew from my trial run at it that 60-90 minutes got in the good zone, and beyond that it over-roasted and lost some of that sweetness. Still in Denver?

Aha, the low temp. There's the other piece I haven't tried before. I'm usually so rushed I use higher temps. I'm going to try this later this week.

Still in Denver for now. But we now have long-term exit plans in place. We bought an acreage just outside my Iowa hometown (where I have eleventy-seven relatives still in residence) this past year. We're waiting for the housing market to stabilize some and then the sale of our residence and an investment property will hopefully fund a modest new house in the most amazing rural setting, amongst family, to raise our 3 year old daughter. Ahh, I anxiously await a simpler existence. (And gardening soil that I don't have to haul in.)