Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume 2 (144 page)

Place the prepared broccoli in a covered bowl or plastic bag and refrigerate until you are ready to cook it. Wash rapidly under cold, running water just before cooking.

COOKING METHODS

Peeled broccoli cooks so fast, 5 to 6 minutes, that if you are serving it simply, with melted butter or a sauce, you should cook it only just before serving. If this works in with your schedule, it is easily accomplished between courses, otherwise pick one of the alternate methods, where the broccoli is sautéed or finishes in the oven.

  
CHOUX BROCOLI BLANCHIS

[Blanched Broccoli—Plain Boiled Broccoli]

When you have not peeled your broccoli, you must resort to all sorts of subterfuges such as boiling the stalks while steaming the heads, steaming the whole vegetable, or pressure cooking; by the time the stalks are done the heads usually droop, the color has darkened, and the broccoli has lost much of its fresh taste and texture as well as those nutrients considered so important by
the very people who feel the peel is the best part. When you have peeled your broccoli, you may use the French method of green-vegetable cookery—blanching. Because peeled broccoli is so tender, we recommend the wire salad basket for plunging it into its boiling bath and snatching it out again.

For 4 to 6 servings

1 bunch (1½ to 2 lbs.) fresh broccoli

A wire salad basket (or a vegetable rack, or a large skimmer)

A kettle containing at least 4 quarts of rapidly boiling water and 2 Tb salt (1½ tsp per quart)

Cut, peel, and wash the broccoli as described in preceding directions, and place in salad basket. Plunge into the rapidly boiling water over highest heat. As soon as water returns to the boil again, boil slowly, uncovered, for 4 to 6 minutes (depending on freshness of broccoli). It is done when a knife pierces the stalks easily. Taste a piece as a test: it should be just tender, with a slight crunch of texture. Remove immediately from the boiling water and serve as directed in one of the following suggestions.

(*)
AHEAD-OF-TIME NOTE
: If by some chance you plan to serve the hot broccoli with a sauce, and cannot do so immediately when it is done, let it cool, spreading out on a tray if necessary so it will cool quickly. Keep the water boiling. Return broccoli to salad basket just before you wish to serve and re-plunge it for a moment in the rapidly boiling water so that it will just heat through.

Serving suggestions for plain boiled broccoli

Brocoli au Citron
—Broccoli for Dieters. Broccoli, like asparagus, is great for dieters because it has its own natural flavor, which a little lemon juice will enhance. Arrange the hot broccoli on a hot serving dish, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and decorate with wedges of lemon.

Brocoli au Beurre Noir
—Broccoli with Brown Butter Sauce. Before cooking the broccoli, melt 5 to 6 tablespoons of butter, skim off foam and pour the clear yellow butter off the milky residue and into another saucepan. When broccoli is done, arrange it on a hot serving dish; sprinkle with salt, pepper, and drops of lemon juice. Heat butter until it turns a light, nutty brown and pour it bubbling hot over the broccoli. Serve immediately.

  
Brocoli à la Polonaise

[Broccoli with Sautéed Bread Crumbs and Chopped Egg]

This more elaborate presentation of the brown butter sauce includes bread crumbs and sieved egg. You might serve it as a first course or in place of a salad. It would also go with plain broiled or roast chicken, chops, steak, hamburger, or broiled fish.

For 1 bunch (1½ to 2 lbs.) broccoli,
serving 4 to 6

¼ lb. (1 stick) butter

A saucepan

An 8-inch frying pan

½ cup (lightly pressed) crumbs from fresh homemade-type white bread

Salt and pepper

1 hard-boiled egg

A sieve set over a bowl

Before cooking the broccoli (
Master Recipe
) melt the butter in the saucepan, skim off foam, and pour clear butter off milky residue and into frying pan. Stir in the bread crumbs and sauté over moderately high heat, stirring for several minutes until crumbs are lightly browned. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and set aside. Peel the hard-boiled egg, rub through sieve into bowl, and season with salt and pepper.

When broccoli is done, arrange on a hot serving dish and sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Reheat the bread crumbs, mix in the sieved egg, strew over the broccoli, and serve immediately.