Sharpening My Wits

What’s cooking? Blistered Broccoli Pasta with Pecans, Pecorino, and Mint

I love writing – I really do. But there’s something about the pressure to come up with sparkling prose that makes me go to unusual lengths in lieu of putting my fanny in the chair and tuning up my word processing program.

Today, for instance, in preparation for writing, I have...

■ sterilized my sponges

■ removed the wax from my Christmas votives

■ pored through a collection of recipes to eliminate those I never really plan to make

■ honed my knives

■ invited a friend over for socially distanced coffee.

Whoa – wait a minute, you say. Let’s go back to that fourth item: honing your knives? WTF?

Yes, folks, honing my knives. One of my 2020 New Year’s resolutions, and perhaps the only one I’ve taken seriously. You should consider doing the same. After all, we still have lots of time on our hands.

This idea started with a notice that went out to “my people” – the Austin Food Bloggers Alliance – inviting the first dozen respondents to attend a knife skills class at Faraday’s Kitchen Store, a local Austin source for all things culinary. The main draw was a free Wüsthof knife as part of the class, as well as a delightful lunch prepared in the store’s test kitchen. Not surprisingly, the Kitchen Goddess didn’t waste a gnat’s breath before signing up.

The knife I chose was Wüsthof’s Classic 7" Hollow Edge Nakiri Knife. The Nakiri is a traditional vegetable knife designed for full, rhythmic chopping strokes (I’m still working on that “full, rhythmic” part) – perfect for slicing, dicing, chopping, and mincing. The KG’s favorite tasks. The square tip makes it one of the safest to use in the kitchen. The knives in this line are full tang – the blade is a single piece of steel extending the full length of the knife. I especially like the full bolster part, which is that piece of metal between the handle and the blade. It adds heft to the knife, but more importantly for me, it protects your fingers from pushing against the blade. It has a thinner blade than a traditional cleaver, and those vertical indentations along the blade create small air pockets between the blade and the food, reducing friction and drag between the knife and the food. That’s a nice touch when you’re slicing starchy vegetables like potatoes, which tend to stick to a knife’s blade.

The lead-off to the knife skills discussion/demo was a tutorial on knife care and use, which for my part was the highlight of the day. Most people don’t think about how much easier it is to cook with a really sharp knife; but the less energy you have to put into the chopping and dicing and slicing, the smoother and faster is the process. Of course, you have to be careful, because sharp knives can cut you before you even know it’s happening. But they make the job of cutting an onion, for instance, almost effortless, and with far fewer tears. Also, a dull knife is actually more dangerous than a sharp one, because the extra pressure you have to apply can cause the knife to slip and hurt you. 

So part of our lesson on knives was about learning how to use a honing steel, a piece of kitchen equipment that has baffled the Kitchen Goddess for years. But pay attention, and you, too, will want to pull out that honing steel from your knife block and set it to work.

For starters, when you use a knife, you cause the edge of the blade to become misaligned, which means it doesn’t cut properly. You have two ways to correct the problem: honing and sharpening. When you sharpen a knife, you grind down bits of the blade in order to produce a new, sharper edge. In honing, you’re just realigning the existing edge, even though the result seems to be much the same in effect. But honing will help you avoid resharpening a knife more often than you need to, which makes the knife last longer. The KG now hones hers almost once a week! Practice makes perfect.

If you’re looking for a honing steel or a knife, check out Faraday’s, Austin’s largest independent kitchenware store, with over 5500 different kitchen and cooks tools. (Such nice people, I should give them this plug.)

Then take care of your knives:

■ Wash and dry your knives ASAP after you use them.

■ Don’t put them in the dishwasher: the blade is sure to bang against other tools or dishes, dulling the knife and even damaging the blade. Also, depending on the type of knife, water and heat can damage the grip. So hand wash your knives with soap and hot water, and dry them right away (instead of air drying), to keep them from getting dull or rusty over time.

■ Don’t store your knives in such a way that they knock against other knives or tools. Some options: 

• Wall-mounted magnetic strip. Fine as long as your knives aren’t in a position to be knocked off easily.

• Wooden knife blocks. If your knife block is positioned at an angle, store the knives upside down (blades turned up), so the knife edge isn’t resting on the block.

• If a drawer is your only option, buy plastic knife guards that slip over the blades.

• If you are lucky like the Kitchen Goddess, you can use a large, shallow drawer that lets you store your knives flat. Be sure to use rubber drawer liners with an open grid, so the air can move around your knives.

One of my favorite features in my Texas kitchen. Right next to the stovetop.

 So, now that your knives are sharp, what can you do with them? This pasta dish is a snap to make – “a slam dunk,” as one reviewer put it. And if you don’t have all the same ingredients, feel free to substitute. The KG had a bounty of pecans, which she subbed for the walnuts in the original recipe. The nuts add a meaty flavor to what is an almost vegetarian dish. I say “almost” because there is the pecorino.

The key to the dish is in getting the broccoli properly seared, which involves relatively high heat and no touching. Oil in the pan, broccoli in the oil, and then leave it undisturbed. It’s the same as when you are sautéing any protein – chicken or meat or scallops – that maillard reaction between the protein and the sugars that causes the meat to get brown and crusty will do the same for the broccoli, producing a sweetness you will really enjoy.

Blistered Broccoli Pasta with Pecans, Pecorino, and Mint

Adapted from Dawn Perry in The New York Times (May 24, 2020)

In addition to the need for proper searing, the lemon squeeze at the end of the process is important. That little bit of pizzazz adds a fresh, clean taste to the food, and makes a real difference in helping the flavors reach their full potential.

Serves 4.

Ingredients

1 bunch broccoli or cauliflower (about 1 pound untrimmed)

10 ounces fusilli, farfalle or other short pasta (KG used a mix)

½ cup olive oil

½ cup pecans, chopped (can substitute walnuts or other meaty nuts)

1 teaspoon Aleppo pepper, or ¼-½ teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)

1 lemon, zested (about 1 teaspoon) then quartered

½ cup grated Pecorino Romano or Parmigiano Reggiano, plus more for serving

1 cup packed fresh mint or parsley leaves (or a combination)

Kosher salt and black pepper

I had not enough of either farfalle or fusilli, so combined them. Use what you have.

Directions

Separate the thick stem of the broccoli from the florets and peel it, then slice it into rounds ¼-inch thick. Chop the florets into pieces a bit larger than bite-sized. Set the broccoli aside.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil (using about 1½ teaspoons of kosher salt per quart of water). Add the pasta and cook according to package instructions until al dente.

Kitchen Goddess note about timing: If you have your mise en place – ingredients chopped and measured and ready to go – you can prepare the broccoli in the same amount of time as the pasta takes to cook. The Kitchen Goddess isn’t always ready to meet this challenge, but she is dedicated to the journey.

While the pasta is cooking, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Add the pecans and Aleppo pepper (or red pepper flakes, if using), and cook, stirring, for 1-2 minutes, until the nuts have turned golden and fragrant. Use a slotted spoon or fine-mesh skimmer spoon to remove the nuts and whatever pepper flakes you can to a small bowl. (Hint: The original writer said to remove the nuts and pepper flakes, but I found that most of the pepper flakes will stubbornly resist removal.) Season the nuts with a thin sprinkling of salt and freshly ground pepper.

Add the broccoli to the skillet and toss it in the oil until the pieces are evenly coated. Use a fork or tongs to move the broccoli around in a relatively even layer so that most of the cut sides are in contact with the pan. Cover the pan and cook the broccoli, undisturbed, for 2 minutes. Remove the cover and toss the broccoli to get more of the pieces – or other sides of the pieces – into contact with the pan. Cover again and cook, undisturbed, another 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat.

When the pasta has reached al dente stage, drain it (reserving ¼ cup of the pasta water), and add it to the broccoli along with just enough pasta water to keep the pasta from sticking to the skillet. Toss the broccoli and pasta with the lemon zest, grated cheese, toasted nuts and half the mint/parsley.

Divide the broccoli and pasta mix among serving bowls and sprinkle with the remaining herbs. Add more cheese and a bit of olive oil if you want. Serve with the lemon wedges and encourage guests to squeeze them over the food.

Kitchen Goddess note: In an effort to be straightforward with this recipe, the KG followed it pretty much by the book. But she yearned to add little white wine. So next time, she’ll be tossing in 2 tablespoons of white wine as the pasta was added to the broccoli. Might also pour a glass for the cook. Try it yourself. Will keep you posted...

The Season of Waiting What’s cooking? Butter-Steamed Broccoli with Panko and Parmesan Cheese

It’s that middling time of year. When spring is so near you can almost taste it, except that the wind chill keeps freezing your taste buds. But the hardest thing about this time of year is finding something fresh to cook.

There’s lots in the stores, don’t get me wrong. But I’ve pretty much had my fill of broccoli and broccolini and cauliflower, and butternut and acorn squash, which is what’s still most abundant in the fresh produce aisle. Fresh asparagus will make an appearance soon – that would be fresh, local asparagus, from someplace on this continent. But not just yet.

Do I sound whiney? I’m sure that’s right. And not like me. For the truth is that I’ve had the flu – in spite of having gotten a flu shot this year – and even if I’d felt like cooking or eating, my prince has refused to let me near anything he’s planning to put in his mouth.

So we’ve had lots of takeout, and a few meals that involved boiling liquid – to adequately eliminate any germs. But at some point, you know, the Kitchen Goddess must cook. Sharks gotta swim.

I’m not alone in this lament, by the way. Just last week, the very talented Sam Sifton (NY Times food writer) posted a piece in the Sunday NYT Magazine, wherein he said, “These are hard days for cooking.... Early March can leave cooks adrift in home and restaurant kitchens alike, unsure of themselves, desirous of inspiration.” So misery does indeed love company.

And that’s where this very tasty broccoli recipe comes in. I know, I said I was tired of broccoli; mostly, I meant I was tired of the same old preparations.

Often, when trying to figure out what to do with veggies, my thoughts run to steam/boil/grill/roast and then slather with butter. But that seemed sort of inadequate. So when I uncovered this recipe in my slush pile of good ideas, I cheered. For starters, this technique of cooking the broccoli in a bath of water and butter over high heat is truly magical. A new arrow in the Kitchen Goddess’s quiver, as it were. The broccoli absorbs both the water and the butter, which completely changes the flavor of the food. Add the nuttiness of shaved parmesan cheese, plus a nice crunch delivered by toasted, peppered panko, and you have what is both a very good and a very easy dish. Not exactly springlike, but then, it’s not exactly spring. (If you want to hint at the coming of spring, grate some lemon zest into the panko or squeeze a bit of lemon into the skillet with the broccoli.) Thankfully, it is actually possible to get very attractive fresh broccoli in the stores.

I served this excellent preparation with grilled – by the prince – chicken thighs and rice (another dish from boiling water). Not an awe-inspiring meal, but way better than takeout.

Butter-Steamed Broccoli with Panko and Parmesan Cheese

Adapted from David Tanis in The New York Times.

Serves 4.

¾ cup panko bread crumbs
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
¾ teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
salt
1 large head broccoli (about 1 pound)
1 clove garlic, sliced thin
1 cup water
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 ounces Parmigiano-Reggiano, shaved
Optional: ½ lemon (zest grated into the bread crumbs, or juice squeezed into the water bath for broccoli)

Preheat the oven to 400º.

In a medium bowl, toss the panko crumbs with the olive oil. Place the crumbs on a rimmed baking pan and put the pan in the oven for 10-12 minutes, or until the crumbs take on a golden color. Stir the crumbs once or twice as they cook, to encourage even browning. When the panko crumbs have reached a color you like, remove them from the oven and scrape them into a bowl to cool. Stir in the pepper and salt to taste.






In the meantime, separate the broccoli into spears 3-4 inches long, slicing the thickest ones to make stems no thicker than ½ inch. If the base of the broccoli is a long, thick stem, use a peeler to remove the tough outer skin, and slice the stem into batons (sticks, like French fries) no more than ½ inch thick.








Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the broccoli, garlic, and water, and season with salt to taste. Stir well and turn the heat to medium-high, then cover the skillet with a tight-fitting lid. Cook the broccoli over medium-high heat for 5 minutes, at which point it should be firm-tender and still green. (Some of the stems will brown lightly from the butter in the bottom of the pan.)

Transfer the broccoli to a warm serving platter and sprinkle it with the toasted panko crumbs. The broccoli should have absorbed all the butter and water; if not, pour any remaining liquid over the broccoli in the serving dish. Shave large, thin slices of Parmigiano-Reggiano on top, and serve.

All This in One Pan? It’s a Holiday Miracle! What’s cooking? Sheet-Pan Skirt Steak in a Balsamic Marinade with Broccoli and White Beans

Kitchen Goddess note: I know, I promised you some ideas for hors d’oeuvres to help your holiday hosting. But then I came across this dish and got so excited I had to move it to the front of the line. No worries, though – as I always tell my guests, the hors d’oeuvres will be ready soon...

The holidays are sort of a feast/famine roller coaster at our house. There’s that slow climb through testing four veggie recipes for this blog, climaxing with the Thanksgiving bonanza, followed by no dinner at all until a delicious turkey soup emerges from the leftovers. Then a steady slide downhill after all that cooking, when I can’t get energized about even turning on the stove. That’s when we have a week of takeout.

I’m finally rested from Turkey Day, so I decided to treat my hubby to a steak dinner. And about that time, I was perusing my pantry and noticed it included six bottles of balsamic vinegar. That’s right, six. Three of regular balsamic, two of fig balsamic, and a blueberry balsamic. Am not sure how I got to that point – probably the same way that I might end up with 30+ rolls of toilet paper: I’d notice one day that we’re low, and the thought is like an earworm – you know, one of those bits of music that play over and over in your head until you want to shoot yourself? Only in this version, every time I’d go to the store, I’d “remember” we need toilet paper. So I must have been through a period of “remembering” balsamic vinegar.

In any case, when I happened upon this recipe that used a half cup of the stuff, I had to try it. What a discovery. And at the rate I expect to repeat this meal, I’ll be needing more balsamic in no time.

How many ways do I love this dish?

1. The whole meal cooks in one pan. Get that? The whole meal. One pan. (Okay, you’ll also want a big bowl for tossing the broccoli, but let’s not quibble over numbers.)

2. The process – which included trimming and slicing the broccoli – took less than an hour from start to finish.

3. The deliciousness factor is way high because the meat juices drip down to flavor the beans and broccoli as they cook. Mmmm... And the marinade also works as a sauce for the cooked steak and the veggies. For maximum flavor, do yourself a favor – a flavor favor! – and get fresh oregano.

4. The concept is terrifically flexible: the meat can be hanger steak or skirt steak or flank steak, the veggies can be broccoli or broccolini or (according to reviews) Brussels sprouts or asparagus. And the beans can be any canned white beans: Great Northern, navy, cannellini. (Just FYI, the Kitchen Goddess’s faves are the cannellini, but all the store had this time was navy beans.)

My hanger steak, about 1.35 pounds

Kitchen Goddess note on meat: Of the three beef cuts used for this type of cooking, skirt steak and hanger steak come from the diaphragm. Both are prized for their flavor; of the two, hanger is thicker and more tender, so supposedly needs marinating for less time. That said, my butcher had only hanger available, and it was still a bit tough after marinating only 30 minutes. Next time, I’ll marinate a full hour. Actually, next time I’ll get skirt steak. Flank steak is leaner and not quite as flavorful, but responds well to marinating. All three – hanger, skirt, and flank meat – should be cooked quickly and at high heat. They’re best served rare or medium-rare, and should be cut in thin strips across the grain to improve tenderness.

Sheet-Pan Skirt Steak in a Balsamic Marinade with Broccoli and White Beans

Adapted from Rhoda Boone in epicurious.com, August 2015

Serves 4.

Ingredients
4 large garlic cloves, divided
½ cup balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons chopped fresh (!) oregano leaves, divided
1½ teaspoons kosher salt, divided
¾ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1½ pounds skirt steak (or hanger steak or flank steak – see note above; if you use skirt steak, which is long and thin, cut it into two short pieces, for ease of broiling)
1 pound broccoli or broccolini
1 can (15-ounce) white beans, drained and rinsed

Special equipment: An ovenproof wire rack that fits inside an 18x13-inch rimmed baking sheet

Directions
Finely chop 2 of the garlic cloves. Put the garlic into a large jar or medium bowl and add the vinegar, mustard, 1 tablespoon of the oregano, 1 teaspoon of the salt, and ½ teaspoon of the pepper, whisking to combine well. Slowly drizzle in ½ cup of the oil, whisking constantly to emulsify the mixture. Set aside ¼ cup of the vinaigrette for serving.

Place the steak into a half-gallon zip-lock bag and pour in the remaining vinaigrette. Seal the bag and massage to coat the meat with the vinaigrette. (Alternatively, you can place the meat in a shallow glass dish and pour the marinade over it. But that would mean dirtying another dish, wouldn’t it?) Let the meat marinate at least 30 minutes or up to 1 hour.






While the meat is marinating, use a vegetable peeler to remove the tough outer layer of the broccoli stems, and slice the broccoli lengthwise in pieces about ¼ inch thick. (If you have broccolini instead, slice only the thickest of the stems.)

Preheat the broiler and thinly slice the remaining 2 garlic cloves. In a large bowl, toss the broccolini with the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil, 1 tablespoon of oregano, ½ teaspoon of salt, and ¼ teaspoon of pepper. Lay the broccoli out on a rimmed baking sheet, and broil it about 4 inches from the heat for 5 minutes, then remove the pan from the oven.

Stir the beans into the broccoli and scatter the sliced garlic on top. Set the wire rack on top of the beans and broccoli. Remove the steak from the marinade and allow excess to drip off. Place the steak on the rack and discard the marinade.

Broil the steak about 3 minutes per side for medium-rare. (If you use hanger or skirt steak, which are thicker, let them cook an extra minute per side.) Remove the pan from the oven and let the steak rest 5 minutes before slicing.

Meanwhile, divide the broccoli-bean mixture among four plates. Thinly slice the steak against the grain and serve with the reserved vinaigrette alongside. (Caution: The balsamic vinaigrette has a fairly strong flavor that can overwhelm the broccoli/beans, which have already been flavored by the meat drippings. So taste first before you pour on more sauce.)

Note that if you are more organized than the Kitchen Goddess, you can make the vinaigrette up to 3 days ahead.

Thoughts that Run Around in My Head What’s cooking? Thai Curry Soup with Broccoli, Spinach, and Cilantro

Even after last summer’s season ended in New Jersey, my hubby and I stayed north for a month to attend a couple of weddings. With the swimming pool closed and my granddaughter in pre-school, I had some slow days, and spent much of the time transitioning to a new laptop. The process encouraged me to put at least a modest effort toward cleaning out my email files, slashing and burning the ones that went back and forth to make lunch dates from three years ago, the obligatory deluge from Facebook and LinkedIn, or sale notices from Staples or the lighting company I bought a lamp from last year. I'm not sure what the retailers are thinking about: it seems like if you just bought a lamp or a printer cartridge, you’re probably not in the market for another just yet.

Among the curiosities I noticed was a series of emails from Microsoft between August 26 and December 15 of last year, no fewer than 12 of which were reminders that my Microsoft Office “trial” (which I put into quotes because I had already bought the package through amazon.com, where it was cheaper) was either “almost over” or “ending soon.” And at least four of those were “last chances.” So I wondered if they just think I didn’t notice, or if Microsoft is like the rug dealer in my town in New Jersey who was always going out of business.

So being a writer carries its own form of curse: you notice things that completely escape most people. Or at least I think they do. Having managed to eliminate more than 1000(!) priceless missives from my email files, I decided to get some air. The fall weather in Jersey City had hit one of those beautiful, crisp periods that practically push you outside, so I headed out for a walk around the neighborhood. Along the way, I found a number of cute, new restaurants in our area. One that looked particularly interesting offered outdoor seating, which is always fun in nice weather, so I went a bit closer to check out the menu. And right near the sidewalk tables was a large sign that read, “Please ask host to be seated.” I’m not sure anyone else got the unintended meaning, but I laughed all the way home.

On a slow day, I almost always feel like cooking, and on one of those days recently, I needed to come up with something to feed my book group. As a subscriber to regular emails from epicurious.com, I’d received a recipe for a puréed broccoli soup accented with Thai green curry paste and coconut milk. Mmm... the Kitchen Goddess was intrigued. As it happened, I actually had Thai green curry paste in my fridge – the remains of a jar I’d bought to make a perfectly wonderful hors d’oeuvre, Thai Meatballs and Green Curry Sauce, that I adapted from the CIA. I took it as a sign from the universe.

Kitchen Goddess note: Let me just say here that Thai green curry paste is one of those indestructible ingredients. If you buy the canned version, once you’re done, remove what’s left and store it – refrigerated – in either a zip-lock bag with the air squeezed out, or in a tightly lidded jar. According to the sources I found online, the stuff will last “a few months,” “about 5 years,” or simply “ages,” depending on who you ask. I know I’ve had mine for a couple of years, and as long as you don’t find any mold on it, it should be fine. Mine even retained all the original heat. So glad I never threw it out; and now that I have this delightful soup recipe, I may even have to buy more.

As with any recipe from epicurious.com, the Kitchen Goddess checked the reviews before diving in. The ratings were outstanding – 4 forks (top rating) from 48 reviewers, and ALL of them would make it again. But – again as with many of the offerings on epicurious – the ratings hid a number of recommendations to “fix” the original. So this version incorporates several of the more popular suggestions. The Goddess is not a lover of spicy heat, and while the first batch she made was delicious, the spiciness very nearly set her hair on fire, so she cut way back on the curry paste for the second batch. Feel free to add extra curry paste if you are a heat freak, but do so sparingly – remember, you can always add more. The KG also found the original soup to be a bit thin, so she added some cream.

This soup is not an entrée soup. Like many Asian foods, it might fill you up, but not for long. On the other hand, it makes a great lunch, and can easily work as a side dish for dinner. Also, it is chock-a-block with green veggies, simple to cook, and damn good either hot or cold. You can ask my book group, who devoured it.

One final note: The crispy shallots are a definite enhancement. The original recipe called for store-bought (canned!) crispy shallots or onions, but that is not the Kitchen Goddess way. The real thing is ridiculously easy to produce, but you must make your own decision on that. Instructions on making your own crispy shallots follow the recipe below.

Thai Curry Soup with Broccoli, Spinach, and Cilantro

Adapted from Donna Hay Magazine, October 2015

Serves 4-6.

INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons Thai green curry paste
1 can (13.5 ounces) lite coconut milk
3 cups chicken stock
½ teaspoon sea salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 pound broccoli florets, chopped
2 cups baby spinach leaves
1 cup cilantro leaves
Juice of 1 lime (about 2 tablespoons)
½ cup heavy cream (can use light cream)

Garnishes:
– Crispy shallots (see below)
– Cilantro leaves
– Shredded scallions


PREPARATION
In a large saucepan over medium heat, stir the curry paste with a wooden spoon for about 1 minute, or until fragrant. Stir in the coconut milk, chicken broth, and salt and pepper until smooth and bring the mixture to a boil. Add the broccoli, cover and adjust the heat to a hard simmer. Simmer until the broccoli is tender, about 10 minutes.

When the broccoli is tender, remove the mixture from the heat and immediately stir in the spinach leaves, the cup of cilantro, and the lime juice. Continue stirring until the spinach wilts completely.

Using either an immersion blender or a standalone blender, blend the soup 2-3 minutes or until smooth. If serving hot, return the soup to the saucepan and add the cream. Heat on medium-low until the soup is hot.

Serve in small bowls or cups garnished with cilantro, scallions, and crispy shallots.

Crispy Shallots

4-5 shallots, peeled and sliced into thin rings
¼ cup vegetable oil (or canola oil or grapeseed oil)
Sea salt, finely ground

In a 10-inch frying pan, heat the oil at medium-high until it begins to shimmer. Add the shallots, reduce the heat to medium, and cook 5-10 minutes (I know that’s a big range, but it all depends on how brown you want the shallots to get), stirring occasionally to let the shallots brown evenly. When they reach a color you like, remove them from the oil with a slotted spoon and drain them on paper towels. Dust lightly with fine sea salt and store at room temperature in an air-tight plastic container. The crispy shallots will keep that way for several days.

Sides that Sparkle: Day 3 in a Marathon of Side Dishes What’s cooking? Broccoli-Cheddar Gratin

You know that gigantic pile of recipes you’ve cut out from newspapers and magazines, sure that you’ll find time for them one of these days? Maybe even today, if you had the time and energy to burrow through them. Surely, somewhere in there is the perfect dish for this Thanksgiving.

Well, you can stop now. The Kitchen Goddess understands your pain. In fact, she used this marathon as an excuse to inventory/cull her own now vast collection of recipes she felt sure at the time that she would make.

In fact, there were a few gems. But one stopped me in my tracks. The paper is yellowed with a couple of grease marks, and the list of ingredients so faded as to be almost unreadable. It doesn’t have a name, but as I read down the page, a memory flashed. Two little boys at my kitchen table, antsy to eat because dinner was once again later than they had hoped. And while they were never thrilled with the vegetables, they learned to eat whatever it was. Sometimes, I wouldn’t even tell them what it was until they ate a bite. However it worked, it did in fact work – today, they’ll eat pretty much anything.

I haven’t made that broccoli dish in years. And frankly, when I read the list of ingredients, I can’t quite believe it worked as well as I remember. So I’ve played a bit with it – you know the Kitchen Goddess can’t really help herself, and back in those days, of course, there was no Kitchen Goddess. But in honor of those two little boys – both of whom will be spending Thanksgiving in New Jersey, while I will be in Texas – here it is, in its revised and refreshed format.

I’ve raised the bar for “broccoli casserole” a bit here – adding caramelized onions and nutmeg, and substituting panko instead of standard bread crumbs. And there’s a little more cream than it had in its youth, so the custard is a little more elegant. Just be sure to use a good quality cheese. It’s a nice accompaniment to a turkey dinner – one that should please the big boys and the little ones.

Broccoli-Cheddar Gratin

Loosely adapted from Gourmet, February 2009

Serves 6-8.

2 crowns broccoli (about 1 pound – that would be without the very thick stems, which I usually save and peel and slice, but they’re not very dressy, and this recipe is for Thanksgiving)
½ teaspoon olive oil
1 medium onion, cut in ½-inch dice (1 cup)
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon unsalted butter
1 cup milk (feel free to use any type – I used skim)
½ cup heavy cream
2 large eggs
½ teaspoon kosher salt, plus a pinch for the panko
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus a pinch for the panko
1 cup grated cheddar cheese (about 3½ ounces)
nutmeg (about ½ teaspoon, or more to taste)
1 cup panko bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 350º. Position a rack in the upper third of the oven.

Cut broccoli into large florets, and steam 20 minutes, until the florets are just fork-tender.














While the broccoli is steaming, caramelize the onions: Smear the olive oil around a medium skillet and set over medium heat. Add the onion and cover. Cook over medium heat for 10 minutes, removing the cover and stirring about every 2½-3 minutes. After 10 minutes, the onions will have magically browned; if not let them cook another 3-5 minutes. Reduce the heat and add 1 tablespoon water, stirring to release the fond (that brown stuff on the bottom of the skillet). Stir in the teaspoon of butter, and remove the onions from the heat. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk, cream, eggs, salt, and pepper. Stir in the caramelized onion.

When the broccoli is fork-tender, spread it out in a 2-quart shallow flameproof baking dish, and sprinkle the cheese across the top. Grate nutmeg over the broccoli. Spoon the milk mixture over the broccoli/cheese.

Melt the tablespoon of butter and toss well with the panko and a pinch each of kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Sprinkle the panko evenly over the dish.

Bake until the custard is set, about 30 minutes. Turn on the broiler and broil until bread crumbs are golden brown, about 2 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Cooking Cousins What’s cooking? Parmigiano-Roasted Broccoli and Cauliflower

I’ve always been grateful that we lived near enough to my husband’s sister that her three sons and my two got to spend most holidays – and many other occasions – with each other. I grew up down the street from my Texas cousins, and that connection to the wider world that you get with cousins – that sense of membership in a family that extends far beyond the people in your own house – seems to me to be invaluable.

The food world has lots of cousins that get along pretty well, too. Cauliflower and broccoli are on my mind today, mostly because that’s what I had in my fridge yesterday when I set out to make dinner. I’d just come across a piece about roasted cauliflower in Bon Appétit, and it set off a lightbulb in my head. The Kitchen Goddess is always grateful for lightbulb moments, particularly as they come fewer and farther between these days.

Broccoli and cauliflower are the original Cabbage Patch Kids. Different cultivars of the same species – cousins, if you will, in the actual cabbage family – the “tree” vegetables also share their heritage with brussels sprouts, kale, and collard greens. The chief distinguishing feature between broccoli and cauliflower is that broccoli produces flower buds. I know, you might think color is the main difference, but you can find cauliflower in green or orange or purple, in addition to the standard white, and broccoli comes in green or purple.

And here’s today’s useless fact: Broccoli was introduced to the U.S. by Italian immigrants, and wasn’t commonly found here until the 1920s. Those Italians get credit for all the good food stuff.

Both veggies react remarkably well to roasting. The main problem tends to be in getting those florets a consistent size so that at the end of roasting, they’re not soft on the outside and hard on the inside, or some soft and some not-so-much. The Kitchen Goddess has a solution. At the Culinary Institute, they say, “Looks the same, cooks the same.” Taking her cue from the CIA, the KG realized that if she sliced both the broccoli and the cauliflower into pieces that were the same thickness, the size of the florets would cease to matter. So that’s what she did, and it worked like a charm.

Top the concoction off with a hefty sprinkle of Parmigiano-Reggiano, and you have a dish that’s both tasty and easy. The combination of meaty, caramelized veggie slices and some roasty-toasty onions is just what you need on a chilly fall evening.

Parmesan-Roasted Broccoli and Cauliflower

Adapted from Bon Appétit, February 2013

Serves 4.

1 small head cauliflower
1 head broccoli
1 medium onion, halved and sliced
4 sprigs thyme
4 garlic cloves, unpeeled
3 tablespoons olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
½ cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Preheat oven to 425°.

Cut the largest florets from the cauliflower and broccoli heads and slice the florets lengthwise in ½-inch thicknesses. Slice the remainder of the heads also into ½-inch thicknesses. In a large mixing bowl, toss the cauliflower and broccoli slices, the onion slices and the garlic with the thyme and oil.

Spread the vegetables out on a large rimmed baking sheet, and season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with Parmigiano-Reggiano. Roast, tossing occasionally, until fork-tender and lightly browned, 25-30 minutes. Serve immediately.

Back to the Grill What’s Cooking? Grilled Broccoli with Chipotle-Lime Butter and Queso Fresco

The great North-South migration is now in full swing. We have friends heading to Texas from Nantucket, the Jersey shore, Wisconsin, and Colorado; others fleeing Alaska and New Jersey for  Arizona; quite a few ditching New York and New Jersey for Florida; and a final few escaping Maine for the Carolinas or even just as far south as Connecticut. Makes you wonder who’s left to shovel the snow when it arrives.

As usual, arriving home after three months is more than a little disconcerting. Where are the knives in this kitchen? I thought I had more olive oil than this, and do I not have any garlic? And, for some reason, the internet service is down. It turns out that if you go away for long enough, there’s bound to be an electrical storm in your absence that causes various outdoor plugs to spasm or your router to have an epileptic seizure. The ice machine doesn’t work either, so we spend the first few days calling repair services.

Then there’s the chicken in the fridge. Friends, a word of advice: do not leave a partially eaten roast chicken in your refrigerator for a month. I’ll confess that I was the one who left it there during a brief mid-term visit. On my return, I didn’t even open the paper bag it was in – I just removed it carefully to the garbage can before it could explode.

On the other hand – and thankfully, there always is another hand – the weather is at last temperate enough to eat on the porch, and we are at last back in digs that offer grilling. Fall veggies present wonderful opportunities for that method of cooking, and I have one for you here, today.

A Couple of Short Digressions – on Broccoli and Chipotle

In the years when I was actively mothering, broccoli was my go-to green vegetable. (“Hah!” my full-grown sons would say, “You are still actively mothering.” Now, does that sound like gratitude?) Although I knew many attractive ways to serve it, their palates were still in the “Just plain, please” mode, and I was still a working mom with more to do than figure out fancy presentations of a vegetable.

By the time they left the nest, I’d grown tired of broccoli, so it was a while before I’d even bother to look at it in the produce aisles. Then I discovered grilled broccoli – specifically this grilled broccoli with chipotle-lime butter and queso fresco – and became so crazed with the taste that I made my husband grill it twice in the first week.

The grilling process brings out the slight sweetness – yes, sweetness – of the broccoli; the little bit of char adds a flavor note that’s almost caramel. Those tastes are perfectly balanced by the salty tang of the lime and queso fresco, with a hint of smokiness from the Chipotle Tabasco. And the butter just pulls it all together.

Please don’t be put off by the Tabasco. Chipotles are jalapeños that have been aged and smoked. Farmers allow some percentage of the green jalapeño crop to remain on the vine until the end of the season, when they turn bright red and lose much of their moisture. The growers then pick these peppers and smoke them for several days until they resemble dried fruit. According to Wikipedia, it takes 10 pounds of jalapeños to make one pound of chipotles. They’re then sold as pods, powders, or preserved in seasoned adobo sauce (a paprika-based marinade). This recipe uses a variety of Tabasco sauce that delivers – in addition to a bit of heat – a nice, smoky flavor. The Tabasco is only half as hot as a green jalapeño, and if you’re nervous, you can reduce the amount.

Kitchen Goddess note: (1) The chipotle-lime butter can be made well ahead – I’ve kept it for a couple of weeks. (2) And the queso fresco is a crumbly, unaged white cheese that, according Wikipedia, is traditionally made from cow’s milk or a combination of cow’s and goat’s milk. It’s a pressed cheese with a salty-sour flavor, lighter but not too unlike either feta or farmer cheese. I get it at most grocery stores in Texas, and with the enlightened nature of major grocers these days, you probably can, too. I had a few brands to choose from, so I lingered at the dairy case until a Latina woman showed up and I asked her which brand. She said she preferred  La Vaquita. It’s also very nice crumbled on a salad or in scrambled eggs.

Grilled Broccoli with Chipotle-Lime Butter and Queso Fresco

Adapted from Food & Wine Magazine, June 2012

Serves 6-8.

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
Zest of 1 lime, finely grated
Juice of 1 lime
1 tablespoon Tabasco Chipotle Sauce
1 teaspoon honey
1 garlic clove, finely grated
Salt
4 heads of broccoli, stems peeled, florets cut into large segments
Olive oil
1 cup crumbled queso fresco

Whisk together the first six ingredients. Season lightly to taste with salt. Allow the mixture to sit for at least half an hour, to let the flavors meld. (If you make it ahead, take it out of the refrigerator for at least half an hour, to bring it to room temperature.)

Drizzle the broccoli – florets and stems – with olive oil and season with salt. Toss lightly to get coverage with the oil.

Grill the broccoli over high heat, turning occasionally, for 10 minutes or until lightly charred and crisp-tender.

Transfer the broccoli to a large bowl or platter, and toss with the chipotle-lime butter. Scatter the queso fresco over the broccoli and serve.