Saturday, 26 September 2009

• Happy Birthday to Me and BATTLE BROCCOLI

  IRLF Ingredient of the week: Broccoli Three Ways
  

  * Japanese Style Baby Broccoli Tempura on Red Miso Silken Tofu in Dashi Broth,
  * French Country Style Kabocha Pumpkin and Broccoli with Three Cheeses au Gratin,
  * Raw Baby Broccoli Salad with Mandarin Oranges, Beets and Ponzu Sesame Vinaigrette.
  

  
  
  

  
  

  
  Happy Birthday to Me.
  
  This is the Second Week of IReallyLikeFood's Ingredient Of The Week Showcase, featuring ingredients which readers and contributors use as a base for creating dishes.
   
  This Second Week, it's:  Battle Broccoli.
  
  I'm sticking to the same Amuse Bouche concept as Last Week; instead of making one single dish, I decided to make three again (I eventually cranked out six).  This Week I decided to do a bit of the Japanese-French Style and take this opportunity to teach several basic techniques found in these cuisines.
  
  
  
  

  • We'll be learning how to make a Roux-based Cream sauce called a Béchamel sauce (which is one of the Five French "Mother" Sauces), and then using that sauce as the base for a Three-Cheese Mornay sauce in an au Gratin using a combination of This Week's Ingredient, Broccoli, and Last Week's Ingredient, Kabocha Pumpkin.
  
  
  • We'll be learning how to make Japanese Vegetable Tempura by doing a new-style Baby Broccoli Tempura on Red Miso Silken Tofu in a Dashi Broth.
  
  
  • And we'll be delving further into the world of Raw Food, exploring Baby Broccoli, Mandarin Oranges, Fennel and Beets in a Raw setting, dressed lightly with a Miso, Sesame and Ponzu Vinaigrette.

  
  
  
  I was actually up in the air until the day I made this set on what to do.  I wasn't sure if I wanted to make something "homey" as Kristin would put it, or if I wanted to stretch my legs again and do something that challenged my culinary thinking in new ways.  In the end, I prepared the three dishes seen here, in addition to three others I may post later:  A Cream of Broccoli with Bacon and Gorgonzola, Feta and White Cheddar Soup; A simple Homestyle French Provençal Broccoli with Garlic Slivers and Anchovies; And an Italian Broccoli and Clams in Garlic Wine Sauce on Linguini Pasta
  
  Before we go on though, let's meet this week's Ingredient:  Broccoli.  Well, Broccoli on the left and it's baby, Baby Broccoli on the right.  I like using Baby Broccoli because it's just more tender and young and sweet.
  
  
  

  
  

  
  IRLF seems to be picking ingredients that are fairly polarized.  Last week we had Pumpkin.  This week we have Broccoli.  Both ingredients are ones where you either love it or you hate it.  I'm hoping for an ingredient that's universally love-able soon.
  
  Here's a bit about Broccoli:
  
  

  Broccoli (from the Italian plural of broccolo, referring to "the flowering top of a cabbage") is a plant of the cabbage family Brassicaceae.  It is classified as a cultivar group of the species Brassica oleracea. 
  
  In Europe broccoli developed from a wild cabbage plant. Indications show that the vegetable was known in Europe 2,000 years ago.  Since the Roman Empire, broccoli has been considered a uniquely valuable food among Italians.  Broccoli was first introduced to the United States by these immigrants, but had not become widely known until the 1920s.  The first mention of the vegetable in the US was in 1806, when it was given the name green broccoli.
  
  Broccoli is high in vitamins C, K, and A, as well as dietary fiber; it also contains multiple nutrients with potent anti-cancer properties, such as diindolylmethane and small amounts of selenium.  A single serving provides more than 30 mg of Vitamin C and a half-cup provides 52 mg of Vitamin C.  Broccoli also contains the compound glucoraphanin, which can be processed into an anti-cancer compound sulforaphane.  A high intake of broccoli has been found to reduce the risk of aggressive prostate cancer.   Broccoli consumption has also shown that it is beneficial in the prevention of heart disease.

  
  
  I realize there are many other options to go with on Broccoli.  Some of my favorite Broccoli Recipes are the down-home Midwestern ones (I love Midwestern Women, I need to get myself one) that are the most heartwarming soups and casseroles I could ever want.  However, I feel as if instead of taking the Easy Route, I should try and showcase more unusual applications of Broccoli, in more exotic pairings that teach as many techniques and give people as many ideas as possible.
  
  The Tempura Tofu dish for example, can be taken singly, as a Tempura instructional -- but it's an example of true Japanese food, because it is not just food, it is art, and it is BALANCED.  Balanced by the Yin and Yang aspect of the Ingredients and the combination of such, and also balanced by the Hot and Cold, and of the Hard and Soft.
  
  Alright, enough mumbo-jumbo.  Let's get this bastard on.
  
  
  
  
  

  * * * * *
  

  
  
  
  
  These are dishes that can be made in the Amuse Bouche portions shown below, or in full-size portions made for main dishes/ group dining.
  
  I'll be posting notes and instructions for the portions shown, but if anyone wants a translation into full size portions, please let me know and I will put it up as an addendum.  These 3-dish entries are long enough without having recipes for full-size portions up too.
  
  
  I N G R E D I E N T S:
  
  Ingredients given for Amuse Bouche portions for two unless indicated.  For instructions for larger portions, please request in comments below:
  
  

  For Pumpkin/ Potato Broccoli au Gratin with 3 Cheeses:
  
  1 Tbsp. Butter
  1 Tbsp. Flour
  2 Cups Half and Half, heated
  1/2 Cup Gorgonzola Cheese, shredded
  1/4 Cup Colby Cheese, shredded
  1/4 Cup Feta Cheese, shredded
  1 Cup Broccoli Florets, chopped 1/4-inch
  10 slices Pumpkin or Potato, sliced 1/8-inch thick
  
  For Baby Broccoli Tempura with Red Miso Silken Tofu in Dashi Broth:
  
  1 Cup Flour
  1 Cup ICE WATER (very important iced)
  1 Egg Yolk
  1/4 Cup Potato Flour substituted in if you want crisper
  2 Baby Broccoli Heads
  2 2"x1"x1" Blocks Silken Tofu
  2 Tbsp Red Miso
  1 Cup Dashi (follow instructions on package or make your own Dashi)
  1 Tbsp Soy Sauce
  1 Tbsp Mirin
  1 Tsp Sugar
  
  1 Lots of Ice Water to keep your batter bowl in
  1 Pot of Oil for frying
  
  For Raw Baby Broccoli Salad:
  
  4 Parts Baby Broccoli Heads
  1 Part Fennel, shaved
  1 Part Beets, julienned
  2 Parts Mandarin Orange, halved lengthwise
  
  1 Tbsp Ponzu Sauce
  1 Tbsp Rice Vinegar
  1 Tbsp Sesame Oil
  1 Tbsp Miso
  1 Tbsp Peanut Butter
  1 Tsp Sesame Seeds
  
  

  
  P R O C E D U R E:
  
  

  Let's start with the Pumpkin au Gratin.
  
  
  
  You can use Potato of course.  I don't expect you to have a Kabocha Pumpkin hanging around, unless you have some left over from the previous Pumpkin dish.
  
  Slice your Pumpkin/ Potato into 1/8th inch slices.  No thicker.  Use a Mandoline if you need to, but if you have the knife skills just do it by hand -- it's good practice.  Any thicker than this, and it won't cook well.
  
  
  
  
  We're using a combination of Gorgonzola, Colby and a brined Fresh Feta from France.  The quality difference is like "regular" mozzarella and the Fresh kind you get in brine.  Use whatever you want really.  Gorgonzola is the main Cheese flavor component here though, feel free to use another Blue Cheese, but I like Gorgonzola for this.
  
  
  
  
  Start your pan and get it to medium-hot.  Add your butter and let it melt.  We don't want to burn anything here, so keep the heat fairly low.  Add the flour, and stir.
  
  What we're doing here is making a Roux.  Roux is a thickening base used for many French Classical based dishes, and is made from combining equal parts flour and fat.  The fat can be anything you want.  I like butter for this.  The longer you cook a Roux, the less thickening power it has.  As it changes colors from white to blond to brown, it also picks up more flavor, adding a pronounced rich nutty flavor to your sauces.
  
  
  
  
  Add your HEATED Cream after stirring your Roux around for a minute or so.  Stir that around.  It should sizzle a bit, and then start thickening up a bit.  Add your cheeses gradually, until you get something that looks like this.
  
  At the point you add the cream and get a thick white sauce, this is called a Béchamel sauce.  This is one of the five mother sauces of French Cuisine, and can be used as a base for many sauces.  We're adding cheeses to ours, making it a Mornay sauce.
  
  By the way, at this point, if you add Parmigiano Reggiano, you have Alfredo Sauce.  As in home-made Fettuccine Alfredo.  Very easy, yes?
  
  We are, however, going with Gorgonzola & Feta et al.  This is because Gorgonzola and Feta pair particularly well with Broccoli.  Mix mix.  Stir stir.
  
  
  
  
  Add your Broccoli here.  The reason we've chopped it to roughly 1/4 dice is because any thicker than that and the au Gratin stack will fall apart.  Also, having huge chunks just doesn't fit right with the size of sliced Pumpkin or Potato even in a regular sized au Gratin.  We also do this to get more Broccoli particles into the sauce for a more even distribution.
  
  
  
  
  If you're making the stack for Amuse Bouche, stack Pumpkin, sauce, Pumpkin, sauce, Pumpkin, sauce, etc. until you cease feeling lucky.  I go five-stack.
  
  If you're making regular au Gratin, grease the bottom of your pan with butter, then lay down your Pumpkin/ Potato in an even layer on the bottom.  Spread your sauce over this, and repeat with another layer of Pumpkin/ Potato.  Repeat and repeat until you run out of ingredients.
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  Stick the pan in a 350 degree oven until the top is browned.  This may take about 20 minutes or so.  The pumpkin/ potato will be cooked, and the top will be browned and pretty.  Test with a fork.  If it's tender, it's good.  If it's hard, it's not.  That's how it goes.
  
  When done to your satisfaction, remove from oven and plate.
  
   

  

  
  So pretty.  Like Freshly fallen snow on Baby Broccoli Florets.
  
  Before I go on, I want to talk about Tempura Technique for a little bit.  What a lot of people don't realize is that the technique and recipe for batter used for Vegetable and for Seafood Tempura are different.  Most Japanese restaurants will use the same recipe for simplicity.  But if you do it right, you don't use the same batter.
  
  I prefer a thinner batter, because I don't want my Tempura coated in batter crap.  If I wanted to eat batter, I'd deep fry some batter and eat that.  I want to taste the food; and the batter is a compliment to the food.  Most Japanese restaurants coat their food in such heavy batter that it's just disgusting.
  
  There's a balance to Tempura.
  
  I'll cover Tempura in more detail in a future entry, but we'll cover some basics here for Vegetable Tempura:
  
  

  1)  Your batter should be ice cold.  It is of the highest importance to use ice water when making your batter mix.  Once your batter goes warm, either re-chill it or throw it away.  This is why proper Tempura chefs use a Stainless Steel Bowl surrounded by Ice Water.  You should do this too.  This is the main reason why most Tempura comes out shitty.
  
  2)  Do not overmix your batter.  It's okay to have clumps of flour and streaks of egg yolk in it.  If you overmix your batter, it will no longer be light, and it will be crap.
  
  3)  The standard batter suffices, but if your taste is for a crisper finish, use some Potato flour.  This is a trick that Chef Nobu Matsuhisa uses in his restaurants.
  

  
  If your Japanese Restaurant serves you Broccoli Tempura that's coated in such heavy, chewy batter that it's indistinguishable from every other piece of battered food on your plate, that restaurant is FAIL.  Tempura is an art that can be easily learned, but unfortunately most Japanese Restaurants don't bother because they either don't care or they think you don't know any better.
  
  Use the recipe I give you as a guideline, but if it's too thin for you, adjust by adding more flour (or potato flour).  If it's too thick, add more ice water.
  
  If you do your Broccoli Tempura right, it should look like Freshly fallen snow on Baby Broccoli Florets, not like ambiguous lump of random food.
  
  
  
  

    
  
  
  Mix your batter.  Do not overmix.  Make sure your batter is ice cold.  Cut your Baby Broccoli at the head, and dip into your batter with chopsticks.  Coat it fully.
  
  Heat your oil to between 350 and 375 degrees F.  Make sure you maintain this fry temperature.  Wait until your oil is ready before you start your fry.  It is important to dip and fry individually.  You do not want your batter sitting and running.  It is okay to dip and fry with several pieces in the oil at once though.
  
  
  
  
  Fry your Tempura.
  
  This technique is applicable for any Vegetable Tempura.  Fry it until the Tempura starts taking on color.  Because the Baby Broccoli is so thin, it will cook quickly.
  
  Notice how the Broccoli "blooms" when you fry it.  Very pretty, yes?
  
  
  
  
  Make your Dashi.
  
  When your Dashi is done, add the Soy Sauce, Mirin and Sugar.  This is your Dashi Broth.  This is the basic formula for most Japanese Dashi-based broths, except in different proportions.  The one we are making is the one common for Udon broth.
  
  
  
  
  Slice your block of Silken Tofu into roughly 2"x1"x1" blocks.  Spread Red Miso over the top.
  
  
  
  
  Lay down your Tempura over the Tofu, and place the whole thing into your broth.  I like serving the Broth and Tofu cold for the contrast between the Hot Crispy Tempura and the Cold, Silken Tofu, but it's up to you.  It's a Yin-and-Yang Food Balance thing.
  

  
  

  

  
  

  Plate and continue.  Note:  Serve Tempura Immediately, or as soon as possible after frying.  It degrades very quickly.
  
  
  
  
  
  Okay I'm not sure if it's because I got lazy or if it's because I started drinking, but apparently I didn't take many photos here, haha.
  
  Basically, just mix your Salad Ingredients.  It's pretty simple.
  
  
  
  
  Whisk together your dressing ingredients until smooth.
  
  Ponzu, by the way, is a very typical Japanese condiment.  It's made by mixing Soy Sauce with the juice of the Japanese Yuzu Citrus, which is one of my favorites to use but is very difficult to get in the US.  Just buy the Ponzu from the supermarket, you can get it anywhere that sells Soy Sauce.
  
  Dress your Salad lightly.  The dressing is a compliment, you're not here to eat dressing with vegetables.
  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  Plate and Done!
  

  
  

  

  
  

  Finis.  Battle Broccoli is done.
  

  
  
  
  
  

  * * * * *
  

  
  
  
  Happy Birthday to Me.
  
  The work is done.  Battle Broccoli is through.  And so now, tonight I retire, here, alone with my bottle of 151 and a cold glass.  No cake.  No birthday party.  No one to lay beside, hands clasped, falling asleep slowly with, between sporadic talking and quiet breaths.  No, there is very little left of the life I once knew these days.
  
  One year older tonight, perhaps one year wiser, and definitely one year stronger.  Yet, also one year more weary.  Here I am, time and time again, as always.  Stronger than ever, yet more and more Broken as the days come. 
  
  All I know is that today, I Live, and I Breathe, and I Give and Share what's left of the Love in my heart freely. 
  
  It was a liberating thing, giving the last of the money in my wallet today to an eccentric old British Gentleman with bad teeth living on the streets of Honolulu, because he asked if I could spare him any change in his Cockney accent.  When someone expects to be told "no" or to be ignored, but instead, receives every coin in a full jar dumped into his hands, overflowing and spilling onto the sidewalk; and then be handed the rest of a stack of bills in someone's wallet, it reminds me of a certain other kind of Love.  A Love that I have sought all my life in futility and never found.
  
  Anyway.
  
  I realize these Amuse Bouche portions aren't very practical unless you're going all-out and making a multi-course dinner Tapas-style dinner for someone; but most of these can be expanded into full size portions.  If you want me to give you an expanded recipe for these, please let me know.  I would be happy to help you with that.
  
  And again, because I know there are new readers coming in every day, I will repeat what I always say:
  
  If you're here for the first time, this is what I do.  I believe in these things I do in my Heart and Soul.  I believe that Food is Love, and that one of the best ways to show someone Love is to cook for them.  I believe that Anyone can cook.  And I'm here to teach people how to do that.
  
  The first girl I ever loved, I cooked for her the first dish I ever made.  It was awful, but she loved it because I made it for her knowing that it was her favorite dish.
  
  Food = Love.
  
  I always say it.  I hope someday, you will understand it too, and you will share your Love through food as well.
  
  Well, here's to another year of life.  And to Hope, Faith and Love, wherever I can find it these days.
  
  My Love and Aloha to you, as always, from these islands of Hawai'i, and from my heart to yours.
  

  
  

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