Ideas for a sauce to pour over broccoli

[ironchef]

I prefer lighter sauces or seasonings with most vegetables. Here's a basic Italian style recipe that you can use. It's also a good light sauce to toss with pasta:

Sicilian Style Broccoli

Yield: 4-6 Servings

Ingredients:

2 ea. Broccoli crowns, trimmed and cut into florets
4-5 Tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
4-5 Garlic Cloves, thinly sliced
1/2 tsp. Red Chili Flakes
2 tsp. Anchovy Paste
3 Tbsp. Fresh Lemon Juice
1/2 c. Italian Bread Crumbs
Kosher Salt to taste

Method:

In a large sauce pan, heat 6 cups of water with 1 Tbsp. Kosher salt until boiling. Prepare a bowl of iced water. Blanch the broccoli in the boiling water for about 1 1/2 minutes, then shock immediately in the iced water. When the broccoli has cooled, drain and dry.

In a large saute pan, heat the oil until shimmering. Add the garlic and chili flakes, and cook until the garlic just barely begins to brown. Add the anchovy paste using a wooden spoon, incorporate into the oil. Add the broccoli and lemon juice, and toss until the broccoli is heated through. Season to taste with salt and with more lemon juice if needed (at this point you can add pasta and toss). Remove broccoli from pan and transfer to a serving dish. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs and serve.

[gary b]

One very simple, very tasty mixture is the combination of oyster sauce, soy sauce, rice vinegar and maybe a touch of sugar (palm sugar works well). This is fantastic in a stir-fry and is used in countless Chinese dishes. You simply mix the ingredients together and add towards the end of the stir-frying process.

Haggis,

Does the oyster sauce and other ingredients in this need to be precooked seperately, cooked through with the dish, or just used like a condiment at the end?

thanks, Gary

[Constance]

Originally Posted by gary b

I'm learning a white sauce is the basis for a lot of good things. If I was to add broth instead of milk to the white sauce, what would that be called,(gravy?) and what could I use it for??

Gary, my grandma Snarr taught me how to make white sauce, and said that once I'd learned how to make a good white sauce, I could make any sauce or gravy.

My first step, after I learned the white sauce, was to add grated cheese and turn it into a cheese sauce.

Then I learned I could render out chopped bacon, add chopped onions and let them cook, then add the flour and use 1/2 milk and 1/2 chicken broth for my liquid. This a good start for potato soup.
Or replace the chicken broth with clam juice, and make clam chowder.

Once you learn to make white sauce, gravy is easy. Use the same rule (1 tbl fat, 1 tbl flour, 1 cups liquid), and use the same method you do with your white sauce.

Just use your imagination!

[Haggis]

Haggis,

Does the oyster sauce and other ingredients in this need to be precooked seperately, cooked through with the dish, or just used like a condiment at the end?

None of the ingredients for that little mixture (or indeed any in the list that I gave) need to be pre-cooked. They are condiments in their own right but are more commonly used as ingredients for a sauce.

When it comes to incorporating the mixture with the dish you could finish your cooking, remove the pan from the heat then stir it through, that would be fine. However you might get a better result adding it towards the last minute or so of cooking, that way the flavour will have a better chance to penetrate the meat/vegetables and also thicken up (through evaporation) to create a richer, thicker sauce.

[gary b]

Haggis,

Thanks, I got it now.

[BreezyCooking]

Very similar to what another posted mentioned is essentially the "no sauce" method of treating vegetables.

I frequently will cook broccoli, cauliflower, swiss chard, or spinach, etc., etc., then just drain & toss them with a little butter or extra virgin olive oil, a dash of red pepper flakes or freshly ground black pepper, garlic, & enough dry Italian-seasoned breadcrumbs to just bind the seasonings to the veggies. Fast, easy, & delicious.

[kimbaby]

I like the tradtional white sauce with added sharp cheese...
or garlic butter sauce is nice as well...

[gary b]

Ironchef,

I made your Sicilian Style Broccoli and it was great!
Thanks for the Recipe Gary