It's Broccoli, but Even Better
By Barbara Damrosch
Something funny was going on in the broccoli patch. From 10 feet away it was business as usual: row upon row of beautiful, vase-shaped plants, their wide, blue-green leaves reveling in the cool, sunny fall weather. But on closer inspection, three rows were different. Instead of forming tight, firm mounds of tiny green buds -- the classic head of broccoli -- those plants were making more-open heads composed of little round, leafy balls. Both the central heads and the many side shoots showed the same pattern.
"What's happening to the broccoli?" I asked my husband, who had planted it. He explained that he was trying a new variety called Piracicaba, from Fedco Seeds. The catalogue (next available in December for 2007) had made it sound irresistible, so good you could eat it raw. This proved to be true. All the parts I sampled raw were sweet, mild and tender. I took a bowlful back to the house and steamed it for lunch. Equally delicious! It needed just a few minutes of cooking, and since so much of it was leaf, bud and narrow stem, there was less risk of overcooking the tips before the stalks softened. And the buds didn't disintegrate in the pan.
To read the full article at washingtonpost.com, go here
Some broccoli recipes worth exploring:
BROCCOLI, RED PEPPER, AND CHEDDAR CHOWDER
BROCCOLI SPEARS WITH GARLIC SAUCE
PAPPARDELLE WITH PANCETTA, BROCCOLI RABE, AND PINE NUTS
