Nurturing my inner... everything's cooking up rosie

With a food blog, one might suspect that I had a mother who was an imaginative cooking superstar who passed on the deep secrets of her culinary genius.  Ah, well not exactly.  It's not disrespectful to say so.  She'd tell you herself.  She eats to live.  Her "acorn fell far from the tree and possibly rolled down the hill and bounced over a brook" daughter lives to eat!  So we definitely diverge in some of our thinking and preferences.

While my mom maintains that she's a self proclaimed "basic" eater, and I stop just short of "anything goes," I have to thank her for always having a meal on the table for our family every night.  Complete with a protein, starch and vegetable.  All magically hot at the same time.  (I STILL don't know how she did it.)  We did not often eat out when I was growing up.  For starters, we lived in the country and there weren't many places to go.  (And there still aren't.)  We were also of modest means.  My father was a little kid during the Depression era and those lean times in America never left the back of his mind.  Also, honestly, my brother and I didn't want to stop playing outside in the woods to go to a restaurant anyway.

So today, we celebrate the simple.  For mom.

Steamed Broccoli with Garlic

2-3 broccoli crowns
1 tbsp olive oil (Guess which brand?)
4 cloves of garlic, sliced
2 cups of water

A tale of two trees.

Seeing as this is broccoli done Rosie-style, we need to do this just as she would.  (Well, mostly as she would.  I'll note any divergence.)

Cut the broccoli into spears.  Leave a little stem, but not too much as it doesn't carry a lot of flavor in comparison with the flowery, vitamin rich tops.

This blog posting isn't very exciting, I do
realize. But bear with me.

I'm not exactly sure why she does this next step, but I do it because she did.  (Some of you may recall the phrase from the 80s anti drug campaign where the kid says to the father, "I learned it by watching you!"  Only, this is safer and doesn't involve rehab.)

Besides the fact that I know my mother does weird things just because she thinks she "needs" to, I'm going to say that peeling the stems a little is a good idea because it allows more of the garlic flavor to get saturated into the broccoli.  Um, yeah, we'll go with that so we appear sane.  (Though it's not very convincing to try and prove your sanity by saying "we" when you're all alone.  Or are we...)

Just takes a few extra seconds. I'm sure
you can spare them.

I gave them a little rinse after cutting them up.

Green on green. Not quite as pretty as orange.
Good thing this isn't a gallery show.

I prefer olive oil for the flavor, but I doubt there is much keeping you away from using canola or something light.

I've used a lot in recent weeks.
How low can you go?

And the third and final ingredient, because this needs to have some flavor in here somewhere, garlic.  (Okay, so mom chops it into small pieces and I like it sliced.  I can't just do everything mom tells me to.  She's not the boss of me!  Oh wait, she actually is.)

I like a lot of garlic. I'm generous with it.

Here's a slight variation as well, but one that matters not a bit in regards to flavor.  Mom likes to cook it in a big pot.  Probably because that's what she has handy.  I found that a deep skillet works perfectly for me.  Lots of surface space.  You just need something with a lid.  Oil and garlic go into the pan and get a quick saute.  About a minute.

I bought this cookware years ago when
the Dansk outlet closed and everything
was 50% - 70% off.

Add the broccoli spears into the hot pan and make sure the oil covers all the pieces.  Each and every one.  There is a little bit of crackling noise that goes on.  Toss them about for a couple of minutes.  Keeping watch to make sure the garlic doesn't burn.

Smells like I'm home at mom's. She makes
this once a week.

Once all the pieces are well coated, put in a couple cups of water.  Water will create the steam that will cook the broccoli.

It's cooking. It's science.  It's, well, both. If only
7th grade science class had been this exciting.

Enough to cover the bottom of the pan and up about half an inch, because the water will evaporate as the broccoli steams. You don't want to run out of water prematurely or you will risk burning your veggie.

Pre-steam.

Add lid and let steam for 10 - 15 minutes.  My mom likes it softer (read as mush) so she cooks on the longer side.  I like it to maintain a bit of firmness (read as maintaining vegetable like qualities), thus I cook it on the shorter side.  (I'd say the two of us still manage to live in harmony, but really, when you don't agree on your vegetables, how can you truly get along on the major issues.)

Set your timer. Test and set for longer,
if you wish.

Ding.  Done.  I tested it and it was perfect.  (The world according to Karen.)  Since mom wasn't coming over, it was okay to steam it for less time.  (However, when I'm at her house in CT, I'm at her overcooked mercy.  I think it is best she doesn't have a computer right now or I might be grounded.)

Steaming keeps it bright green and packed
with nutrients!

And the final divergence of the mother/daughter team: temperature of ingestion preference.  Mom (wild woman that she is) likes it piping hot from the pan.  Or right from the microwave in the following days.  It sounds so odd, but I actually enjoy it best cold.  Strange, right?  But to me, it just tastes delicious when chilled.  The next day, I'm all about it.

In the fridge you go. See you tomorrow!

I've had some fun poking at my mom here for her lack of daring in the kitchen, but don't mistake me for being ungrateful.  I feel very blessed for having a mom who sacrificed her time and energy, that she could have been using on herself, making dinner for her family every night.  Studies show that families who eat dinner together are closer and children of these families have higher self esteem.  None of us have to wonder why that is.  Even if the broccoli is a tad mushier than you may prefer, who really cares, as long as you're all together.