Roasted Broccoli with Ancho Butter

Ancho Butter Broccoli, originally uploaded by Kim De.

I am trying to like broccoli better. I love it in the summer in a cold salad, slaw style, cut up in a pasta etc. But cooked by itself, just cant get into it. But it is really good for you, so I try.

This is how last night's recipe came to be. I LOVE southwest/mexican flavors. If “they” show their faces in my recipe searches, I jump at the chance to use them. Especially when broccoli might become livelier...

The ancho butter was fun to make.

Look at the butter. Isnt she pretty?

Gotta admit, took a tiny swipe of it and it danced on my buds. Yum! Ancho chilies, garlic, cumin and coriander can make any food sing! Or so I thought.

The broccoli. I washed it. I rubbed oil on it. I roasted it. I tossed it in the butter, added salt and continued to roast. Boy did it look pretty! Bo sure did love it – but he loves broccoli. Me? I couldnt taste any butter, ancho chilies, garlic, cumin or coriander. All I tasted was broccoli. Not my plan.

The butter was so good, however, I plan to use it to saute some mushrooms to go with the fillet Friday night...oops, did I just let something slip?


Roasted Broccoli with Ancho Butter (Food and Wine Magazine)

3 ancho chiles (about 1 1/2 ounces)
Boiling water
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup pine nuts
4 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1 1/2 sticks (6 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
Salt
Three 1 1/2-pound heads of broccoli, -- cut lengthwise into large spears, stalks peeled

Preheat the oven to 450°. In a heatproof medium bowl, cover the anchos with boiling water and let stand until softened, about 20 minutes. Drain the chiles and pat dry. Discard the stems and seeds, then coarsely chop.

Meanwhile, in a small skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil until shimmering. Add the pine nuts and cook over moderately high heat, stirring constantly, until lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic, cumin and coriander and cook, stirring, until the garlic is softened and the pine nuts are deep golden, about 1 minute longer. Let cool.

In a food processor, puree the pine nut mixture with the anchos and butter. Season the ancho butter with salt and scrape into a bowl.

In a large bowl, toss the broccoli with the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil, then spread on 2 large rimmed baking sheets. Roast the broccoli in the upper and lower thirds of the oven for 15 minutes, or until crisp-tender, shifting the pans from top to bottom and back to front halfway through. Add the ancho butter to the broccoli and toss to coat. Season with salt and roast for 10 minutes longer, or until the broccoli is tender. Transfer to a platter and serve warm or at room temperature.