Smoky Broccoli with Blue Cheese Dressing and Spiced Krispies

This smoky broccoli with blue cheese dressing and spiced krispies marks the third recipe I've tried from Gather and Graze. This cookbook has earned a permanent place on my bookshelf and even though I tend not to cook the same thing twice, Stephanie's recipes have found their way into my cooking "rotation". Everything I've made from Stephanie Izard's latest cookbook has been outstanding.

Something I noticed in googling these recipes (because I'm always curious how many versions exist) is all the recipes I've tried exist online already, published by some website as a Stephanie Izard recipe, but they differ by a fair margin from the recipe published in Gather and Graze. I can't speak to how the web-published versions taste, but since they all came out prior to the book, and the book versions are so perfect, I have to believe the book recipes represent improved variations on some original dish.

There's not a whole lot to say about this smoky broccoli dish, except that it is ideal for summertime and a great way to do something a little different with broccoli. Stephanie's grilled smoky broccoli is the perfect solution for people who really love roasted broccoli but it's summer and that would be crazy.

This recipe does require a few more steps, a lot more ingredients, and 4-5 sets of bowls/pans compared to your standard broccoli recipe (as all Stephanie Izard recipes seem to). You first need to blanch the broccoli (cook in boiling water for 2-3 minutes, then immediately chill in an ice bath to stop the cooking), then you need to make a spicy sauce for the broccoli, make the blue cheese dressing, make the spiced krispies, then finally, grill the broccoli for a few minutes to impart the smoky flavor. Each of these steps is relatively little effort (add everything to a bowl or pot and stir, wait a few minutes, done) and the sum total of your prep work is worth every minute you spent (plus all the cleanup). If you have a second pair of hands helping you, this will go faster than the quoted 50 minutes.

I was worried the blue cheese dressing would be too heavy, but with the spicy sauce, spiced krispies, and fresh-tasting grilled broccoli, the balance of flavors is just right. I found the sauce for the broccoli quite spicy by itself (and I like spice), but the heat mellowed to become basically undetectable after grilling. If you like spice and you like the flavor of the sauce, I would recommend reserving a little (you'll have some left in the bowl when you go to grill the broccoli) so you can drizzle that spicy sauce over your broccoli at the table.

Original source: Gather and Graze

Smoky Broccoli with Blue Cheese Dressing and Spiced Krispies

Print Pin Rate

Course: Side

Cuisine: American, Asian

Keyword: broccoli, stephanie izard

Prep Time: 25 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes minutes

Servings: 4 people

Ingredients

Dressing (makes ¾ cup)

• ⅓ cup heavy cream
• 2 heaping tablespoons good blue cheese like Rogue Creamery Smokey Blue
• pinch dark brown sugar about ¼ teaspoon
• generous pinch crushed red pepper
• pinch kosher salt
• ¼ cup sour cream
• ¼ cup good blue cheese crumbled*

Spiced Krispies

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 cup crisped rice cereal such as Rice Krispies
• 1 ½ teaspoons garam masala

Broccoli

• 2 pounds broccoli cut into 1 ½-inch florets with stems
• ¼ cup seasoned rice wine vinegar or unseasoned rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoons minced shallots
• ½ tablespoon Dijon mustard
• ½ tablespoon soy sauce
• ¾ teaspoon Sriracha
• ¾ teaspoon harissa
• 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest from about 1 lemon
• ½ tablespoons fresh lemon juice from about ½ lemon
• ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
• Salt
• Pepper

Instructions

Blue Cheese Dressing

• In a small saucepan, whisk the heavy cream, 2 tablespoons of blue cheese, brown sugar, crushed red pepper, salt together. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until the blue cheese is melted. Remove the pan from the heat, then fold in the sour cream and the remaining cheese. Serve immediately or store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
  

Spiced Krispies

• In a medium skillet, melt the butter. Add the cereal and garam masala and cook over moderately high heat, stirring, until lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and transfer to a paper towel–lined plate to drain.

Broccoli

• Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil and prepare a large bowl of ice plus a little water. Blanch the 
broccoli until crisp-tender, about 3 minutes. Scoop out the broccoli and immediately transfer it to the ice bath. Gently toss to shock-cool the broccoli, then drain it well.
  
• Preheat a grill or grill pan to medium-high heat.
• In a large bowl or small blender jar, whisk the vinegar, shallots, mustard, soy sauce, Sriracha, harissa, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Whisking slowly or with the blender on, gradually stream in the olive oil until the vinaigrette is emulsified.
• Toss the broccoli with the vinaigrette and season 
with salt and pepper. Grill the broccoli over moderately high heat, turning frequently, until charred all over, about 5-7 minutes. 
Transfer to a plate.

Assembly

• Spread about ½ the blue cheese dressing on a large serving platter and scatter the grilled broccoli on top. Garnish with the spiced krispies and 
serve immediately, passing the remaining blue cheese dressing at the table.

Notes

Make Ahead The blue cheese dressing can be refrigerated overnight.