Garlicky Crumb-Coated Broccoli (French Fridays with Dorie)

I'm going to admit it up front.  I don't really like broccoli.  In fact, I remember including this fact in a letter to our first president Bush - my best friend and I were lacking on world policy specifics to discuss with him, but we'd heard he didn't care for the green veggie much either.  It's one of those things any decent adult is supposed to like, right?  Sunshine, ironic political comments, doing your taxes early, getting regular exercise and.....broccoli.  They're good for you, a sign of sophistication, satisfying and wholesome.  So now you know, I'll eat it, but you can't make me like it.

Apparently though, this is a recessive gene and everyone else likes it in my house.  So, we made the Garlicky Crumb-Coated Broccoli and you know what?  I still wasn't crazy about it.  (you thought I was going to say I liked it after all, didn't you??)

But it was okay.  And the kids loved it, so it's a keeper. 

The recipe in Around My French Table says to steam the broccoli first, then toss it with butter, garlic, breadcrumbs, salt and pepper.  Our first alternation was to microwave the broccoli, instead of steaming it.  I don't get it - if you have access to a microwave, I say go for it!  There's no waiting for water to boil (and we all know how long that can take!) - no steamer basket to clean, plus pot and pan., and the nutrient loss is less than steaming.

So we microwaved.

The second alteration was the butter.  I simply cannot bring myself to use 1/2 stick of butter for two stalks of broccoli.  French women might not get fat, but I sure can!  So I used a pat of butter (less than a TB) and olive oil. 

Mixing oil and butter is a tried and true french approach to cooking (and Italian, for that matter) - it stretches the butter flavor without stretching your pants, and it raises the smoke point of the butter - so it doesn't burn as easily.  No brainer.

Once the butter/oil mixture was warmed, we added minced garlic, breadcrumbs and seasoning (including lemon zest), toasted the bread crumbs and added the broccoli. 

It looked great and, as I said, everyone else thought it was fantastique!

Oatmeal

Thursday was a late-start for the elementary schools around here. I woke up to the sound of the microwave going. Oatmeal.

Since they were old enough to eat cereals, oatmeal had been the breakfast of choice for both kids. I got frustrated with the expense and sugar of the instant packets of oatmeal and we devised an “instant” oatmeal mix to keep on hand – quick oats, powdered milk, brown sugar, spices and raisins. They know to cover it with milk and how long to microwave it. It was our first foray into kid-cooking.

I still tend to do a half-awake countdown when I hear the microwave start (has it been more than one minute? Is the oatmeal about to explode?) but I love that they’re learning to feed themselves.

Not yet fully awake Thursday, I remembered the morning my son woke me up announcing he’d made breakfast for everyone. There was a bowl of oatmeal and a plastic spoon at each seat.

“I didn’t know how to make the coffee,” he said seriously.

One of the best breakfasts yet.