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Broccoli Italienne
Cut broccoli in pieces about 4 inches long, wash it and cook in boiling water with 1/4 teaspoon baking soda and tablespoon salt. When tender, drain and chop coarsely. To each 2 cups broccoli add 1/2 cup finely-chopped cold boiled potato, moisten with cream enough to allow for molding broccoli into shape. Season highly and pack into buttered mold. When molded, turn on buttered baking sheet, top with grated cheese and brown in oven.
A vegetable loaf built on the old technique of packing seasoned puree into a mold, unmolding, and browning under cheese. Two instructions in it have been overturned by modern practice.
- Leave out the baking sodaThe 1/4 teaspoon of soda was added to keep the green bright, but it breaks down cell walls and destroys much of the vitamin C, leaving the stalks slippery. Cook in plain well-salted water instead; the color will hold long enough for a short boil.
- Cook it far less than "tender"Period books commonly call for long boiling of green vegetables, twenty minutes or more. Four to six minutes in rapidly boiling water gets stalks cut in 4-inch lengths to the point where a knife slides in with slight resistance, which is all this dish needs.
- Drain hardSince the mixture has to hold a molded shape, water is the enemy. Drain the chopped broccoli in a colander and press it, or spread it on a towel, before adding cream.
- Cream, by feelNo quantity is given because it depends on how wet the broccoli is. Start with 2 to 3 tablespoons per 2 cups and stop as soon as the mass coheres when squeezed; more than that and it will slump on the baking sheet.
- "Season highly"Period shorthand for a free hand with salt and pepper, sometimes with nutmeg or onion. Boiled potato and broccoli are both bland, so taste and salt more aggressively than seems right.
- The moldAny straight-sided cup, ramekin, or small charlotte mold works; individual timbales unmold more reliably than one large loaf. Butter it thoroughly and pack the mixture down firmly with the back of a spoon.
- Oven heatThe instruction is only to brown, not to cook through, so use a hot oven, 425F, for 10 to 15 minutes, or run it under the broiler until the cheese colors.
- YieldTwo cups of cooked broccoli plus potato makes about four small timbales, enough for four as a side dish, or for a light lunch with bread and a salad.