A lot of people ask me, what do you cook when you have no time? I know it looks like I cook all the time, but when it comes to feeding myself; I am usually very short on time. So to prevent myself from starving 😉 I always try to have good quality ingredients on hand. Decent ingredients practically speak for themselves, which means they take very little preparation. Take some free range eggs, fresh green herbs and creamy Irish cheese and you have a beautiful omelette. Some Irish Smoked mackerel, brown bread and beetroot, make another great supper. As long as you a few delicious things in the fridge you can make a great meal with them.
Recently I got some home grown purple sprouting broccoli from my aunt and uncle (Thank you Sally and Larry). I love food presents, especially when they are fresh from someone’s garden or allotment. Purple sprouting broccoli is without doubt, my favourite vegetable. And the beauty of it is that it only takes a few minutes to cook. Purple sprouting broccoli has a relatively short season (Feb – April), which makes it even more precious and special. Normal broccoli is lovely, but purple sprouting broccoli is miles ahead in every way. For one, it looks great, the dusky purples and dark greens make any salad a stunner. It’s also sweeter than normal broccoli, and has a great texture, especially the stalks. It’s a quick and easy to cook, very healthy and a great basis for a quick supper. There are lots of great purple sprouting recipes I could share, but this one is my favourite. The creamy blue cheese sauce really accentuates the sweetness of the broccoli. I then drizzled on some delicious butternut squash seed oil, which is a new foodie find for me. This fantastic oil was another food gift (Thanks Jody and Eric) and is a now a firm favourite in the kitchen. It brings a great nutty taste to the broccoli and works really well with the blue cheese. If you don’t have butternut squash seed oil, walnut oil would be a good alternative or a decent extra virgin olive oil will also work well. This dish works as a great starter or side dish too. This paticular recipes serves 2 people.
Here’s how:
Blue cheese sauce
– 15g of butter
– 1 tablespoon of flour
– 100ml of milk
– Salt and pepper, to taste
– Pinch of nutmeg (optional)
– 20g of blue cheese (I used bellingham blue)
– 150g of purple sprouting broccoli
To serve
– 20g of blue cheese, crumbled
– 2 dessert spoons of butternut squash seed oil / walnut oil / extra virgin olive oil
Begin by making a simple roux. Â Melt the butter, over a low heat in a small saucepan. Once the butter has melted, add the flour and mix well with a wooden spoon. Cook over a low heat for about 5-7 minutes, until the roux is well cooked, but still golden. Still over a low heat, gradually add the milk, bit by bit. Mix well between each addition, ensuring that there are no lumps. You can also use a whisk to help keep the sauce lump free as you go. Once all the milk has been added, you should end up with a smooth, glossy sauce. Season well with salt and pepper to taste. You can also add a pinch of nutmeg, if you have some. Crumble the blue cheese into the white sauce. You may need to turn the heat up slightly to melt the cheese.
To cook the broccoli, I removed a few of the lower leaves from the end of the stalks. I also sliced the thicker stalks in half, to ensure even cooking of the florets and the stalks.  I like to steam broccoli, so as to keep in all the vitamins and flavour. Place the broccoli in the steamer over a pot of boiling water, on a medium heat. Steam them for about 3-6 minutes. It really depends on how al dente you like your broccoli and how fresh it is. Mine was very tender and only took 4 minutes to cook. Serve straight away with the sauce drizzled on top. Crumble some fresh blue cheese on top and a few splashes of good quality olive oil.
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