I heard another recipe on Splendid Table that sounded so crazy easy –
“Don’t throw away the stem of a head of broccoli – Peel the stems, slice them up into thin rounds, put them in a jar, put a half teaspoon of salt in that jar, shake it, put it in the refrigerator overnight, and then it will draw off the water. Pour that out and toss it with garlic, olive oil, and vinegar, and you’ve got a marinated broccoli stem or pickle that is so good… Everybody loves it.”
See? Don’t you feel like a thrifty genius just reading that? A delicious pickle out of something most people throw away? I am just clever enough to do it!
I was at Beth’s house and she had out broccoli florets and I asked if she still had the stem. She said it was in the trash.
Oh, yes I did.
Relax. She still had it in the original bag – so it was cleaner than anything in my refrigerator.
I made it using rice wine vinegar because that’s what I had, and I have to say – I like it.
I googled the recipe for amounts: (1 minced clove, 1 T vinegar, 2 T oil) but it said to let it sit in the garlic/oil/vinegar for several hours. Since mine was in the fridge all day the oil got a little thick. That part was kind of ‘bleh’, but the flavor was good.
So: next time I go through Beth’s garbage, I’ll tweak the recipe and use less oil.
Brad says
I like broccoli stems plain, but this sounds really good too. Maybe I’ll try it some day. Except I hardly ever buy broccoli. Perhaps I’ll search through my friends’ trash…
Brad says
And why is there a need to use any oil at all? Pickles don’t normally contain oil, right? If I made this, I might skip the oil altogether, unless there was some scientific, Alton Brown reason for it.
Lauren says
That’s what I’m thinking, too. Oil schmoil.
(Kristi, I love that clip!)
Kristi says
This reminds me of George. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t36jwyVncmQ
Oh, how I miss that show.
Gretchen says
The thought of broccoli stems takes me back to eating at the “Chinese” restaurant in Seward back in the day. It seemed that all of the vegetables in their dishes were just broccoli stems with an occasional celery chunk.