My brother, age 32, is a pretty picky eater.  He even had a rule for eating food called the Chunky Chewy Smooth Rule.  A food could not have more than one of these characteristics if it was going to enter his mouth.  Thank goodness he met his wife who broke him of this silly rule.

My point, you ask?  Even before The Rule was broken, my brother would ask me to make this dish for holiday dinners.  It’s simple – broccoli with Hollandaise sauce.

I made this for Thanksgiving this year. Literally, I had my dinner plate in one hand and my camera phone in the other so I could quickly get a picture before he dug into the dish.

Ingredients

• Broccoli
• 3 egg yolks
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• lemon juice
• cayenne pepper

Preparation

• Trim the broccoli so you’re left with bite-sized florets.
• Steam the broccoli to your preferred tenderness.  Remember, you don’t need much water when steaming veggies.  If I’m using the microwave, I love the Pampered Chef Large Micro-Cooker.
• Throw the egg yolks in the blender and blend.
• Slowly add the melted butter to the egg yolks.  If you have the option, use the “whip” setting on your blender; it helps to make it frothy.
• Add the lemon juice and cayenne to taste and blend.
• Put the broccoli in your serving dish and pour the Hollandaise sauce over the broccoli.
• Sprinkle cayenne pepperi over it to make it all pretty!

HINT:  The broccoli and sauce both cool quickly.  So, if necessary, quickly heat the broccoli in the microwave before pouring the Hollandaise sauce over it.  That way, the Hollandaise doesn’t seep into the broccoli while it’s waiting to be served.

Variation

Serve in a 13 x 9 dish.  Use an intact head of cauliflower as the centerpiece (microwave in the Micro-Cooker with milk (to keep it white) to steam it) of the dish.  Spread the broccoli around it.  Then, sprinkle with cherry or grape tomatoes (quickly heated with olive oil in a skillet – not too hot and not for too long or the skins will start splitting) around the pan for a splash of color.  Pour the Hollandaise over everything. This is MY favorite version of this dish.  It’s beautiful on the table and it tastes great!