question about getting head, maybe the ladies can answer

eman1200

eman1200

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Mar 10, 2013
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Oakland, CA
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Bro do you even lift
let me preface this question by saying I have no clue what I'm doing when it comes to food shopping or cooking or the like. usually it goes like this....walk up and down the aisles at the supermarket grabbing totally random stuff off the shelves, pay, go home and put stuff in random cabinets that I know I'll forget they're even there (the food stuff, not the cabinets), then head out to get dinner somewhere.

so there's broccoli bunches and there's broccoli heads in the produce section. assuming the exact same quality and exact same price (like I saw tonight), why would one buy broccoli bunches and not just the heads? I didn't think you could eat the broccoli totem poles or stems or whatever u call them? if not, why would you pay for the weight of them? I dunno, these are things eman1200 thinks about. in any case, I opted for just getting head tonight. not even sure how imma cook em. maybe I'll steam them cause I got this fancy stainless steel "thing that steams things" along with the other stainless steel "stuff that cooks stuff" that came with it.
 
Mason said:
Broccoli florets are the good part. But the stems are edible too.
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FLORETS!!..........see that just wouldn't have worked out the same in my thread title.

why have I never seen or eaten (to my knowledge) any dish that had broco-stems in them?
 
Some recipes call for the use of the stems. And you can purée them in a blender and stick them in bread similar to zucchini bread and nobody will ever know they're eating broccoli.

Just depends on what you're cooking.
 
Cut coarsely, broccoli stems can be good as a steamed veggie or chopped for a broccoli and cheese rice casserole. I take a paring knife and peel off the outer layer first, though.
 
Dunno why anyone would waste time with the shaft when the head is the best part (if you like brocolli).
 
I got nothing. Last time my husband said, "WOMAN, give me head right this second!", obviously meaning he would like for me to purchase him a head of lettuce to put on the burgers he planned to cook, I went grocery shopping and came home with cabbage. If he sends me for pork, I come home with chicken. Anything complicated, like "tikki masala sauce" or "cumin spice" (sp?) or "eggs"... forget it. I still get pots and pans confused.

That said, when it comes to eating out... at restaurants, I mean... I'm a book of knowledge.
 
ircphoenix said:
Dunno why anyone would waste time with the shaft when the head is the best part (if you like brocolli).
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way to go, irc.....way to turn a perfectly normal food-related thread into some weird, double entendre, sexual innuendo type thread, sheesh. nice goin man.
 
eman1200 said:
sheesh. nice goin man.
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Wow, I read "groin" first pass thru this reply.

I like the broccoli stalks fine if boiled and salted, or sautéed with garlic. I think some folks just overcook the plant until it's mush, then it's not good eats... unless you're into soft, flaccid and slimy.
 
Still one of my favorites: Asparagus (cut or snap off the last one or two inches), olive oil and balsamic vinegar drizzled over, the coarse salt and black pepper. Toss onto a screaming hot grill and roll them around for no more than a couple minutes. They'll get some char and turn bright green. Crunchy deliciousness that will make your pee smell funny.
 
Try tossing them w/ some minced garlic and olive oil. Bake them at 450* until. . .kinda grilled looking. Spritz with lemon and sprinkle on fresh parmesan. Awesome. As for Asparagus, I've read the why behind asparagus pee but I still don't understand it. Or didn't care enough to retain the info.
 
Matthew said:
Still one of my favorites: Asparagus (cut or snap off the last one or two inches), olive oil and balsamic vinegar drizzled over, the coarse salt and black pepper. Toss onto a screaming hot grill and roll them around for no more than a couple minutes. They'll get some char and turn bright green. Crunchy deliciousness that will make your pee smell funny.
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yep, I agree on all points. this is about my level of cooking.....oil salt pepper and a heat source.
 
No idea about asparagus' odor. To me, it tastes the way a bag of fresh-mown grass smells . . . Nit worth paying for, much less at the extortionate price it generally has at the store.

To quote a favorite T-shirt, "Vegetables are not food. Vegetables are what food eats."
 
The stems are of course edible but I never liked them. I just buy the heads (the grocery stores around here call them "broccoli crowns"). They are often the same price as the bunches, and, since I would throw the stems away anyway, the crowns are a lot more cost efficient.

That said, some people must like the stems, or they would be cheaper. Or maybe people just don't think before they put the entire bunches in their carts.

Brocolli rabe, also called rapini, is a completely different plant which is more closely related to mustard greens.
 
I'm offended..... by all this veggie talk. Where's the beef?
 
eman1200 said:
....way to turn a perfectly normal food-related thread into some weird, double entendre, sexual innuendo type thread, sheesh.
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And then someone brings asparagus into the fray.

It wasn't until recently that nuns were allowed to grow asparagus.
 
timwinters said:
It wasn't until recently that nuns were allowed to grow asparagus.
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I didn't realize I was such a heathen.

The only way I like my sparrowgrass is seared on a hot grill or roasted in a hot, hot oven. Gotta be crunchy.
 
asicer said:
Some people prefer using the stalks for broccoli slaw (awaiting another rant from @Sac Arrow )
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You know, I found out all these years that I actually don't like broccoli. And I'm one that likes veggies. Leafy green veggies. That said, broccoli heads (I refuse to throw my card out the window and say 'florets') boiled to mush in butter are pretty good. Particularly if there is bacon involved.
 
Mason said:
Broccoli florets are the good part. But the stems are edible too.
Click to expand...

I'd argue that the stems are the best part. If you cut off the husk, the interior of the stems are succulent and have a really mellow almost sweet flavor. Sautee with bit of butter and salt and it's delish.
 
labbadabba said:
I'd argue that the stems are the best part. If you cut off the husk, the interior of the stems are succulent and have a really mellow almost sweet flavor. Sautee with bit of butter and salt and it's delish.
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U lost me at husk. What's a husk? (I don't feel like googling 'what is a broccoli husk?')
 
Hank S said:
No idea about asparagus' odor. To me, it tastes the way a bag of fresh-mown grass smells . . . Nit worth paying for, much less at the extortionate price it generally has at the store.

To quote a favorite T-shirt, "Vegetables are not food. Vegetables are what food eats."
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I've got a T-shirt that depicts a deer dropping stink pickles on the ground with the caption: Vegetarians, my food poops on your food.
 
If you're making 'mixed vegetables' you'll find the stems hold up better to carrot slices and the like than the florets will. So mostly stems and hold back some florets for aesthetics.

If you're actually as cooking challenged as you portend, you can try www.homechef.com for a while. Everything is delivered to your door with full color instructions. It's a good way of shaking out of the rut of buying the same 9 ingredients and preparing them the same 5 ways.
 
Disgusting vegetable. My GF does make broccoli slaw out of the "stems", but that is just as disgusting as the head.
 
I was expecting this thread to be about head lettuce, not broccoli. I am disappointed.
 
Timbeck2 said:
...stink pickles...
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Pressure-Horn.jpg


Horse-Tornado.jpg


camel.jpg

 
Sac Arrow said:
You know, I found out all these years that I actually don't like broccoli. And I'm one that likes veggies. Leafy green veggies. That said, broccoli heads (I refuse to throw my card out the window and say 'florets') boiled to mush in butter are pretty good. Particularly if there is bacon involved.
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No crunch, no munch. I outgrew baby food a long time ago. Can't stand veggies cooked to mush.
 
I thank broccoli for giving me my love of cheese! Broccoli by itself is a hideous, nasty, stupid vegetable. Smother it with cheese and bacon, now it is good to go because it now tastes like cheese and bacon.
 
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