I got the idea for this from dining out at a James Beard Award Wining chef’s restaurant called FnB in the arts district of Scottsdale Arizona. The chef and co-owner Charleen Badman had Grilled Broccoli with Tangerine Aioli and Pistachios on her menu that I tried. Today when I went to prepare my broccoli I thought about it and came up with something similar with what I had around the house. I learned that there are a lot of different ways to make aioli. It really isn’t just a mayonnaise. Some chefs thicken it up with soaked bread. I used potato as my thickener. Serving size might differ….For me this made two servings.

Ingredients for around two servings

1 large broccoli crown – break down to florets

4 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (split 2T + 2T)

1/2 cup almonds toasted (mine were whole that I crushed and toasted but you can use sliced)

sea salt – to taste (I used my home made smoked pecan sea salt)

fresh ground black pepper – to taste

ground Aleppo pepper – to taste

1 potato – peeled – cut into 8 pieces

2 1/2 oz sweet roasted whipped garlic – (I buy a Costco bag of garlic split the heads in half, generously olive oil them and roast them covered at 375F for an hour. Squeeze the cloves out and blend them. I portion cup them at 2 1/2 ounces and freeze them)

2 oranges – the juice and zest

1 egg yolk

sea salt – to taste

fresh ground pepper – to taste

Directions

Fill a medium sized sauce pot with water and a palmful of salt to boil. When the water is boiling add the potatoes. When the potatoes are soft (10-15 minutes) take them out to drain. Add the broccoli to the boiling water. They only need about three minutes. Then put the broccoli in an ice bath.

Set oven to 425 degrees F.

Put the potatoes threw a ricer. Mix in the egg yolk, sweet roasted whipped garlic, 2 Tablespoons oil, orange juice and zest. Add salt and pepper to taste.

The broccoli goes on a sheet pan in a single layer. Spray with olive oil. Add salt and peppers to taste. Put the broccoli on the top rack. Turn the broccoli over in 10 minutes…….Maybe 5 or a few more minutes and they are done. If your almonds need toasting put them on a sheet pan and give then a little spray of oil and put them on the bottom rack for less than ten minutes. Take the broccoli out when lightly charred.

Put aioli on bottom of plate. Top with broccoli and almonds.

ENJOY!!!!!!

A Special THANKS!! To FnB Restaurant so I could come up with this!