Steamed broccoli w/ caper brown butter, or I would rob stores for capers

Sometimes I wonder if I should just name this blog "shrine to The Gourmet Cookbook , and I may just do that someday. My latest creation from said tome was steamed broccoli with caper brown butter, and it was quite lovely.

It started, as the majority of my veggie dishes do, with a trip to the farmer's market to see what was looking good. This being California, just about everything is in season, so I never know what surprises will lurk in the stalls. I absolutely prefer the Hollywood Farmer's Market, because it draws a more diverse crowd and has a much, much better selection than the Santa Monica Farmer's Market (IMHO), but I do actually live in Santa Monica these days, so Santa Monica it was (the Sunday Santa Monica market, for those who know the different markets around here. The winners that particular day were the strawberries and the broccoli. I bought two heads of broccoli and was off and running.

I would never, left to my own devices, add capers to broccoli, as I am more inclined to experiment with diversity in color and texture. I just wouldn't add green to green, because it doesn't seem visually interesting. Of course, that's why I have cookbooks: to tell me how to do things I wouldn't do otherwise in the kitchen.

While this is a lovely, tasty dish, I have to say I had hoped the caper brown butter would have adhered to the broccoli better. The capers just rolled off of the broccoli, leaving them to be scooped up at the end. That said...I will make it again, and probably again and again. the creaminess of the melted butter and the saltiness of the capers was like crack to me. If you have PMS, it will be like crack to you, too. Salt and fat - I mean come on! Heaven!

1.5 lbs broccoli
3/4 unsalted butter
3 T drained capers, chopped up (oh, I didn't chop them! that's probably why they rolled off!)
3T flat leaf parsley (I always omit the parsley, out of general laziness)
1/4 t salt
1/8 t pepper

cut up the broccoli, then steam it, in a steamer rack, covered, about 6 minutes (or until tender). I couldn't find a steamer rack, so I just blanched the broccoli for about two minutes and it was cooked perfectly.

Meanwhile, melt butter in a small saucepan over moderate heat. Stir in capers and cook, stirring occasionally, about 4 minutes. Stir in parsley, salt, and pepper.

Toss with broccoli in a bowl.