Buffaque broccoli with blue cheese drizzle

This great barbecue vegetarian side dish is a riff on the classic American buffalo chicken wings.

Buffaque broccoli with blue cheese drizzle. Credit: Project Fire

• serves

  4

• prep

  10 minutes

• cook

  15 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

Broccoli

• 1-2 heads broccoli
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Coarse salt (sea or kosher)
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Onion powder
• Hot red pepper flakes

“Buffaque” sauce

• 85 g unsalted butter
• ½ cup sriracha
• ¼ cup Thai sweet chili sauce
• 1½ tbsp Louisiana-style hot sauce

Blue cheese drizzle (optional)

• 85 g (3 oz) smoked blue cheese or Roquefort or gorgonzola cheese
• ½ cup good mayonnaise
• ¼ cup sour cream
• Freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 1½-3 tbsp heavy cream or milk

Instructions

1. Set up your grill for direct grilling and heat to medium-high.
2. Make the blue cheese drizzle (you can also do this while the broccoli is cooking). Place the cheese in a food processor and grind to a coarse paste. (Alternatively, push the cheese through a sieve.) Add the mayonnaise, sour cream and pepper and stir until smooth. Work in enough cream or milk to obtain a creamy pourable sauce. Place in a squeeze bottle or transfer it to a small bowl for dipping or drizzling.
3. Peel the broccoli stems with a paring knife. Cut the broccoli into large florets (each should be 5-7.5 cm (2-3 inches) in length and include a portion of the stem). Cut the remainder of the stems into finger-size strips. Place in a large bowl or a disposable foil drip pan. Drizzle with olive oil and stir to coat. Sprinkle with the salt, pepper, onion powder, and hot red pepper flakes (I leave the quantities open to your taste). Stir to mix.
4. Place the broccoli on the grill away from the fire. (You can grill the broccoli directly on the grill grate or in a foil pan or pans.) Close the lid and direct grill the broccoli until sizzling, lightly browned, and just tender, 10 to 12 minutes, or as needed, turning once.
5. Meanwhile, make the buffaque sauce: Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the sriracha, Thai sweet chili sauce and hot sauce. Simmer for 3 minutes.
6. Baste the broccoli with the sauce and cook for 1 minute; then baste the other side.
7. Arrange the broccoli on a platter. Pour the remaining wing sauce over it. Drizzle or squirt the blue cheese drizzle over the broccoli or pass alongside, if using, and serve at once.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.