Artichokes, Mm Mm

I have incredibly fond childhood memories or sitting down to the dinner table with a whole artichoke on my plate and a bowl of hollandaise sauce close by. Peeling the leaves, dunking them in the hollandaise, and scraping the flesh off of the leaf with my teeth is the epitome of summer and happy times for me. Naturally, I am drawn towards any recipe with artichokes. This artichoke ragout uses frozen artichoke hearts, making the prep incredibly easy (peeling artichokes just for their hearts is ridiculously labor and time-intensive). The saffron in this dish adds the perfect je ne sais quoi. We served the ragout with some homemade bread to sop up the sauce and brie.


Artichoke Ragout with Saffron and Olives (Vegetarian Times, March 2010)

1 1/2 Tbs. olive oil
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
3 cloves garlic, minced (1 Tbs.)
1/4 tsp. crushed saffron threads
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1 large red bell pepper, sliced
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 cup crushed tomatoes
2 1/2 cups white mushrooms, quartered
1 8-oz. package frozen artichoke hearts
1/4 cup kalamata olives

1. Heat skillet over medium heat. Add oil, then onion and garlic. Saute 1 to 2 minutes, or until garlic turns gold. Stir in saffron and black pepper.
2. Add bell pepper and wine. Increase heat to medium high, and cook 3 to 4 minutes, or until wine is reduced by half. Add tomatoes, and cook 3 minutes more.
3. Stir in mushrooms, artichoke hearts, and 1 cup water, and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to medium, and simmer 15 to 20 minutes, or until vegetables are tender. Remove lid, and cook off any excess moisture, if necessary. Stir in olives, and season with salt and pepper, if desired.

California Fresh

Even though I have been dancing a lot on weekday evenings, I have been trying to make actual meals for us to eat rather than have us just scrounge around the fridge for food to eat. This meal doesn't actually make the cut for a speedy weeknight meal, but I tried it as such and I was running around the kitchen like a chicken without a head. This artichoke pasta and fig salad are wonderfully delicious but would make a much better Sunday night dinner when you can sit back, relax, and share a crisp glass of Sauvignon Blanc or Chardonnay.


Spinach Salad with Feta, Almonds, and Black Mission Fig Vinaigrette (The Dancing Gourmet, Linda Hymes)

3 Tbs. flaked almonds
1 tsp. butter
10 oz. fresh baby spinach leaves
2 Tbs. dried cranberries
1/3 cup reduced fat or regular feta cheese, crumbled

Fig vinaigrette
1/4 cup dried black mission figs
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp. honey
salt and freshly ground white pepper to taste

1. Soak figs in 1/2 cup boiling water for 5 minutes then place fig and soaking juice in a blender and process to a puree. Add remaining dressing ingredients and blend until liquefied. (Add a little water if dressing seems too thick.) Set aside.
2. Heat butter in a small skillet. Add almonds and saute just until lightly toasted. Transfer to a large bowl to cool, then mix with spinach, cranberries, and feta. Toss with just enough dressing to coat leaves and serve at once.


Pasta with Artichokes and Fresh Ricotta (Cooking Light, April 2009)

The artichokes take a long time to prepare because you have to take off a lot of the leaves. It feels so wasteful too. I think next time I try this recipe I will use frozen artichoke hearts to shorten up and ease the prep time. Hopefully all of the flavor will remain, because the flavor is fantastic!

4 cups water
3 Tbs. fresh lemon juice
4 medium artichoke hearts
3 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil, divided
2 Tbs. chopped fresh garlic
3/4 tsp. fine sea salt, divided
3 cups uncooked penne rigate pasta (about 12 oz. tube-shaped pasta)
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup fresh whole-milk ricotta cheese [we actually used skim-milk cheese]
3/4 cup (3 oz.) shaved fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

1. Combine 4 cups water and juice. Cut off stem of each artichoke to within 1 inch of base; peel stem. Remove bottom leaves and tough outer leaves, leaving tender heart and bottom. Cut each artichoke in half lengthwise. Remove fuzzy thistle from bottom with a spoon. Thinly slice each artichoke heart; place in lemon water. Drain.
2. Heat 2 Tbs. oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic to pan; cook 1 minute. Add artichokes and 1/4 tsp. salt; cover and cook 10 minutes or until artichokes are tender, stirring occasionally.
3. Cook pasta according to package instructions, omitting salt and fat. Drain pasta in a colander over a bowl, reserving 1/2 cup cooking liquid. Combine remaining 1 Tbs. oil, remaining 1/2 tsp. salt, artichoke mixture, pasta, reserved cooking liquid, parsley, and pepper in a large bowl, tossing to combine. Add ricotta in spoonfuls, stirring gently to combine. Spoon 1 1/3 cups pasta mixture into each of 6 bowls; top each serving with 2 Tbs. Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Paella

Adam and I were trying to figure out something new and different that we had never made before to have for one of our Wednesday night dinners. We also had the stipulation of making something not spicy, because one of our neighbors really doesn't enjoy spice. We though paella would be a wonderful thing to make with seafood and sausage and easy to divide into vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes. We were right! It was fairly simple and only used to pots to make an immense amount of a flavorful, healthy, complete meal.


Paella Our Way

I used a combination of two recipes, Paella Valencia and Quick Vegetarian Paella, from which I took bits and pieces of each and then added a bit of my own ideas. I got both recipes off of the Cooking Light website. I am sure that those recipes would be wonderful as they are currently written, but I combined them to make sure there were both a lot of vegetables as well as seafood and meat.

2 Tbs. olive oil, divided
3/4 lbs. scallops
3 large links of sausage or chorizo, thinly sliced
1 1/2 cups onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup mushrooms, sliced
1 cup diced tomatoes
1 Tbs. capers, drained
1/4 tsp. saffron threads, crushed
1 1/2 cups Arborio rice or other short-grain rice
2/3 cup white wine
21 oz. vegetable broth
1 cup frozen peas
1 (14-oz) can artichoke hearts, drained and coarsely chopped
salt and pepper, to taste
18 (3/4 lbs.) mussels, scrubbed and debearded
2 Tbs. chopped fresh cilantro

1. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle scallops with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon black pepper. Add scallops to pan; sauté 4 minutes or until scallops are done. Place scallops in a medium bowl. Add sausage to pan, and cook for 1 minute or until browned. Add sausage to bowl. [We did this process at the end in a separate pan so that the meat wouldn't mix with the vegetarian portion of the paella, but this isn't necessary if you aren't worried about the meat/veggie mixing.]
2. Add onion, garlic, and mushrooms to pan [or in a separate pan]; cook 2 minutes or until tender, stirring frequently. Stir in the tomato, capers, and saffron; cook 1 minute. Add remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, rice, wine, and broth to pan; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 25 minutes or until rice is tender.
3. Stir in peas, artichokes, and pepper. Separate into veggie and non-veggie at this time, if desired. Add the mussels, scallops, sausage, 1/4 cup water. Cover and cook 8 minutes over medium heat or until mussels open; discard any unopened shells. Remove from heat, and stir in cilantro. Let stand 3 minutes.

More Grilled Pizzas

One of the many things I have to thank my parents for is introducing me to grilled pizzas. So, while they were here, we HAD to have grilled pizza. I know I have written about these fabulous concoctions several times, so I am just going to give a few other topping options. We, of course, had a grilled pineapple and jalapeno pizza, but we expanded our repertoire by having a Greek pizza and a mashed white bean, sauteed mushroom, and caramelized onion pizza. Each of these pizzas has a completely different taste than the others, which makes it really hard to choose a favorite.


Spinach, Artichoke Hearts, and Feta (Moosewood Restaurant: New Classics)

We added Kalamata olives into the mix, which I think made it even better.

2 cups thinly sliced onions
2 or 3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. dried dill weed
1 tsp. salt
1 Tbs. olive oil
10 oz. spinach, stemmed, rinsed, and chopped
5 artichoke hearts, quartered (14-oz. can, drained)
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
2 cups crumbled feta cheese

1. In a large pot, saute the onions, garlic, dill, and salt in the oil on medium heat until browned, about 10 minutes. Add the rinsed spinach and cook uncovered, stirring frequently, until mostly wilted. Add the artichoke heart quarters and pepper. Allow to cool for a few minutes before spreading onto the pizza crust. Top with the feta cheese, if using, and bake according to the pizza crust instructions [or grill it!].

Touchdown!

You can tell we are finally getting into our groove here in Cali because we are now having get-togethers on a regular basis. Super Bowl Sunday was no exception. And with the Super Bowl event comes a lot of game-time food, stepped up a notch of course. We had an absurd amount of food, which is exactly the way we like it. A few of the dishes have been featured on the blog before, such as Buffalo Potatoes and the Most Amazing Queso Ever in "Let's Go, Raiders!" We also had the old stand-bys of guacamole, salsa, and veggies and hummus. The new additions were sliders, brats, and spinach-artichoke dip with pita chips. The sliders were simply little hamburgers on little buns with cheese and the standard ketchup, mustard, and mayo. The spinach-artichoke dip was a healthy version of the traditionally terribly tasty but terribly bad-for-you dip. The brats were the big seller of the night having been soaked in beer and topped with beer-cooked onions and sauerkraut. I can guarantee that noone went home hungry.


Baked Artichoke Dip (101cookbooks.com, Heidi Swanson)

We switched up this recipe a bit by not pureeing all of the artichoke hearts, merely chopping 1/4 of them into tiny pieces to add more texture to the dip. In addition, we added about 1 cup cooked spinach for more nutritional value and an extra punch of flavor.

2 (14-oz.) cans water-packed artichokes, well drained
4 oz. organic silken tofu
3 large cloves garlic
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
2/3 cup plain (or Greek) yogurt
1/4 tsp. fine grain sea salt, or more to taste
pinch of cayenne pepper
more Parmesan to sprinkle on top

1. Preheat oven to 350F degrees. In a blender or food processor puree the artichokes, tofu, and garlic. In a separate medium bowl whisk together the parmesan cheese, yogurt, salt, and cayenne. Stir in the artichoke puree and pour mixture into a medium-sized baking dish (or multiple smaller dishes). Sprinkle the top with more Parmesan. Bake uncovered until heated through and the cheese on the top starts to brown, about 45 minutes.


Amber Ale Brats with Onion and Sauerkraut (Grilling with Beer)

8 fresh bratwursts
2 bottles (24 oz.) malty amber ale
1 Tbs. minced garlic
2 cups sauerkraut
2 large yellow onions, peeled and sliced
2 Tbs. applesauce
1 to 2 tsp. fennel seed (to taste)
1 tsp. group black pepper, or more to taste
1 Tbs. molasses
dijon mustard

1. Simmer brats with 14 to 16 ounces amber ale (just enough to cover) and minced garlic in deep skillet placed over hot grill. After 20 minutes, remove from beer and place brats on grill to brown.
2. Mix remaining amber ale, sauerkraut, onions, applesauce, fennel seed, pepper, and molasses in skillet placed over medium heat. Simmer uncovered until most of ale has reduced and onions are very soft. Serve brats on toasted or grilled buns with Dijon mustard, topped with several spoonfuls of well-drained sauerkraut and onion mixture.