Artichoke Flowers to fill and eat

Here's an easy way to jazz up serving whole artichokes the next time you want to impress your significant other or dinner guests. It's so easy you don't need to wait for company to try this simple. I'm currently in web site revamp purgatory so haven't had much time to write posts, so I thought I would get this easy and eye appealing way to serve artichokes, before they are finished here for the season.  So many artichoke recipes so little time left, even if they are in season from December to the beginning of May. I still have several recipes I haven't gotten to. In the mean time, pick up some fresh artichokes. We have a wide range of varieties here, but the best one for this trick are the ones that are long and pointy. That is not what are in these pictures, so don't let that stop you, but the longer ones will make a more dramatic presentation.

You can use a variety of fillings for the filling of your artichokes, but a simple home made mayonnaise with garlic is always a classic favorite. I also made a filling that is sort of like a pesto mixed with a bit of tomato paste that makes a tasty alternative to the mayo filling, but haven't been able to find my photo of it. I haven't added a formal recipe for mayo, but here are a couple of links to a classic mayo recipe here, which is made by hand whisking  and a video from Chef John's Foodwishes series, using an immersion wand to make it in a flash. I make it both ways, but find the wand method so easy especially when I just toss in my garlic to boot and faster than I can type up this post, you've got mayo to go on anything.

Artichoke Flowers

Start first by preparing 4 artichokes.
I start by trimming up the stem, making sure to keep as much as possible as the stem is quite tasty. You just remove the bottom part that is dry or very tough. them peel the outer tough skin off of the stem. Leave the stem attached to the artichoke while you steam them, as it makes them easier to handle. 
Remove  a few of the outer leaves, by gently pulling back on them till they snap off. Remove a couple of rows around the base of the artichoke.

 These were early season artichokes and therefore fairly tender, but you may need to remove more of the outer leaves it they seem too tough.  Do take care, as the spiny varieties are fierce and will put up a fight when you attempt to remove them.

Take your knife and cut at an angle to remove the outer leaves tapering towards the tip. It will pronounce the taper and make them very pointed. You are removing the bits that you wouldn't normally eat, and still have some leaf to pull them off with.

 

Bring enough salted water to a boil and either steam the artichokes above the water or plunge them into the water and cook until tender.  You will know they are done when a knife inserted at the base in towards the heart feels easy to pierce. Remove from heat and cool enough to handle.

Take the artichokes by the stem, turn point towards the work table. Gently splay the leaves out from the middle and press the artichoke directly on the table to fan the leaves out. Use enough force to open  it up.  Trim the stem from the base making sure the artichoke will sit up on it's own. Turn right side up to make sure it is suitably opened. If not them repeat the pressing directly o the table till it is open. Take a small teaspoon and remove the choke part in the very enter of the leaves. Now you will have a small cavity to fill with garlic caper mayonnaise, or whater ever combination suits you. Chives or other herbs are a nice addition as well.

 

My pesto concoction consisted of chopping garlic, basil, and pine nuts together. Then adding a small amount of olive oil to make a bit of a paste. Then added some tomato paste to achieve  a pliable  paste. Then I added ground parmesan and and bread crumbs to make a crumbly texture and a bit of salt if needed. I just keep adjustig the amounts as I go along to achieve a moist crumbly and flavorful paste that I plave in the middle of the choke and  sprinkle around. I'm sure you can come up with a few other filling was well. Bagna cauda comes to mind as well, warm garlicky  anchovy sauce comes to mind too.

Finding "La Dolce Vita" along with an Artichoke filled Foccacia

This time next week Fabrizio and I will be in London's Olympia Hall finding "La Dolce Vita".
No, I'm not talking about Maryann's wonderful blog by the same name, I'm talking about the London's 5th annual "most influential Italian lifestyle event" . There will be cooking schools, travel, property, food and wine, just to name a few of the attractions. We are going with our friend Enrico Bernard to help him hawk his superb elixirs, that feature the mountain flowers and herbs from here in Val Chisone and Germansca. You will find us in the Market area at stall M4. We'll be singing the praises about why you need to come and visit us here and try the famous and somewhat mythical "Genepy". We will, of course, have plenty of Barathier, Genepy and Serpoul on hand to sample, in hopes of enticing you to take some home. Fabrizio and I will of course be trying to entice you to bring yourselves over the pond to our "Bella Baita Italian Alps Retreat" for some mountain therapy.
Untill then why not make yourself a fresh artichoke filled focaccia and sit back, put your feet up and watch the original "la Dolce Vita' or perhaps "Il Postino" or some other such Italian movie.

Artichoke Focaccia

2 fresh artichokes, cleaned and sliced thinly
I cut up from the base to the tips of the leaves, discarding tough leaves as needed.
1/2 red or yellow onion
1 garlic clove minced
mixed dried herbs, I like oregano, thyme, rosemary and sage
Olive oil
white wine to deglaze pan
Optional
Fresh mozzarella
small tart tomatoes, Camarone and Costoluto, are coming in here from Sardinia and Sicily at the moment.
2 large focaccia squares, I made my own, but of course you can purchase them easily enough.
If you're looking for a focaccia recipe there are plenty of them out there. I don't always use a recipe and just wing it. I had topped this with black pepper and rosemary.

Saute your onion, garlic and artichoke slices in a small amount of oil for a few minutes till onion softens. Add the herbs, stir and cook a little more. You can deglaze your pan with a little white wine if you like. After it evaporates, add enough water to cover and cook the mixture covered till the artichokes are cooked all the way through, 10-15 minutes. Adjust seasonings with a bit of salt and pepper.
I only had a small piece of mozzarella so I chopped it into pieces and sprinkled it over the mix, just long enough for it to melt.
Slice your squares down the middle. I cut mine just big enough to fit in my toaster and lightly toasted them before piling the artichoke mix on one half. I didn't have any at the time, but some tart little tomatoes would add another depth to the yumminess..

Chestnut Pappardelle with Fresh Artichoke, Leek and Speck

It's all about comfort these days. When I saw a demonstration for a chestnut pasta recipe on my lunch time cooking companion, "La Prova del Cuoco", I knew it was in the cards to be made soon. I have begun to really love chestnut not having grown up with it and now finding them here in great abundance, I love discovering all sorts of ways to bring this naturally sweet ingredient in to my repertoire. Naturally I didn't have any of the ingredients for the recipe except for the pasta, chestnut flour, regular flour and eggs, but that didn't stop me. I used some of my seasonal favorites that I had on hand with good results. Round up the fresh artichokes, leeks and cured smoked ham and away we go....

Castagne Pappardelle con Carciofi, Porri and Speck
Chestnut Pasta with Artichokes, Leek and smoked cured Ham
Serves 6

For the Pasta
3 1/2c (350g) flour
1 1/2c (150g) chestnut flour
3 medium eggs, room temperature
1/2 (118 ml/g) cup water
pinch salt (optional)

Thoroughly combine the flours in a large bowl. Make a well in the middle and place your eggs, water and a pinch of salt. With a fork (or a stand mixer works well) begin whisking the eggs and water to emulsify before gradually pulling your flour in. When it begins to take shape and becomes manageable, flour your hands and bring it all into a ball. Put the dough on a floured wooden surface or your counter top and knead the dough until smooth and pliable, adding flour or moisture if needed to get a smooth pasta. Knead for a few minutes to incorporate all. Cover with a damp towel. upside down bowl or cling film and let rest for 20 minutes before rolling out and cutting into desired shape.
Meanwhile make your sauce.
To roll out our dough, you may want to divide your it into 2 or 3 pieces to make the rolling out easier to manage, especially if you don't roll dough that often, or you have a small space in which to work.
Roll dough out into a large thin rectangle.

To cut into wide pappardelle, lightly flour the dough surface and roll each long end up towards the center so that you have 2 long rolled up logs of equal amounts. Cut your dough about an inch or so depending on your taste. I made mine slightly less than that. Cut systematically down the length of your tubes.
When you have cut all your dough, unroll your lengths and either hang up on a broom handle between two chairs or if you have the room on our table leave them unrolled to slightly dry before cooking. approximately 15 minutes. The short drying time helps keep the pasta from sticking together when you cook it.

Cook the pasta in a roomy pot filled halfway with salted water, just before the sauce is ready to serve.
Because it is fresh pasta, it will only take a very few minutes, depending on your thickness and preference.
Drain and toss into the sauce.

For the sauce
1-2 leeks, good sized, mainly the white part, sliced thin in half circles
1-2 garlic cloves minced
4 fresh artichokes, cleaned and trimmed of tough petals, sliced thin in half circles
white wine a splash or two
water, 1- 1 1/2 cups vegetable or chicken stock
8 oz (200-300g) speck, sliced in batons, prosciutto crudo or ham may be substituted
Olive Oil
Grated hard grana style cheese( parmesan, romano) to finish over the top when served

Sauté the leeks, and garlic in a small amount of oil for a couple of minutes.
Add the sliced artichoke and continue to sauté for another 5 minutes making sure the mixture doesn't pick up any color.
Add the wine, and continue cooking till the wine evaporates.
Add the stock or water. Simmer covered till the artichokes are soft and the liquid has reduced.
Approximately 10-15 minutes.
Add the speck just before ready to add the cooked pasta, as it doesn't really need to cook, just heat through and soften slightly.
Adjust seasonings. Remember the speck or prosciutto and Parmesan will add a fair amount of salt, so go easy on the salt before tasting it with the ham.
Add your al dente pasta and mix to serve.
Grate fresh cheese and pepper on top of each serving.

An Artichoke for You and Me

It's till full on artichoke season and I haven't exhausted the many ways with fresh artichokes. As a kid I always loved them although my experience to them was only the marinated variety and much later as the frozen or canned plain ones. I loved them then and still do now that I have finally been able to really feast on them with out breaking the budget. The price has finally gone down this year to 10 for 4 euro and that's a bargain, this year. Prices have crept and jumped this year on all manner of foodstuffs. I am oh so happy that these have finally come down in price to enjoy them in their myriad ways of delightful dishes. Some of my favorites include inclusion with fresh pasta, risotto, fried, stuffed and baked, which is a far cry from my former experience only of boiled with fresh aioli or romanesco dipping sauce or the ever so tasty but oh so greasy hot artichoke dip that you find on many American starter or happy hour menus. It was quite the revelation when my next door neighbor mother- in-law pointed out that her favorite way was to eat then raw as a salad. Huh? Clean'em, slice'em thin and dress them up in a simple olive oil and lemon juice with salt and pepper and go. Goes very nicely with that crusty white bread I just made followed by a plate of pasta or hearty soup. Your artichoke must be very fresh and I would add that the flavour although sweet, it can be a bit on the astringent side, which for the uninitiated can be a bit surprising. A heavier flavored follow up course is recommended as this salad can sometimes affect the taste of your next course if your not careful. I served mine today with fresh piadine with melted Toma cheese.

Fresh Artichoke Salad

• One raw fresh artichoke per person, any variety is fine

Cut 1/3 of the spiky top off
Remove the stem, trim the tough bottom off similar to the way you would judge asparagus and peel
Remove tough outer leaves of the bulb, be ruthless. You can save them and boil them for dipping in aioli later if you like
Cut in half lengthwise
You could leave them here for awhile if you want, but make sure to put in acidified water to keep from turning dark
Just before serving
Slice very thin in half moon style making you way up from the stem to the top.
If you find the leaves tough as you slice your way up, them discard a leaf or two till they are slicing easily.
Casually arrange on individual plates and season.

• Good quality fruity olive oil
• fresh squeezed lemon juice
• sat and pepper

Serve
Let the individual mix their own on the plate and adjust seasoning as desired, of course.
Easy Peasy!

Carciofi Fritti

This time of year in the run up to Lent, I mentioned previously that this is the time for all things fried. Usually, it means the fried pastries of the carnival period, but I found myself craving a Roman specialty, fried artichokes. Allegedly, they are to Romans what French fries are to Americans, tasty fried morsels. I don't know as I haven't been to Rome, since I was a kid, so it's all hearsay to me. I've seen them made on my favorite lunchtime TV show, where the chefs battle it out for the the winning 20 minute menu. So I have made them a few times based on what I had seen them do, but was never quite completely happy with the results till I came across the trick I have been looking for to make a crispy light fried treat. Kyle Phillips of Italian Food of the web site About.com finally helped me achieve the perfect fried artichokes. Soak the artichokes in lemony water for an hour before frying. I have followed his recipe fairly faithfully with a few adjustments, as his original recipe called for 6 artichokes, but I found that the proportions were only enough for 3-4 large artichokes. I also didn't put the flour in the water, and it worked just fine.

INGREDIENTS:

* 4 artichokes (I prefer the spineless Sardinian or Roman varieties or globe as they are called here,
but any will work fine as long as they are fresh)
* salt
* The juice of 1/2 a lemon

* Flour, maybe 1/2-3/4c (put in a bag to shakes the wedges around in)
* A whole egg, lightly beaten
* Oil for frying

PREPARATION:
Squeeze the lemon into a bowl of water, drop the rind into the bowl, and add a pinch of salt. Peel away the tough outer leaves of the artichokes, trim the tops perpendicular to the length of the artichokes, and cut the artichokes into eighths, lengthwise. You will have small feathery wedges.

Soak the wedges in the acidified water for an hour. Pat them dry and drop into the flour. I like to use a bag with the flour and shake them about to completely cover. I use one of those clear plastic bags that are hard to avoid, from when you buy your veggies . It is another good way to reuse them.
Dredge the pieces a few at a time in the egg, and fry them until crisp and golden in hot, but not really hot oil (you don't want the outside to burn before the inside is cooked). I find a thermometer is very useful once again if you have one.
Drain and lightly salt.
They don't stay crispy long, so try to time them to go right before serving. I tried them with just eggs whites, as I had a surplus, but although they were good, they didn't get quite as crispy.

Kyle Phillips's Fried artichoke recipe