Sinfest

mouse · Joined: 10 Jul 2006 Posts: 15441 Location: under the bed

you can also microwave them in a cup for a lovely pseudo-souffle.
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Celaeno · Joined: 09 Jul 2006 Posts: 2995 Location: Kzoo

I tried something called "Herb Crusted Artichokes - stuffed with boursin cheese," and I would love to recreate it; however, I've never cooked artichokes in my life. It was just the hearts and they were soft and salty and amazing.

Does anyone know of any good artichoke heart recipes that might approximate it?

mouse · Joined: 10 Jul 2006 Posts: 15441 Location: under the bed

how big were the hearts? you can buy them canned (which don't need to be cooked) or frozen (which have directions on the package).

if you want to start from scratch, using the whole artichoke, all you need to do is put them in a big pot of water, with water pretty much to cover, bring it to a boil and then simmer (covered) until you can easily pull a leaf off (that will take up to 45 mins for big artichokes, rather less for baby artichokes). drain them, let them cool, then you should be able to pull the leaves off easily, and scrape out the choke with a spoon (sometimes you can just pull that off too). (i would hang onto the leaves for tasty munching, but that's me.)

i've seen instructions for cutting off all the leaves and cleaning out the choke while they are still raw, but that seems like a lot of work.
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Celaeno · Joined: 09 Jul 2006 Posts: 2995 Location: Kzoo

I'll probably buy them canned and improvise. I'll let you know how it goes.

zeezee · Joined: 08 Jul 2007 Posts: 4410 Location: saint louis

jwing · Joined: 10 Jul 2006 Posts: 2089

i have a cast iron thingie that's basically 4 rows of 3 or 4 hearts per row. i want to use said thingie to make something appropriate for the winglets' Valentine's Day lunches, but have no idea what to do with it. any suggestions?

zeezee · Joined: 08 Jul 2007 Posts: 4410 Location: saint louis

how about sugar cookies?

Sugar Cookies (For Cast Iron Cookie Mold)

1 cup Butter, softened
3/4 cup Sugar
1/2 teaspoon Salt
2 Eggs
2 teaspoons Vanilla
3 cups Flour, all purpose

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add salt, eggs and vanilla,
mix well. Add flour and mix until well combined. Press dough into mold.

Bake 15 - 18 minutes or until golden brown at 350. Let cool for one
minute. Place cooling rack over mold and invert carefully. Remove mold
and allow the cookies to cool. Makes 2 pans of molded cookies.

From: The Mast General Store Old Homestead Journal
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mouse · Joined: 10 Jul 2006 Posts: 15441 Location: under the bed

dang, zeezee - that artichoke recipe sounded good, until it got to the frying. still, i like the idea of filling artichokes with boursin cheese - caelano, i'll be interested to see what your version is like (as it happen, i have some canned artichoke hearts....)

jwing - how big are your little hearts? could you make muffins in them? (maybe a nice cherry muffin = you could add cherries instead of blueberries to a blueberry muffin recipe). how about as a form for rice balls (or rice salad)?
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Lasairfiona · Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 4:05 pm Post subject:

Pancakes? I don't know how well those would hold up in a lunch thing though... Grilled cheese perhaps?

So my guy experimented with pork + carrots + lavender + garlic + a little white wine (the lavender was the flavoring for the pan sauce). It was very, very tasty. However, the recipe needs to be tweaked a bit. I think it may need some cream. What do you guys think?

Saute chunks of garlic in olive oil. Pull chunks out when they start to get soft.
Sear pork in oil. Pull out and wrap/cover in foil.
Deglaze with white wine (we used cooking wine but we will use drinking wine next time). Add lavender and reduce.
Cook carrots in sauce. Add pork back in when carrots are almost done.
Tada!

It was less of a sauce and more of a dressing (?) because there wasn't much of it. It was so amazing on the carrots. I think we are going to try adding some chicken stock and some cream next time so it is more of a sauce.
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Uncle Benny · Joined: 09 Jul 2006 Posts: 8124

wingy: why don't you try a sort of taiyaki but in the heart shape? you can buy the red bean paste in cans at any asian market, and just kind of stuff them into the batter before cooking.

zeezee · Joined: 08 Jul 2007 Posts: 4410 Location: saint louis

las, your guy's recipe sounds pretty fine. i'm thinking that the use of a good dry white -- maybe a sauvignon blanc -- would take it a level up from the use of cooking wine. the standard advice is: don't cook with anything you wouldn't drink..and cooking wine generally includes salt, which makes me very suspicious.

a good, relatively cheap wine that i can recommend from new zealand: kim crawford marlborough sauvignon blanc. goes for 12.99 at costco. been buying it for the last several years, and it has a distinct grapefruit note that i think would do nicely with the lavender and the carrots.
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Celaeno · Joined: 09 Jul 2006 Posts: 2995 Location: Kzoo

zeezee · Joined: 08 Jul 2007 Posts: 4410 Location: saint louis

you're very welcome.

i thought the instruction about freezing the stuffed artichokes before frying them was inspired. otherwise all the delicious boursin would ooze out into the oil when frying them...and that can't be good.

let us know how they turn out so we can enjoy them vicariously!
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Darqcyde · Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2008 5:56 am Post subject:

Mizike · Joined: 09 Jul 2006 Posts: 5120 Location: Iowa City

Alright, I finally feel like I have a recipe that's good enough to share.

Pesto Pizza
This is a really easy recipe, but it is not a quick recipe. I only have the time to make pizza's on the weekend. If I start the dough at 3:00, the Pizza is usually done between 5:30-6:00. Most of that time is waiting for the dough to rise.

The Dough recipe is one that I originally found on the internet and then tinkered with until I loved it. Anyway, here goes:

Part I - The Dough
3 1/2 cups unbleached white flour
1 cup warm water
2 T yeast (Yes, tablespoons)
2 T honey
1/4 cup olive oil
1 T salt
1 T butter

Pour the warm water into a bowl and add the honey and salt. Mix until blended. Add the yeast and mix. Let this mixture sit for about 5 minutes. Add 1 cup of flour and the olive oil and mix until well blended. Mix the rest of the flour in 1/2 cup at a time until the dough balls up. If the dough does not ball up because it's too dry, add water one tablespoon at a time until it does. If your mixture is more like a batter, add flour one tablespoon at a time. I've made this dough in Iowa and in North Dakota and the difference in humidity can make a significant difference in the amount of flour you will need to use. You want the dough to be elastic, but not so sticky that it stays on your hand when you knead it.

I usually start kneading the dough when I have 1/2 cup of flour left, just to make sure that the dough feels right. Knead the dough for a minute or two and then place it in a greased, covered bowl and let it rise for about 45 minutes or until it has doubled in size.

After about 45 minutes, punch the dough down and let it double again. This can take between 1-1.5 hours. I usually sprinkle some cornmeal on a counter and roll the dough out there and then transfer the dough to a pizza pan. I have rolled the dough out directly on the pizza pan as well and this works, too.

Before you add any toppings, it's a good idea to partially bake the dough.; this is going to be a surprisingly thick crust, thanks to the yeast. Take a fork, and poke the crust all over. Preheat the oven to 425 and bake the crust for about 8 minutes or until the edges begin to turn golden. Then add your toppings and put the pizza in for another 5-8 minutes.

That was a lot of typing, but it's a really great crust. I've made it a number of times now and it's been a hit every time.

Part II - Pesto Sauce
While you're waiting for the dough to rise, you will have ample time to make a sauce and prepare toppings. I'd never had a pesto sauce before this year; now some of the best pizzas I've ever had are pesto pizzas. This recipe is both quick and easy.

1 cup packed basil leaves
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup shelled pine nuts
2 medium-sized peeled garlic cloves

Put everything into a food processor or blender. Pulse the machine on and off so that you get a fairly coarse grind. You'll have to scrape the sides down once or twice to make sure that the mixture has the same consistency. That's it. It makes one cup of sauce or enough for a large pizza.

For the carnivores out there, fry up a half a pound of ground Italian sausage and sprinkle it on the pizza with some roasted red pepper. Then top it off with about 6 ounces each of mozzarella and fontina cheese.

For the vegetarians, I really like topping it off with sun dried tomatoes and thick slices of smoked mozzarella.

This recipe does take a pretty sizable time commitment, but I have had nothing but good experiences with it.
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