The best way to cook an artichoke

I’m an artichoke purist.  What I mean by this is that there’s almost nothing I love better than a steamed artichoke with the leaves dipped in salted butter.  There are a few problems with eating an artichoke this way, though (Insert cheesy info-mercial where you see a clumsy person trying to eat a leaf dipped in butter but getting greasy chin and dropping butter all over his clothes—“This just won’t do!”)

So since this month is artichoke month I started researching other ways to cook an artichoke, while still keeping it in its truest form.  I knew I couldn’t steam it for a blog post because that’s a little boring, but what I did find was an EXCITING way to cook an artichoke while still keeping it plain and simple. 

You bake it.  Yep.  Get ready to get your mind blown.  I’ll never steam an artichoke again. it's a little more prep on the front end but way easier to eat after it's cooked.  Now if only I could invent a kitchen contraption that would do it all for me--I could be rich!

Ingredients
2 Artichokes, prepped (see directions below)
1 cup veggie or chicken broth

For Rub:

2 tbsps. olive oil
1 lemon, squeezed
1 tsp. sea salt
3-4 cloves garlic, diced

How to Prep your artichokes

Cut off about an inch at the top, trim the leaves, and cut in half.  Use a spoon to hollow out the fuzzy hairs. 

For some reason this is the only picture I got of prepping the artichoke.  I clearly need practice in being a food blogger.  Now picture this artichoke cut in half, and the fuzzy hairs scooped out.  Ok?  Good, let's move on.

Directions

Combine Artichoke Rub ingredients in a small bowl and mix together.  Prep your artichokes.  Smother your prepped artichokes in artichoke rub (get all up in that artichoke) and place them face down in a casserole dish.  It is important that you make the rub prior to prepping your 'chokes so that you can rub them immediately after you've cut them.  The lemon in the rub will keep them from browning.  After placing your artichokes face down in the casserole dish, pour in the chicken or veggie broth and cover with a lid (tin foil will do).  Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour and a half (may be less, just check them after an hour.  You’ll know they are done when the outer leaves are soft and edible).

Before going into the oven

After baking. Yum!

Oh yeah.

Another angle.  Work it, girl!

This picture makes me want to bite my screen.

Review
This was the best artichoke I have ever had in my life.  My husband was able to eat his so fast (no dipping!) I swear he could have won an artichoke eating contest.  We each had an entire artichoke to ourselves, no problem.  Kids didn’t want to try them but that was fine by me; I didn’t push it.

And in the spirit of Artichoke month at BATF, here are a few other inspiring things you can do with this crazy perennial thistle:

Artichoke as a fashion statement

What Kevin Spacey was really dreaming about

Come here, little baby artichoke and let me pose with you as if you were a precious egg on my wedding day.

I don't know, guys.  Just because it's on pinterest doesn't mean it's a good idea.  Just sayin'.

Um... ya.

Ali’s Artichoke and Mushroom Lasagna

Welcome guest blogger Ali, who in the spirit of Beauties and the Feast gave cooking with artichokes a try for the first time!

Ali writes:

Hello Beauties!

After hearing about the ‘Beauties and the Feast’ from Em and Missy, and in particular the ingredient of the month challenge, I felt the urge to get involved.  No, I am not a good cook.  In fact, I am a terrible cook.  I have no idea what goes wrong – I follow recipes but somehow things usually turn out bad – at least more than 60% of the time.  My husband is the cook in our household – which is great, but we are about to have baby #2 and I will be home all day for the next 3 months (with no excuse not to cook the evening meal – I’ve been warned), and it would be nice for him to come home to a NICE meal. 

So, I need to become a better cook, I like to experiment with new recipes and now have a great excuse to do so.  So, I’m a guest blogger this month.

Artichokes.  I have NEVER cooked with artichokes before.  I ate a steamed one once (and did not like it) and I’ve eaten those baby ones on pizzas and in dips before but that is the extent of my artichoke consumption.  I searched high and low for artichoke recipes and was scared off by many of them since they talk about snipping off this bit and that bit, and I really don’t know an artichoke’s arse from its elbow, as we say in the UK.  So, I found a recipe using frozen baby artichoke’s thinking that nothing could go wrong…

Artichoke and Mushroom Lasagna

Yes, sounds nice, doesn’t it.  I found it on epicurious.com and should have actually read the reviews before starting it.  But instead, I chose to follow the recipe to a T:

Ingredients:

Filling:
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
1 pound mushrooms, sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 x 8-ounce packages frozen artichoke hearts, thawed, coarsely chopped\

½ cup water

Bechamel sauce:
4 ½ tablespoons butter
4 ½tablespoons all purpose flour
4 ½cups whole milk
2 ½cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese (about 7 1/2 ounces)
Ground nutmeg
1 9-ounce package oven-ready (no-boil) lasagna noodles
1 pound grated mozzarella cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Melt butter in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and garlic; sauté until mushrooms release juices and begin to brown, about 7 minutes. Add artichokes and ½ cup water. Cook until liquid is absorbed, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Cooking the mushrooms

Melt butter in heavy medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add flour; stir 1 minute. Gradually whisk in milk. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until sauce thickens and lightly coats spoon, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes. Stir in 1 1/2 cups Parmesan. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and ground nutmeg.

Spread 2/3 cup béchamel sauce over bottom of 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish. Top with enough noodles to cover bottom of dish. Spread 1/4 of artichoke mixture over. Spoon 2/3 cup béchamel sauce over. Top béchamel with 1/4 of mozzarella.

Layering the lasagna

Sprinkle with 3 tablespoons Parmesan. Top with enough noodles to cover. Repeat layering 3 more times, finishing with a layer of noodles, then remaining béchamel. Sprinkle with remaining Parmesan. 

All ready to bake - looks yummy huh

Bake lasagna covered with foil 1 hour (or 1 hour 15 minutes if chilled). Remove foil. Increase temperature to 450°F. Bake lasagna until golden on top, about 10 minutes longer.

The finished product - served with rosemary bread

It came out of the oven looking tough and dry, and did not taste any better than it looked.  In fact, it tasted bloody awful.  The pasta was dry and chewy and there was nowhere near enough sauce or filling.  I was rather disappointed but not surprised.  Had I read the reviews first, I would have known that the recipe needed double the filling.  And in this way, perhaps the dish would be better, but I am not convinced.  Do not try this at home folks.


Any advice from the Beauties on what I may be doing wrong with my source/choice of recipe would be very welcome. 


Here’s hoping the next one will turn out a little better… 

Turkey & Artichoke Panini

I’ve been on a Panini kick lately and when Missy announced the secret ingredient for May was artichokes, I figured smearing a little artichoke dip on a Panini would make the ultimate sandwich!

The verdict? It was really good but I know if I was being judged on Iron Chef America or Chopped they would have told me the secret ingredient didn’t shine. We had grilled artichokes on the side (a first for me, I’ve only ever steamed them before) and artichoke orzo salad – links to the recipes are below. The grilled artichoke was by far my favorite thing on our plates!

My eyes were a little bit bigger than my stomach (these were HUGE sandwiches, after all) and Curtis and I were each only able to polish off half a sandwich each. Next time I won’t pile quite so much good stuff on!  

Turkey & Artichoke Panini

With Paninis, the combinations are endless so don’t feel like you need to stick to the list of ingredients below (except for the artichoke dip, that’s a necessity!). Pile on your favorite sandwich ingredients and make it in a Panini press, grill it or eat it cold!

Ingredients:

            Bread

            Artichoke dip (recipe below) 

            Cheese

            Baby spinach

            Tomatoes  

            Pesto

            Turkey

            Roasted Red pepper spread (Trader Joe’s)

            Avocado

            Bacon

Artichoke Dip Recipe 

Adapted from a recipe from Sherry Hoover

8 oz. cream cheese

¼ cup mayo

¼ cup sour cream

1 bag frozen artichoke hearts (Trader Joe’s)

1 jalapeno, finely chopped or ½ tsp. red pepper flakes

1 cup grated Parmesan, divided

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon garlic powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Mix the cream cheese, mayo and sour cream in a food processor. Add the artichoke hearts, jalapeno, ½ cup parmesan cheese, salt and garlic powder and pulse until the artichoke hearts are mixed in and chopped up, but not pureed.

Pour into a baking dish or small ramekins and top with the remaining parmesan cheese. Bake for about 15 minutes or until bubbly and warm and broil for a minute or two until the top is melted and crispy.

Smear on a sandwich or serve with bread or crackers for an appetizer.

Grilled Artichokes with Parsley and Garlic

This is a Giada deLaurentiis recipe. Click here for the recipe. Even with all the garlic and parsley, I still dipped each leaf into a mayo balsamic dressing combo. And I followed Megan’s advice and added a sliced lemon, garlic and salt to the water I boiled the artichokes in. So delicious! 

Orzo Salad with Artichokes, Tomatoes, Chickpeas & Feta

This salad recipe is from Maria of Two Peas and Their Pod. I’ve made this before using her basil dressing, but this time I just used a balsamic dressing and kicked the salad up a notch with fresh chives and garlic. I also accidently opened up a can of white beans, when I meant to open chickpeas, so I just used the white beans instead. And for this recipe, I used canned artichoke hearts. Click here for the recipe. And as I was linking to this recipe I just saw she has one for Artichoke, Roasted Red Pepper & Feta Biscuits - doesn't that sound good!? 

I love artichokes and am really looking forward to seeing the recipes the rest of the Beauties (and possible guest bloggers!) come up with.