artichoke hearts – Cooking the Books

March 7, 2020

Honest artichoke dip

One of my go-to cookbooks since I discovered it is Amy Thielen’s The New Midwestern Table cookbook. As a nearly life-long Midwesterner, it’s perfect. Its recipes are rustic, delicious, mostly not that healthy, and not terribly pretentious, kind of like most Midwesterners.

As I was looking for a simple appetizer for something to share with friends, I was ecstatic to find a recipe that also fit my little Le Creuset/small skillet mission. It also happened to have artichokes, wine, and a butt-ton of cheese, aka, most of my diet.

So, basically, I moved the artichoke fondue dip to the top of my queue.

Two things about it appealed to me specifically — OK, OK, in addition to the aforementioned wine, cheese, and artichokes.

The first was that she correctly labels it a fondue dip; let’s be honest about what a Midwesterner’s (or really, everyone’s) idea of spinach artichoke dip is, mostly cheese. The second thing is not so much that it ditched the spinach, which I enjoy, though it does have a tendency to get stuck in between one’s teeth, but that there was a note about her choice in an alternative.

She not only replaced spinach with edamame, which has an entirely different texture and reasonably different taste, but noted that she’d been called out for how egregious it was to add to the point that she makes the edamame optional in her recipe.

I couldn’t resist seeing what the fuss was about.

My assessment, it was pretty good with it, and it didn’t scare off any of my friends who tried it.

All in all, it’s a damn good, and incredibly easy dip.

Here’s what I did, following the recipe (edamame and all):

Ingredients

1 (14 oz.) can brined, quartered artichoke hearts
½ c. heavy cream
1 c. shredded Parmesan cheese
1 c. shredded aged Gouda cheese
3 T. dry white wine (preferably Sauvignon Blanc)
2 T. chopped parsley
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 t. cornstarch
½ c. shelled edamame, fresh or frozen (optional, but come on, you want to try it!)
A baguette, sliced, or crackers for serving

Directions

Heat the oven to 325 degrees.

Drain the artichokes, and preferably, give each a little squeeze to release excess brine. Chop the artichokes roughly.

In a medium bowl, combine the artichoke hearts, cream, both cheeses, wine, parsley, salt and pepper, and cornstarch. Stir until well mixed. If using frozen edamame, ensure there are no ice particles on them, or rinse until they’re removed, and shake off any excess water, and add to the artichoke mixture.

Pour the mixture into a 9-inch skillet, and bake until the dip begins to brown at the edges and is bubbly, about 35 to 40 minutes. Serve with bread or crackers, or both, and enjoy!

November 16, 2019

Last week redux

I enjoyed last week’s recipe so much that I couldn’t stop thinking about it, and one of my thoughts was how so many of the ingredients would work really well in a Greek/Middle Eastern recipe. Olives, roasted red peppers, onions, and tomatoes all would work perfectly.

Then, of course, I got to thinking about the other things that I would have to adapt. And before I knew it, I had a nearly completely different recipe using nearly the same template.

I’ll admit some ingredients were easier to replace than others. I could have still used barley, but pearl couscous was sitting right there being perfect.

I thought about going full vegetarian, since ground sausage wouldn’t work. That’s when I remembered that gyro slices exist and are practically a perfect meat.

The sauce did take me awhile. Well, I thought of something pretty early, but it took awhile to convince myself it was the best option. Of course, it was a simple yogurt sauce.

Anyway, the results were absolutely fantastic.

Not only was it a delight but it also didn’t taste like I’d made the same thing two weeks in a row. Double bonus.

So much feta, gyro meat, and pepperoncinis. Delicious.

Here’s what I did:

Ingredients

1 c. dried pearl couscous (cooked to package instructions, to yield about 3 c. cooked)
Oil, for coating
1 lb. gyro meat slices, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 (12 oz.) jar roasted sweet red peppers, chopped
½ c. pitted green olives, chopped
1 (14.5 oz.) can quartered artichoke hearts
1 c. plain yogurt
~⅛ c. lemon juice
Fresh dill, to taste (I used the entire package, but I love dill)
¼ c. chopped parsley
1 T. oregano
Pepper, to taste
3 cloves garlic, minced (I used the jar stuff, sorry)
½ c. mozzarella, shredded
1 ½ c. crumbled feta, divided
1 c. cherry tomatoes, halved
1 c. pepperoncinis, sliced, optional

Directions

Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Meanwhile, on the stove top, coat a large Dutch oven and heat over medium. Brown the gyro meat, stirring occasionally, and soon after add the onions, and cook continuing to stir until the onions are translucent.

Add the roasted red peppers, olives, artichoke hearts, and cook for a minute or two to just meld flavors.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix together the yogurt, lemon juice, garlic, dill, parsley, orgeano, and pepper.

Remove the Dutch oven from the heated stove top, and add the cooked pearl couscous, tomatoes, the mozzarella, about half the feta, and the yogurt sauce. Stir to combine.

Cover the mixture and bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven, take off cover, add the remaining feta to the top, about half the pepperoncinis if using, and then continue to bake uncovered for about 10 minutes more until the cheese is melty. Add the remaining pepperoncinis just before serving for an extra kick, and enjoy!

March 23, 2019

The Crippes family chicken cacciatore (sorta)

My Grandma Crippes would have been 84 on Monday, so to honor her memory I made one of her lovely recipes. And then, because I’m a terrible grandchild, I tweaked it a whole bunch and made it in a Dutch oven.

I’ve made her chicken cacciatore recipe several times before but it’s always been as a casserole.

And, to be honest, I’ve always made a bastardized version based on my mom’s version of Grandma’s recipe. My mom tells me the recipe originally included mushrooms but no one in my immediate family liked them growing up so they got scrapped in my mom’s making.

This time I made even more changes, and probably should have made even more. But I kept the heart of the recipe in tact, which is tomato sauce, marinated artichoke hearts, and sauteed chicken. Aside from removing the mushrooms, I added onions and extra artichokes.

The change I should have made for the Dutch oven is to tweak the sauteed chicken by either not dredging it in flour or cooking it in canola oil rather than olive. What happened was a nice blackened layer of flour-y oil coated the bottom of my Dutch oven when I made it this way. Hotter oil or no flour would have fixed that.

Fortunately, it was still fine. The burnt layer was still there after it came out of the oven but didn’t impact the flavor any — just made the house smokier for a bit.

I do like this Dutch oven method, though, because it was a one pot meal. I even made the angel hair pasta in it first while I did the other prep work. I didn’t combine it all at the end because that is not how it’s been served in my family, but it’s possible … though I’d add less than the full 1 pound mentioned below.

Anyway, here’s what I did:

Ingredients

1 (14.5 oz.) jar marinated artichoke hearts
1 ½ to 2 lbs. boneless chicken breasts, cut into ½ inch chunks
1 c. flour, for dredging (optional)
Oil, for sauteing
1 large onion, chopped
1 (28 oz.) can of crushed tomatoes
¾ c. Chardonnay (or dry sherry)
2 cloves garlic, minced (I used more)
Basil, chopped or torn, to taste
Salt and pepper, to taste
Parsley, chopped to taste
1 lb. pasta, cooked according to package instructions, for serving

Directions

Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Heat the Dutch oven on the stove top over medium heat. Drain the marinade from the artichoke hearts into the skillet, and add oil. Dredge chicken chunks in flour, if using, and brown until golden. Do this in a couple batches, depending on the size of your Dutch oven.

Remove the chicken from the Dutch oven to a plate.

Meanwhile, add more oil as necessary and saute the onion, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic, artichoke hearts, crushed tomatoes, wine, and the spices to the Dutch oven. Cook until boiling, stirring occasionally.

Add back in the chicken, and stir to mix.

Cover the Dutch oven, and bake in the oven for about 30 to 35 minutes until bubbling and flavors are mixed. Let cool slightly, serve over cooked pasta (preferably spaghetti or angel hair), and enjoy!