Artichokes (and how to eat them)

Artichokes are actually a type of flowering thistle. The artichoke itself is the bud of the flower. If you haven't had one before, eating an artichoke might seem a little strange. Once you've had one though, you will understand how simply delicious artichokes can be. They are also surprisingly easy to prepare. Methods range from stuffing and baking, to pickling, and steaming. The recipe that I share below mostly involves a gentle boil, and the artichoke is eaten with a light lemon-butter sauce. If that doesn't entice you, artichokes were historically thought to be an aphrodisiac. Yup

Artichokes (and how to eat them)
Servings: 2 (only 2-3 fit in a pot!)
Time: 45-55 minutes (5 minutes prep)

2 medium to large fresh artichokes
2 cloves of garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil
lemon juice
butter (melted)

Fill a large, 4-5 quart pot with water. Add no more than a tablespoon of olive oil. Peel the garlic, slice into a few, large pieces and add to the pot as well. Bring water to boil. Using a large knife, cut about an inch off of the top of the artichoke. The idea is to rid the 'leaves' of many of their thorny tops. Some people like to get the tops of any missed leaves with a pair of kitchen scissors. Cut off the stem, leaving an inch or less at the base. Once the water boils, carefully drop in the artichokes. Reduce the heat to medium or even medium low, keeping the water at a gentle, rolling boil. I usually cover the artichokes while they cook, although some people leave the lid off to decrease the bitterness of the artichokes. The artichokes will pretty much be fine on their own while they cook for about 45 minutes to an hour, depending on the size of the artichoke (larger ones take longer). I do like to roll the artichokes around in the water with a fork, occasionally. When done, the leaves should be able to be easily separated from the base.

To make the dipping sauce, combine 2 tablespoons of melted butter with about a table spoon of lemon juice. Add more lemon juice to taste. The sauce should be on the tart side, as it pairs really well with the slightly bitter artichoke.


How to Eat Artichokes
1. Peel off each of the primary 'scales' - the leaf looking things - and draw the base of the scale through your teeth, scraping off the delicious, tender meat.

2. As you get closer to the center the 'scales' will become much smaller and translucent. Some may be purple. You can carefully bite off the base, but stay away from the small spine at the tip!

3. When you get to the 'choke' (really the unopened flower), which looks stringy in the photo below, you'll need to scrape off all the chokey bits (Don't eat), leaving the 'heart'(base) intact.



4. Cut up the tender heart and stem and dip in the butter. Definitely the best part of the artichoke!

(Mostly) Greek Pasta

This is a robust, strongly flavored pasta dish. Why only "mostly" Greek? Well, it involves Italian hard salami and some Italian seasoning. To make this all Greek, substitute cooked ground lamb for the salami. If you're vegetarian, or are in the mood for lighter fare, simply leave out the meat entirely or substitute veggies like tomato or zucchini. This dish comes together very quickly!


(Mostly) Greek Pasta
Time: 20 minutes
servings: 3-4

12oz spiral pasta
6 slices of hard salami, approx. 3-4 inches in diameter (deli counter style)
4oz crumbled feta cheese
1 cup of Kalamata olives
olive oil (bit less than 1/4 cup)
6 small garlic cloves
Italian or Tuscan seasoning

Fill 4 or 5 quart pot about 2/3 full of water for pasta. While waiting for water to boil, cook slices of salami in medium skillet. You may need to cook them in two batches to make sure that the slices are not overlapping. Cook salami until just beginning to crisp. Remove from pan to a plate or cutting board and wipe out skillet (unless you want the added flavor of salami fat!). Peel garlic cloves and thinly slice.

Once the water boils, add pasta and cook for about 10-12 minutes. We love using tri-color pasta. Any pasta shape will work, but spirals hold the cheese the best. While pasta is cooking, add oil and garlic to skillet and cook over medium heat until garlic is just turning golden. Add 2-3 good shakes of the Italian seasoning and cook about 30 seconds longer. Remove oil and seasonings from heat. While the pasta is cooking and the garlic is sauteing, you should have enough time to roughly chop the olives. In addition, stack the salami and slice into 1 inch pieces.

When tender but firm (try a piece!), drain pasta, return to pot and pour oil and seasoning over. Mix in salami, olives, and then finally, the feta cheese.

Jerk Chicken

Jerk Chicken, otherwise known as "Rob" Chicken....jk! Let's see how long it takes for him to notice.
As I was saying, Jerk Chicken and other "jerked" dishes are very common to Caribbean cultures, especially Jamaican. In the traditional Jamaican preparation, spices, including the exceedingly hot Scotch Bonnet Pepper, are dry-rubbed into the meat and the chicken, pork, or what-have-you is slow smoked. I'm not an expert, of course, but I did modify and put together a delicious recipe that represents the flavor of Jerk seasoning very well. It's also an easy dish to prepare. The seasoning and sauce can be made the previous day and the chicken can marinate overnight. When you're ready to start dinner, just pop the entire dish into the oven and you're good to go. I usually do the sauce and marinade just before bed, when I'm too tired to continue writing my dissertation...

Jerk Chicken
time: 15 minutes prep (previous night); 50 minutes oven
servings: one batch of spices will cover about 10 medium chicken legs

3 tablespoons dark rum
2 tablespoons water
1/2 cup malt vinegar (or 1/3 cup cider vinegar)
10 green onions, roughly chopped
4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons dried thyme
1 Serrano pepper with seeds (or a habanero if you enjoy fire)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 teaspoons ground allspice
4 teaspoons ground ginger
4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons ground black pepper
2 teaspoons dark brown sugar

1 cup ketchup
3 tablespoons soy sauce
10 chicken legs (approximate)
1/4 to 1/3 cup fresh lime juice

Boil rum and 2 tablespoons water in small pan for 2-3 minutes. Add the boiled rum mixture to blender; add vinegar and next 12 ingredients and blend until nearly smooth. Remove 2 tablespoons of the blended seasoning to a small bowl and then mix in ketchup and soy sauce to make sauce. Sauce can be made 1 day ahead, refrigerate.

Place chicken in large roasting pan or oven-proof baking dish. Pour lime juice over and make sure all sides of the legs are coated. Spoon the remaining jerk seasoning over chicken and rub into meat, covering all surfaces. Cover the dish and refrigerate at least 4 hours, or as long as 1 day ahead (basically from the night before you plan to cook it).

When you're ready to cook the chicken, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake until chicken is cooked through and juices are clear when you cut into the thickest part of the meat, about 50 minutes (internal temperature at least 170 degrees). Make sure to serve the jerk sauce (the ketchup mix) along with the chicken!



These would probably be nice on the grill, too!

Guest Star: Lobster Rolls

Another special guest recipe, this time brought to you by Sterling! If you can't get lobster or prefer a different filling, I think that crab or shrimp would substitute nicely.

Lobster Rolls

1 - lobster tail (4oz) per sandwich.
1 - dinner roll per sandwich
¼ cup mayonnaise
some butter
-lemons

Spices
-Tony Chachere’s Original Creole Seasoning
-Kosher Salt
-Freshly ground pepper

Lobster- frozen or thawed
Turn each lobster tail upside down and cut one slit on each side of the shell. Detach the thin portion of shell covering the meat. Sprinkle lemon juice over the exposed meat. Place into oven (450 degrees) for 16-20 minutes. Once done, the meat should be white and the tails tend to curl a bit.

Roll prep
Heat up a cast iron pan on the stove and melt butter into it. Cut each roll in half and place on heated pan.

Sauce
Put ¼ cup mayonnaise in a bowl and mix with salt, pepper, and Tony Chachere’s Original Creole seasoning to taste. Add lemon juice.

Putting it together:
Once the lobster is done, remove meat from the shell with a knife and fork. Cut up the lobster into small ¼ inch chucks, mix with sauce, and place on the roll. Can either be served hot or cold. Sterling prefers hot, so he recommends putting the rolls in the microwave for 25-30 seconds.