De Ma Cuisine

Artichokes Archive

Monday

30

March 2015

1

COMMENTS

Artichoke Heart Dip

Written by , Posted in Appetizers, Cheese, Condiments, Dairy-Free, Fruit, Gluten Free, Herbs, Lunch, Sides, Snacks, Vegan, Vegetables, Vegetarian

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When I was a kid we ate artichokes dipped in mayo. Nothing fancy. We each got a whole artichoke and we dipped then scraped it all off with our teeth. That’s the simple way to do artichokes. And you could do that here too. Just steam the artichokes, dip the leaves, then when you get down to the heart, scrape out the choke and dip it too. But, I liked the idea of dipping the artichoke leaves into a dip that contains the heart. It feels a little bit like eating an egg and some chicken in the same dish. Kinda wrong, but maybe really right.

Definitely right.

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The artichokes that I had didn’t take long to steam. Maybe 15 or 20 minutes once the water came to a boil. It could take longer depending on their size.

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While the artichokes steam, the dip comes together quickly. It’s a combination of things like chickpeas, fresh parsley, and olive oil. I used some ricotta and Greek yogurt for creaminess, but if you want this to be a vegan dish, try using silken tofu instead.

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The cooked artichokes hop into an ice bath. This stops the cooking and cools them down so they don’t burn the fingers.

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The artichoke leaves are removed and saved for later.

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The fuzzy choke is removed and the hearts and stems are chopped up (be sure to discard any tough leaves that may be left on there). They’re added to the dip and stirred in. You could blend them if you want, but I like the added texture that the chunks of tender artichoke bring.

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I ate this for lunch today: carrot sticks, artichokes, and a few slices of homemade bread. Other raw veggies like snap peas, green beans, fava beans, bell peppers, celery, fennel, mushrooms, and tomatoes (ok, not a vegetable, but close enough) could be fabulous too.

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Perfect for lunch, snack, or an appetizer at your next dinner party.

Happy Eating!

Artichoke Heart Dip

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes

Yield: 2.5 cups

Artichoke Heart Dip

Ingredients

  • 10-12 medium sized artichokes, stems trimmed, bottom 2-4 rows of leaves removed
  • 5 oz. ricotta cheese or soft (silken) tofu
  • 1/2 C Greek yogurt or soft (silken) tofu
  • 2 T carrot greens (just the tops, no stems) (optional)
  • 1/2 C chickpeas
  • 1/4 C fresh parsley
  • 1 stalk green garlic, roughly chopped
  • 1-2 cloves garlic
  • 1/4 C olive oil
  • 2-3 T lemon juice
  • to taste salt
  • to taste pepper
  • good pinch cayenne
  • ice water
  • juice from 1/2 lemon
  • carrots, sliced, for serving

Instructions

  1. Place artichokes in a steamer basket in a pot with 1 1/2 -2" water. Cover and bring it to a boil then simmer and steam for 15-20 minutes (or until tender and stems pierce easily with a sharp knife).
  2. Blend (with a hand blender or in a food processor, regular blender could work too) ricotta or tofu through cayenne. Blend for about 1 minute, or until it's as smooth as you'd like it. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed. Chill it in the fridge until you need it.
  3. When artichokes are tender, remove them from the pot and plunge into ice water that has the juice of half a lemon mixed in. When they're cool enough to handle, pull off most of the leaves (stop when you get to the small ones) and set them aside for later. Slice off the tougher top part off the leaves (you can save the tender bottom part for dipping) and slice through the top of the heart. Scrape out the choke (the fuzzy center) in the heart (and if there's any on the leaves scrape that, if you're going to eat them). Once each heart is done, return it to the lemon water. Once all hearts are done, chop up and stir in to the ricotta mixture (or you can blend it in if you prefer). Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.
  4. Serve dip with carrots and artichoke leaves for dipping.
http://www.de-ma-cuisine.com/artichoke-heart-dip/

Monday

17

February 2014

2

COMMENTS

Veggie Pizza with Artichoke Hearts

Written by , Posted in Baking, Cheese, Dinner, Herbs, Lunch, Main Dishes, Pizza, Vegetables, Vegetarian

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Things I learned today:

The smoke detector will go off when the oven is at 500F and there’s a pizza stone in there.

Artichokes may be best on pizza.

When I’m tired I type things like, “Almost anything is better when it tastes like garbage.”

I like one of these two lessons. No, two of them. I still can’t stop laughing at the garbage line. And I like that almost anything is better when it tastes like pizza.

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Take artichokes for example. Sure, they’re fun to eat steamed, grilled, boiled and then dunked in dip. That’s a good thing. But, I wondered to myself the other day if they might not be even better on pizza.

I think they are. It may be my new go-to way to eat them.

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Carrots on the other hand, can be used in about a million different ways, and are delicious in all of them. I mean, you can make them into cake for goodness sake! (And I made a rhyme… cool.) How many things can you eat raw and in a cake and call them both extraordinary?

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Rosemary compliments the artichokes and carrots. Lemon zest and juice are added to tomato sauce to make a tangy, citrusy pizza. Everyone is topped with some Gruyère and Parmesan cheese. Yep, you’re welcome.

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One of the day’s lessons came when I was following the recipe in Alice Water’s The Art of Simple Food for pizza dough. Her recipe says to pre-heat the oven to 500F with a pizza stone in there. I was gonna prepare the pizza on the pizza peel and slide it onto the hot stone. But, our smoke detector is in our kitchen (since our kitchen is a part of the living room), so it started screaming at me. I know that pizza stones can smoke, but I didn’t want the noise to continue. So, lesson learned. For as long as we live here, with this particular kitchen, I will not be using a pizza stone.

I used a regular pizza pan and it worked out just fine. Plus the noise stopped.

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The artichoke hearts were steamed before they went on to the pizza, which makes them tender and delicious. The lemon gives them a good citrusy kick, and the rosemary brings an earthy balance to each slice. The carrots, well, they seem to get along with everyone, so they’re there, in the background, sharing a little bit of sweetness.

All in all, a great new way to use artichokes… or maybe just new to me. You might have been doing this all along. Sometimes I need to catch up. Especially on a day like today when my brain has not brought it’s A game. I blame the olympics. They keep me up way too late.

Happy Eating! 

Veggie Pizza with Artichoke Hearts
 
Recipe Type: Pizza, Main Dishes, Vegetarian
Author: Rachel Oberg – De Ma Cuisine
Serves: 2-4
Ingredients
  • 3 large artichoke hearts (choke removed), halved (save leaves to steam and eat)
  • water
  • 1 pizza crust
  • 1 C tomato sauce
  • 1/2 to 1 t fresh rosemary, chopped
  • to taste salt
  • to taste pepper
  • 1/4 to 1/2 t red pepper flakes
  • 1 lemon, zested and juiced
  • 1 small carrot, grated
  • 3/4 C gruyère cheese, grated
  • 1/4 C parmesan cheese, grated
Instructions
  1. Pre-heat oven according to your favorite pizza crust recipe.
  2. Place artichoke hearts in a steamer basket in a pot with about 1″ boiling water in the bottom. Cover and cook for about 15 minutes, or until artichokes are tender. Roughly chop and set aside.
  3. To make sauce: Combine tomato sauce with rosemary, seasonings, lemon zest and juice. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.
  4. Roll out pizza dough.
  5. Top crust with sauce, cheese, veggies, and a little more cheese.
  6. Bake according to crust recipe until crust is crispy and slightly browned and cheese is melted.
 
Notes
The sauce is enough for 3-4 pizzas. Freeze any leftovers for next time!

 

Wednesday

17

April 2013

3

COMMENTS

Not Your Average Spinach-Artichoke Dip – Episode 63

Written by , Posted in A Cooking Show with Rachel O, Abundant Harvest Organics, Appetizers, Cheese, Gluten Free, Lunch, Nuts, Potlucks, Sides, Snacks, This Week's Feast, Vegetables, Vegetarian

SpinachArtichokeDip3Today I made dip. It’s not your average Spinach-Artichoke Dip. No way. It’s made with artichokes, walnuts, spinach, and beet greens. There’s a little cheese too. Cheese is always a good addition to dip in my books. I’m totally a fan of creamy dips and sauces. But this time, I exchanged the mayo for balsamic vinegar…

Really, I use the term “dip” loosely. It’s more of a “scoop”, but I don’t know if that works…

If you didn’t blend it, this could be a side dish of wilted greens that you eat with a fork. I’d be ok with that serving option. Or maybe you might want to add some of the water from a pot of cooking pasta and make it into a pasta dish? Be my guest! But, my plan is to scoop it out of a bowl with a cracker or some French bread and call it dinner. Yes, dinner. Or snack, appetizer, lunch, breakfast (alongside a fried egg? Sure, I think so.)…

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I’ll admit that it’s not quite as pretty as one of those creamy Spinach-Artichoke dips. It’s the balsamic that gives it the dark color. Totally worth it.

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Something I didn’t do that I’m regretting: I didn’t add bacon. That would have been a good addition. Great, now not only am I hungry, but I’m hungry for bacon…

Happy Eating!

Spinach-Artichoke Dip

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Yield: 4-6

Spinach-Artichoke Dip

Ingredients

  • 2 T olive oil
  • 8-10 artichokes (outer leaves, tip, stem, and choke removed), finely chopped
  • 1 shallot, diced
  • 3 cloves garlic, diced
  • 1 C walnuts, chopped
  • pinch or two coconut palm sugar (or any sugar)
  • 1/2 C balsamic vinegar
  • 3/4 to 1 t dijon mustard
  • 1/2 t to 1 t salt
  • pepper
  • pinch red pepper flakes
  • 3-4 C spinach, torn
  • 3-4 C beet greens, torn
  • 1-2 C cheese, grated (mixture of parmesan and gruyère)
  • crackers, bread, or bagel chips for serving

Instructions

  1. Heat skillet. Add oil. When oil is hot, add artichokes, shallot, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, and sugar. Cook for 3-5 minutes, over medium heat, stirring occasionally.
  2. Add garlic and walnuts. Cook 2 minutes, over medium heat, stirring often.
  3. Add vinegar and reduce down for 3-4 minutes (or less!).
  4. Stir in dijon. Add beet greens and wilt down for 2 minutes, (to help greens wilt down: using tongs, pick up greens and bits from the bottom and turn over). Add spinach and wilt down for 2 minutes, or until all greens are wilted.
  5. Using the chopper attachment of a hand blender (or a food processor), working in batches (if needed), blend the dip to desired consistency.
  6. Stir in cheese.
  7. Serve topped with a little more cheese.
http://www.de-ma-cuisine.com/better-than-average-ep63/

This episode is sponsored by: Abundant Harvest Organics, Bari Olive Oil, Waterfall Creative, Molly Jenson.