Grilled artichokes for Meatless Monday

On the way back from Guido's extraordinary garden, I stopped at the market for a chicken. But what caught my eye was the artichokes for 50 cents a piece. I picked up 4 and had visions of a summer delight.

Grilled artichokes,  for me it conjures an image of cobblestone streets and ancient stone houses, grizzled old men and women whose lives you can read in their weathered faces. Simple food, fresh in from the fields, a crusty bread and wine from the grapes down the road. Oh, where was I? Right, the suburbs of Chicago. Sigh.....

But I can still have grilled artichokes.

Ingredients:
4 artichokes trimmed
1/2 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic minced
lemon juice


For the sauce (adapted from epicurious.com)
1/2 cup mayonnaise
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons oriental sesame oil
1 1/2 tablespoons honey
big splash lemon juice
3/4 teaspoon salt

Mix all together  in a bowl and refrigerate
For the artichokes,
Combine olive oil and minced garlic - set aside

Fill a  big pot with water, add a generous 1/2 cup lemon juice

Trim the artichokes, cutting off the top 1/4 and trimming the pointy leaves with kitchen shears.

Put  trimmed artichokes in lemon-watered pot. When finished with all the artichokes, drain all but the last 1" of water in the pot, remove the chokes, place a steamer insert, put the chokes back in, cover the pot with a lid, bring to a boil and steam for 10 minutes.

Cut into halves, then quarters. Use a spoon to remove the choke, it's the feathery bits above the top of the stem (the heart). Discard the choke. In the picture below the spoon is pointing at the bits to be removed.

Finish cleaning all the artichokes.

Prepare a grill to medium high heat. For the best flavor, I'd use lump wood charcoal, but as it was 95F out, I opted for just using the handy propane grill.

Put the artichokes on the grill and brush with the prepared garlic olive oil.

Grill until tender and artichoke have a bit of char on them. Plate and serve with Sesame dressing.

click on this picture

Under the  big sun umbrella, with my eyes closed, eating these with my fingers,  I am almost trasnsported.

Until next time, Eat Well & Keep Digging!

The Gastronomic Gardener
Garden blog http://amidwestgarden.blogspot.com/
Cooking blog http://ihopeyouarehungry.blogspot.com/
Twitter - www.twitter.com/DavidPOffutt
http://www.facebook.com/TheGastronomicGardener

Tortellini with Chicken and Pesto

Monday - back to work but still need a quick dinner. I have some frozen basil that I just put up a week or so ago, a grilled chicken breast, tortellini, and garlic. Seems obvious to me! I don't have any pine nuts but do have some pecan pieces.

Get the water boiling, chop the chicken breast.

Add basil, garlic to food processor, whiz it up, scrap down  bowl, turn on drizzle in olive oil, add Parmesan, nuts, process until smooth. Taste! - I added two more cloves of garlic.

Drain pasta, add chicken and pesto, toss to coat.  Enjoy! It was delicious!

Until next time, Eat Well & Keep Digging!

The Gastronomic Gardener
Garden blog http://amidwestgarden.blogspot.com/
Cooking blog http://ihopeyouarehungry.blogspot.com/
Twitter - www.twitter.com/DavidPOffutt
http://www.facebook.com/TheGastronomicGardener

Steak on the Barbie + Mysterious Shadows

I had not had a steak in a long time. Last night just seemed like the right night. A little nip in the air, a glass of red wine. Let's fire up the grill.

I had this steak waiting for such a day, I'd taken it out of the freezer a day or so ago, and out of the fridge an hour before prepping. It is huge and will serve 2.

A little salt and pepper, and get the cast iron pan on fire. Start the grill as well.

It fills the pan!

Two minutes a side.

Add a pat of butter, and into the grill, pan and all until internal temp of 125.

While the steak was finishing in the covered grill, I was surprised to see the evidence of a thought to be extinct creature, the Backyardasaurus.  It appears mates were moving through the neighborhood. While they look like herbivores, perhaps they were drawn by the smell of the cooking steak?

With the steak off the grill and resting, a quick sauté of spinach and Korean greens, with a little olive oil and garlic.

Time to carve and serve! It looks charred but it is just a nice crust

Delicious!


I am getting found of the pan to grill technique. It works well for me.

Eat Well and Keep Digging!


The Gastronomic Gardener
Garden blog http://amidwestgarden.blogspot.com/
Cooking blog http://ihopeyouarehungry.blogspot.com/
Twitter - www.twitter.com/DavidPOffutt
http://www.facebook.com/TheGastronomicGardener

Big Sunday Breakfast

Maybe there are people who are not fans of a nice sunday breakfast. But the trinity of meat, potatoes and eggs, is holy in its own right.

I prefer to bake bacon in the oven - less shrinkage and curling combined with consistant results and less fat as it drops away, make this my method of choice. This is lovely bacon, thick and lean.  The cookie rack really helps drain the fat.

Potatoes sliced on the mandolin. This is a cheap version but it works. Always use the food guard. It is wicked sharp.

I am more and more a fan of cast iron. First the skillet, then the dutch oven, now the grill plate. I had an aluminum one earlier. There is no comparison!

Finally done, I seem to have forgotten a napkin.

Eat well!

My garden blog http://amidwestgarden.blogspot.com/

My cooking blog  http://ihopeyouarehungry.blogspot.com/

Twitter - www.twitter.com/DavidPOffutt

Steak in a flash

With the cooler weather we've had, meat on the grill has sounded more appealing. I think a ribeye is the best steak there is. Just my opinion.

Let's make one on the grill.

Start with the best steak you can. This really goes for any cooking. Always buy the best ingredients you can afford, you and your guests will appreciate it in the long run.

Let the steak come up to room temperature.

While it came up to temperature, I sliced some vegetables to saute, red onion, mushroom, and red pepper.

Season the steak, it can be as simple as salt and pepper, or you can use a rub, use your imagination.

Prep the grill. I turn both sides up to high and after 5-10 minutes I scrape it down, then oil it. That is probably the singularly best advice I ever got about grilling.

While the grill was heating up, I started the vegetables.

Someone asked why I use the cast iron. Simply put, I want something that I won't have to replace every few years.

Next the steak hits the grill, - 7 minutes a side, moving every 3.5 minutes

Take it off and let it rest.

Slice it up, top it off with the vegetables from the pan, some sliced tomato, and slaw. It was damn tasty.

 

Eat Well!

My garden blog http://amidwestgarden.blogspot.com/
My cooking blog  http://ihopeyouarehungry.blogspot.com/