Artichokes, Acapulco style

I am back from California. It was a very quick five days of laughter, bonding with family, and meeting new friends. My sister, Michele, in addition to having family that loves her very much, has a wonderful community of friends who support and love her. She's one special lady!

She just let me loose in her kitchen. You have to love that. My only concern is that she'll be able to find things that I put away. It never goes back into the same spot you found it. Sorry!

My sister had some artichokes that I couldn't wait to get my hands on. The size of the artichokes in California always make me so happy. They are beautiful orbs that I can't wait to stuff. Our family usually stuffs them with meat, and they are insanely delicious. I'll make those another day. These are going to be stuffed with vegetables. .

While traveling with friends in Acapulco we had the opportunity to dine at restaurant Kookaburra. Our friends Mariann and Michael ordered the stuffed artichokes as an appetizer. I was offered a taste, and immediately knew that when I got home I would try to make these! We prodded and bribed the waiter to give us hints as to how they were made.  With the language barrier I don't know if I totally understood him, we did get the "secret" Worcestershire Sauce as one ingredient,  but I do know tastes and this is my version of Kookaburra Stuffed Artichokes.

Start by cleaning the artichokes. I cut off the stem, and peeled them. Squeeze a little lemon juice on them so they don't discolor so fast.

I also chopped some zucchini, scallions, also known as green onions, a red onion, parsley, the artichoke stems, garlic, and tomatoes. If we had a sweet red pepper, and a carrot I would have added them as well.

Chop everything very fine and in a large bowl combine the vegetables with some salt and pepper, worcestershire sauce, balsamic vinegar, a sprinkle of breadcrumbs, and some grated cheese. There are really no measurements of the ingredients, I just keep chopping until I have enough to stuff the artichokes, and I  keep tasting until I get the desired flavors. This is really so good you could just eat the stuffing and forget about stuffing the artichokes!

I cut the pointy tops of the artichoke, and gently manipulate them so the leaves open up a little so I can put the stuffing all around the artichoke. I didn't remove the choke ( I do like to do that sometimes)

After stuffing all the artichokes I put them into the biggest pot I could find and steamed them on top of the stove, adding a little bit of water to the bottom of the pot. The water came up to an inch on the artichokes. These were a little crowded...and I like to do them this way because as they cook they can open up and you can loose some of your stuffing. Probably not technically correct, but the end result is technically fabulous! 

I then drizzled the artichokes with some extra virgin olive oil, and let them cook until they were tender. These were done in about 20 minutes.

I served them on a dish and drizzled a little bit of balsamic vinegar on each artichoke.  These made a lovely lunch for us. 

I hope that you will try these. They are delicious and worth the all the chopping! I promise!

Buon Appetito

xoxoxo

Lorraine

Happy St. Patrick's Day

So today is St. Patrick's Day. A day when everyone is Irish. I come from a mostly Italian background, I'm only 1/4 Irish on my father's side.  My mother embraced the St. Patrick's holiday. She loved corn beef and would make more than we could possibly eat just so that she could have left overs the next day.  She made the most wonderful Corn Beef.  Sometimes she would just throw the carrots,  cabbage and potatoes into the huge pot that held the corn beef, but on special occasions she would make the most wonderful cabbage, sauteed with bacon or pancetta, onion, garlic and the boiled potatoes. Talk about yum! When I have a little extra time I love to make this dish. Today our food crawl is all about the cabbage with a twist.  I even have a recipe for a delicious Soda Bread that I'll share with you.
This cabbage recipe is from  Lanterna, a restaurant that my family used to love to eat in Astoria, New York. The owners were Yugoslavian/Italian. Their food combinations were just incredible.  Everything was fabulous! Sadly, the restaurant is not there anymore. But I can remember my last meal there almost 20 years ago, that's how good it was! Here's my homage to Lanterna and my mother...

I start off by cutting the cabbage into quarters, taking the core out and then just slicing the cabbage. There is no wrong way, just slice it, long pieces, short pieces it really doesn't matter.  I put these in a bowl and set them aside. In my frying pan I start cooking 3 slices of bacon(if you have pancetta, use it!) which I have cut into little pieces and let the fat render, once that starts going I add one chopped onion and a few cloves of smashed and sliced garlic, you don't want the onions or garlic to brown, just let them sweat and add the cabbage and season with salt and pepper to taste. When the cabbage wilts and it's tender, it's done.  Add some of the boiled red potatoes ( i cut them in 1/4's) to the cabbage and give it a little time to cook with the cabbage.  The flavors will marry and will get a little creamy or thick from the starch in the potato.

Unfortunately, I burnt my soda bread. I was on the phone with the vet, no good news and I forgot the breads were baking. We're still going to eat it, I'm just not showing it to you!  And I am having a tough time with the picture placement on these posts..growing pains...please stick with me.

Irish Soda Bread (Recipe from the Journal News)

3 cups flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons softened sweet butter

2 tablespoons of caraway seeds

1 cup raisins

2 eggs, divided....one for the dough and one for brushing the breads

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons of buttermilk 

a pinch or two of sugar to dust the breads

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Butter two 9 or 10 inch pie dishes or cake pans. In a mixing bowl combine first 5 ingredients just until combined and starts to get crumbly. Add caraway seeds and raisins. Add one egg and slightly beat with the buttermilk adding to the flour mixture. Mix until all ingredients are moistened and just combined. Turn out dough onto a floured surface and knead until smooth. Divide the dough in half, shape into rounds and place in buttered baking pans. cut an X on top to score each bread. Brush tops with beaten egg and sprinkle with a few pinches of sugar.

Bake 15 minutes at 400 degrees. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake for another 15- 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Do not over bake. It will be moist and delicious!

before going into the oven...

I hope you had a fabulous St. Patrick's Day! 

Here's a little Irish Blessing for you!

For each petal on the shamrock.
This brings a wish your way
Good health, good luck, and happiness
For today and every day.

xoxoxo
Lorraine