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May212013

Back to the Basics: How to Cook an Artichoke

Ridiculously simple post? Yes, but I find it necessary. The first time I approached an artichoke, I had no idea how to do it! It’s an intimidating vegetable with thorns to boot! So if you know how to cook an artichoke, pass this one over. You can go read about how to cook kale instead. Artichokes bring back good memories for me: sitting with my before-birth friend and her family eating a cooked artichoke with garlic butter. Memories like that always make the food taste better.

My cooking method for artichokes is to boil them. It’s actually easy peasy, so let’s start. I’m not going to even put an ingredients list because all you need is…ARTICHOKE. 

Directions

1. Wash the artichoke by pouring water over it

2. Cut the stem off, leaving 1 inch there.

3. Cut off an inch of the tip of the artichoke

Isn't it purdy?

Isn’t it purdy?

4. Pull off the leaves at the bottom, the very rough ones that you wouldn’t want to eat.

5. Take some scissors (or if you want to make your life awful, you can use a knife, yikes) and cut off the little thorns on the tips of the artichoke “leaves”

photo 2 (5)

6. Bring a pot of water to a boil and dunk that bad boy in there. Leave it in there for 25-30 minutes. You could always put salt on it here or even drop a clove of garlic in the water while it boils

7. Carefully take out the artichoke and let it cool so you can eat it!

8. While it’s cooling, why not make some melted garlic butter to dip it in? Just put a bit of butter in a bowl with some garlic and heat over stove or microwave. Or you could use hummus, salsa, any kind of dip you enjoy.

So I have this steaming vegetable, how do I eat it? Great question, imaginary friend. Once it’s cool enough to handle, simply pull the leaves off the body and drag your bottom teeth down it to get the “meat” off it. But don’t forget to dip it in your dip first! It can also be enjoyed just by itself. Once you get the meat off the leaf, put the discard (the hard part of the leaf) into another bowl (for garbage). Feel free to eat the artichoke heart at the end in the middle! Sounds like a sacrifice ritual–and those always turn out well! Eating artichokes is a great way to stay hungry and fit! Cheers! 

The remnants of my artichoke feast

The remnants of my artichoke feast

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Sep052012

Stuffed Mushrooms–Nom Style

So I completely stole this from a fellow blogger I’ve found through hunting food blogs. Her blog is thedomesticatedfeminist, I encourage you to check her stuff out–delicious recipes! The one I most currently stole, are Stuffed Mushrooms. And of course, with any recipe I find, I alter it slightly (not because I’m creative, but because I’m poor and don’t have all the ingredients). My philosophy is that you should cook with what ya got in your kitchen! And it helps with the wallet too.

Okay, so let’s get your ingredients ready! Oh, and I also made garlic bread.

Ingredients (stuffed mushrooms):

  • 4 mushrooms
  • 1 tomato
  • big handful spinach
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • lemon juice
  • dried basil
  • cheddar cheese
  • brie 

Ingredients (garlic bread):

  • loaf of french bread
  • garlic
  • butter

Directions (garlic bread):

Okay! So first, let’s get started on the garlic bread because it needs sometime to bake.

1. Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees

2. Cut the garlic bread with a good bread knife so that the knife goes almost all the way to the bottom, but you don’t wholly cut through it.

3. Stir up a mixture of butter and garlic (I used two cloves)

Buttery garlic-y goodness

4. Next, you want to use a butter knife and spread the garlic butter through each slice you’ve made (remember, you don’t want the slices to be separated from the loaf)

5. Pop it in the oven! I’d say for around 10-15 minutes (just keep checking it to make sure the bread doesn’t burn)

Directions (stuffed mushrooms)

Ahhh, now the good stuff!

1. Before we stuff ANYTHING, we need to roast up the tomatoes and spinach: put olive oil and garlic into a pan and throw the tomatoes and spinach in

3. Don’t forget pepper&salt!

4. Let that rest while you fix up the mushrooms.

5. Time to clean the mushrooms. Simply hold under cold water and scrub with your hands, inside and out. Also, take out the stems of the mushrooms. Place on pan.

Mushrooms just dying to be stuffed

6. Now we want to make a magical mixture consisting of olive oil, garlic, and lemon juice. Whisk that up. We want enough to fill each mushroom.

7. Pour mixture into mushrooms

7. Now, whatever cheese you have in the house, chop it up! You don’t need many pieces. We had brie and cheddar cheese in our apartment, so that’s what I went with. You want to chop it up into small cubes (or something similar to that)

8. Now, put in the cooked tomatoes and spinach that you roasted beforehand. Try to make them even so you don’t upset your loved ones by being unfair.

Stuffed with goodness

9. Place the pieces of cheese on top. Then sprinkle dried basil over it.

10. Aaaand, pop them in the oven. Remember it’s on 375 degrees. I left them in for around 12 minutes.

And Voila! Some wonderful cooked mushrooms.

Thanks again to thedomesticatedfeminist for her inspiration. I did it my own way, but she sure had a good idea. It is so juicy and wonderful, bursting with flavors like garlic and tomato. Hope you enjoy! Comment if you have any questions or comments!

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