Halibut in Artichoke and Tomato Broth

We really enjoyed this simple dinner.  The artichokes in the broth give it this super acidic boom chicka bow wow.  

And I love a broth.  I am sleepy.  Bye!  Try this!

Halibut in Artichoke and Tomato Broth

recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis via Food Network

1 tablespoon olive oil, plus 3 tablespoons

4 (6-ounce) halibut fillets

1/4 teaspoon salt, plus more for seasoning fish

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more for seasoning fish

2 shallots, sliced into thin rounds

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 pound frozen artichokes, thawed

1/2 cup white wine

1 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth

1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes

1/2 teaspoon minced fresh thyme leaves

Drizzle 1 tablespoon of olive oil over the halibut and season with salt and pepper.  Heat a grill pan over high heat. Cook the fish on the grill pan until just cooked through, about 4 minutes per side, depending on thickness.

In a medium saucepan, heat the 3 tablespoons of olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the shallots and cook for 1 minute. Add the garlic and artichokes and cook until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Add the white wine and stir, scraping the brown bits off the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Add the chicken broth, tomatoes and juice, thyme, and 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer.

Ladle the artichoke and tomato broth into shallow bowls. Top with the grilled halibut. Serve immediately.

(Servings: 4, Prep time: 10 min., Cook time: 40 min., Difficulty: Easy)

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foodforscot Ratings:  

Shanon (taste):  8/10

Scot (taste):  8/10

Effort:  2/5

Dishwashing Effort:  2/5

Prosciutto, Artichoke Heart, and Leek Panini

It isn't like I was wondering if this would be delicious.  Let's put crack dip in a sandwich with pork fat and check to make sure it tastes good.  That is what I did.  And I put some greens in there just to make sure we didn't die.  

Don't be scared.  This sandwich IS good.  And you will be fine.  Just eat it with a salad.  

Prosciutto, Artichoke Heart, and Leek Panini

8 thin slices of prosciutto

1 leek, sliced and rinsed

1/4 yellow onion, sliced

1 can of artichoke hearts, drained and roughly chopped

1-2 tablespoons of sour cream

8 slices of sourdough bread

2-4 tablespoons of cream cheese

a couple handfuls of baby arugula

olive oil

salt and pepper

In a non-stick skillet over medium high heat, crisp up prosciutto and set aside on a paper towel to drain.

Add some olive oil to the pan, turn down heat to medium and slowly cook and caramelize onions and leeks. After about 10 minutes, add artichokes hearts and cook until warmed through. Season with salt and pepper and mix in sour cream.  Set aside.

Prepare Panini: To make 1 sandwich, spread cream cheese on two slices of bread.  Top with a small handful of arugula, a spoonful of the artichoke/leek mixture and two slices of crispy prosciutto. Grill in a Panini press or on a griddle until bread is crispy.

(Servings: 4, Prep time: 20 min., Cook time: 10 min., Difficulty: Easy)

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foodforscot Ratings:

Shanon (taste):  8/10

Scot (taste):  9/10

Effort:  2/5

Dishwashing Effort:  2/5

Turkey and Artichoke Stuffed Peppers

As I've mentioned before, my mom loves all things stuffed.  I grew up eating stuffed squash, stuffed peppers, stuffed mushrooms, stuffed artichokes, stuffed everything!  In honor of my mom on Mother's day, I thought this would be a very appropriate recipe to share.  This recipe comes from Cara's Cravings.  It is delicious, healthy and pretty easy to throw together, like so many of Cara's recipes are.  

I loved the flavors of the "stuffing", which includes ground turkey (I used ground turkey thighs, which I would recommend), artichoke hearts, cottage cheese, bulgar and some Romano cheese and fresh herbs.  The stuffing isn't the kind that will hold together once you slice open the pepper.  Scot had some issues with this.  He likes things that are easy to eat.  I didn't have a problem with this because it was so amazingly delicious.  And I like things that are difficult to eat.  I love this meal.  I strongly encourage you all to make it.  It is one of those meals that I can't imagine anyone wouldn't like.  

Turkey and Artichoke Stuffed Peppers

by Cara’s Cravings

1/4 cup (40gm) bulgur

4 large red bell peppers

1/2 pound ground turkey

1/2 cup chopped onion

4 large cloves of garlic, minced

salt and freshly ground pepper

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper

1 15oz can artichoke hearts, drained, rinsed, and chopped

1 cup lowfat cottage cheese

1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

2 oz grated pecorino romano cheese, divided

1/2 cup spaghetti sauce (preferrably all-natural, lowfat)

In a small saucepan, combine the bulgur with 1/2 cup water. Bring to a boil, then cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 10 minutes, until water is absorbed. Set aside. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Carefully cut the stems from the peppers and remove the seeds and inner ribs. Cook the peppers in boiling water for about 5 minutes; drain and let cool.

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Cook the ground turkey, onion, and garlic in a skillet over medium heat, stirring to break up the ground turkey, until browned. Season with salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper. Add the chopped artichoke hearts and cook for 1-2 more minutes. Remove from heat.

In a bowl, combine the ground turkey mixture, cooked bulgur, cottage cheese, basil, parsley, and 3/4 of the pecorino romano cheese; mix well.

Spray an 8x8" baking dish or small casserole. Fill the peppers with the turkey mixture, packing the stuffing in well. Place the peppers in the baking dish and spoon the spaghetti sauce over. Sprinkle with remaining pecorino romano.

Bake, uncovered, for about 25 minutes.

(Servings: 4, Prep time: 30 min., Cook time: 25 min., Difficulty: Easy)

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foodforscot Ratings:

Shanon (taste):  9/10

Scot (taste):  8/10

Effort:  2/5

Dishwashing Effort:  2/5

Stuffed Artichokes

Stuffed artichokes are a part of my soul.  We ate them all the time while I was growing and they were always my FAVORITEST THING EVER.  

I have such great memories sitting around the island with my mom, grandma and siblings eating stuffed artichokes.  For some reason, I think my dad wasn't into them.  And maybe my brother wasn't either.  Maybe it is a girl food?  We never ate them as part of a meal.  They were always some random appetizer/snack.  

I am obsessed with food that is a lot of work/takes a long time to eat.  Chicken wings.  Ribs.  Crab legs.  Lobster.  Longans.  Grapefruits.  Pistachios.  And stuffed artichokes.  You sit, pull off the leaves, scrape every last bit off with your teeth, and look for the next loaded leaf.  

This recipe is not my moms.  But it is very close.  Just a little more fancy schmancy.  With the addition of mint (which I left out), anchovies, white wine, crushed red pepper flakes, pines nuts, and lots of lemon.  All you really need to make these are the breadcrumbs and parmesan, anything else is really bonus.  Make sure to cook them until they are really tender.  

BTW, Scot doesn't like food that is a lot work.  Must be a guy thing.  

Stuffed Artichokes

by Anne Burrell via FoodNetwork

2 lemons

4 medium artichokes

4 cloves garlic, smashed

1/2 bunch mint, picked and cut into a chiffonade (I left this out)

1/2 bunch Italian parsley, leaves picked and finely chopped

1 cup grated Parmesan

1 cup bread crumbs

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper

1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted, optional

3 anchovy fillets, minced, optional

Extra-virgin olive oil

Kosher salt

2 cups white wine

Cook's Note: Before starting this recipe be aware that there is a lot of waste involved in artichokes. It's ok. Just accept it and move on. Squeeze 1 lemon into a large bowl filled with water and place the lemon halves in the water.  (Anne wrote this, she is angry.)

Cut off the pointy tops of the artichokes. Remove and reserve the stem of the artichoke. Peel off the tough green outer leaves and discard.

Gently spread the leaves of the artichoke. Using a melon baller, scoop out the hairy "choke" in the center of the artichokes. When clean reserve them in the lemon water. Remove the tough outer skin on the stems and reserve them in the lemon water as well.

In a small bowl combine the garlic, herbs, Parmesan, bread crumbs, crushed red pepper, pine nuts and anchovies, if using. Finely chop the reserved artichoke stems and add them to the bowl. Zest and juice the remaining lemon and add that to the bowl. Slowly drizzle in olive oil until the mixture forms a paste. Season with salt.

Stuff the artichokes with the paste.

Place the artichokes standing up in a saucepan large enough to accommodate them. Add the wine to the saucepan and enough lemon water to come 3/4 up the sides of the artichokes. Add the lemon halves to the pan also. Drizzle generously with olive oil and season with salt.

Cover the saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 15 to 20 minutes (I think longer than this is better, 30-45 min.) or until the base of the artichokes are tender when poked with a fork.

Serve hot or room temperature drizzled with generous amount of olive oil.

(Servings: 4, Prep time: 45 min., Cook time: 20 min +, Difficulty: Easy)

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foodforscot Ratings:

Shanon (taste):  8/10

Scot (taste):  6/10

Effort:  3/5

Dishwashing Effort:  2/5

Roasted Tomato Basil Soup

Whole Foods has a delicious Roasted Tomato Basil Soup.  I love it.  This tastes just like it.  The flavor is so clean and simple.  It does call for quite a bit of basil.  The recipe calls for 4 cups packed basil.  I have no idea what packed means for leaves of basil.  So, I just used a lot.  It was about 4 ounces (one of those big boxes).  And I thought the basil flavor was perfect.  I love basil.  Is there anything better?  We are starting an indoor herb garden in our window box thing.  I CANNOT wait.  Our seeds have sprouted and we have had about a 70% success rate.  We keep watering the failures but I am pretty sure they aren't going to grow.  We planted 60+ plants so I guess there is some room for failure.

We had some steamed artichokes with a lemon/garlic dipping sauce.  My mom always made stuffed whole artichokes.  They were amazing.  I have such fond memories sitting around, eating whole artichokes with my mom and grandma and fam.  My mom always stuffed them with bread crumbs and cheese.  I think sometimes I just ate off the stuffing and didn't scrape the meat off the leaf.  And my grandma and mom would tell me how to do it.  So, steaming them, you don't have a choice...you can only scrape the meat off.  And it is so delicious.  I just like the littlest amount of sauce on each leave.  I kind of used this recipe.  And I bet we only used about a tbsp of sauce total.  For three whole artichokes.  

Roasted Tomato Basil Soup

by Ina Garten via Food Network

3 pounds ripe plum tomatoes, cut in half lengthwise

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons good olive oil

1 tablespoon kosher salt

1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

2 cups chopped yellow onions (2 onions)

6 garlic cloves, minced

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 (28-ounce) canned plum tomatoes, with their juice

4 cups fresh basil leaves, packed

1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

1 quart chicken stock or water

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Toss together the tomatoes, 1/4 cup olive oil, salt, and pepper. Spread the tomatoes in 1 layer on a baking sheet and roast for 45 minutes.

In an 8-quart stockpot over medium heat, saute the onions and garlic with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, the butter, and red pepper flakes for 10 minutes, until the onions start to brown. Add the canned tomatoes, basil, thyme, and chicken stock.

Add the oven-roasted tomatoes, including the liquid on the baking sheet. Bring to a boil and simmer uncovered for 40 minutes. Pass through a food mill fitted with the coarsest blade. Taste for seasonings. Serve hot or cold.

(Servings: 6-8, Prep time: 15 min., Cook time: 1 hr. 35 min., Difficulty: Easy)

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Spinach Artichoke Dip

Another brunch menu item. Who doesn't like spinach artichoke dip? Someone at the brunch said that it is like crack cocaine. I am not huge into drug trafiking but I can imagine.

This is something you want to share with a crowd. Do not make this for less than 3 people. Seriously.

Spinach Artichoke Dip

from Closet Cooking

1/2 (10 ounce) package frozen spinach (thawed, drained and coarsely chopped)

1 (14 ounce) can artichoke hearts (drained and coarsely chopped)

4 ounces cream cheese (room temperature)

1/2 cup sour cream

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1 clove garlic (grated)

1/2 teaspoon chili sauce (optional)

1/4 cup grated parmigiano reggiano (grated)

1/4 cup mozzarella (grated)

Mix everything and pour it into a baking dish.

Bake in a preheated 350F oven until bubbling and golden brown on top, about 20-40 minutes.

(Servings: 8, Prep time: 15 min., Cook time: 40 min., Difficulty: Easy)

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