My Secret Love Affair

So John is away on vacation with friends at the Grand Canyon (NOT. MY. CUP. OF. TEA.), which means I am home alone holding down the fort. Being the person I am, I made a list of things to do while John is away. I'll have you know the first thing on the list was to go to Bliss Spa with my friend Eileen. But the second thing was to spend time with my secret love… artichokes.

I know I've written before about John's adversity to this fantastic vegetable and most of all his horror when it comes to garlic. With him away it was time to invite my secret lovers into our home.

A few weeks back Melissa Clark wrote in The New York Times' Dining In, Dining Out section about how she and her husband had divorced (no, not over artichokes and garlic) but she had gotten her ex-mother-in-law's artichoke recipe and continued to use it fondly. The recipe looked really interesting, the stuffing included the typical bread, parsley, and cheese, but it also included capers, carrots, & lemon zest – stuff I usually don't include in my artichokes. I tore the recipe out and put it in my file of things to do while John was gone.

Once John was safely 2,000 miles away I got to work. I must say, working with artichokes is not easy and so it took me a few to trim, wash and get the choke out. After this was completed I decided to open a bottle of wine. Heck, my father admits to dancing with the mop while he's home alone cooking, I figured I could have a glass a vino solo. Next I prepped the stuffing.

The recipe called for 8 cloves of garlic. I couldn't do it. John may be away, but 8 cloves was the difference between a one-night stand and a full-fledged affair, I cut it down to 4. Stuffing the artichokes was easy. I took out a roasting pan and placed a thinly sliced onion, some more garlic, parsley sprigs, another carrot sliced into rounds into the bottom of the pan. The artichokes got nestled in and I poured some white wine and water into the pan, drizzled some olive oil over the artichokes, covered it with foil and popped it into the oven.

When it was all said and done I think I could have made some adjustments.

Were they tasty? Yes. But I could have stuffed the artichokes much more (I had a ton of leftover breadcrumb, which should have been my first clue), drizzled more olive oil over them and I would has experimented with reducing the cooking liquid into a sauce. In the future I'll stick with my first love, John. But I'm tucking away the recipe, just in case.

Artichoke Recipe

Comments

[Ashley Bishop]

Aw thats lovely! I'm glad to hear your sticking with your first love John. I cant wait to taste the artichoke! This just made me smile =)

Love,
Mom

[Mom]

Artichokes have always been your favorite.As soon as you had teeth, you could scrape the stuffing off one in no time! My advice, stick to your grandmother's recipe, it is still the best!And don't forget to open the windows wide!!
Love, Mom

[Aunt Charlotte]

The joy of cooking is not always in the end result, it is often found in the process of cooking. I love the insights you share from this process.