Stuffed Artichokes
By Dina
[The first time I had artichokes at Auntie Tina's house, I had to be taught how to eat them. It also did not come naturally to my daughter, but now that she has the hang of it, scraping every last bit with her bottom teeth, she is as hooked on them as I. I was recently asked what my favorite food was, and I thought that if I had to choose my last meal, what would I ask for? And it was stuffed artichokes! I unfortunately did not get Auntie's actual recipe, but I've been winging it for several years, and still keep enjoying them. There are many variations of this, I'm sure, but this will be pretty basic, and you can add what you like....like a bit of browned sausage, mushrooms, or onions. Mangia.....
And of course it reminds me of a story..........
My Dad told us a bunch of stories about taking food to school as a little boy. Because his food was often different from the average kid's lunch, he was often embarrassed, and even threw away some lunches because of the embarrassment. For example, one day, the oil from his salami sandwich and other items made a big stain on his paper lunchbag. The teacher (...who's name I don't know but will forever be remembered as "...that miserable bitch of a teacher!") held the bag up in front of the class with one hand, while pinching her nose closed with the other, and yelled, "Who does this belong to!!??!!" ... and poor dad, too ashamed now to claim it, watched as she threw it into the garbage. It was probably gourmet by today's standards, but he didn't dare speak to claim it, but went hungry that day instead. Another time, he was actually very happy to have been made a stuffed artichoke by his mom. Proudly, he sat down at the lunch table at school, carefully unwrapping his meal, probably imagining that the other kids would be impressed---jealous, even. Until.... some rotten little kid jumped up and pointed at my Dad, yelling, "Hey, everybody, look at the Guinea eating a flower!!"
I hope Dad eventually put that kid on Auntie Tootsie's "to-be-ambushed-from-the-tree-on-the-way-home-from-school" list!!]
Recipe:
3-4 whole fresh artichokes
Prepared bread crumb mix (with herbs, parm cheese, salt and pepper, etc...)
evoo
white wine (or balsamic vinegar)
water for pot, and more to refill as it evaporates
optional: extra garlic, onions, mushrooms, browned sausage, bacon...)
Prepare the artichokes by snipping off the pointy tips with scissors. Rinse the artichokes. Remove the stalk with a knife so that artichoke sits flat on its bottom, but do not discard stalk. Push open artichoke leaves while filling all of the gaps with the bread crumb mixture. (I do this inside a bowl, since it is messy and much will fall out while you're doing it.) Sit it upright in a pot. Do the same with the others, and wedge them into an appropriately sized pot so that they won't tip over. Drizzle evoo over the tops of them (~2 T. each), then drizzle white wine over them. Throw the stalks in the empty spaces. Fill pot with enough water to go about 1/3 up the artichokes. Cover pot, and bring to a boil, then turn it down a bit, but continue boiling gently, covered, for about 45 minutes, or until you can remove a leaf from the outside easily. You will have to replace some water once or twice during the process, otherwise they'll burn to the bottom of the pot. When they're done, remove them to plates, let them cool a bit, and serve. I usually sprinkle more wine or balsamic on them, but that's just me. You can also put vinegar, wine, or dressing on the side, and dip them as you eat. And don't forget the stalks - they're tender and edible; and also don't forget to scrape out the choke when you get to it, otherwise you'll be doing just that!
Lastly, just another variation: If using sausage, bacon, mushrooms, onions, etc, you can brown them in a pan with the olive oil, and add the breading to that pan, THEN stuff the artichokes and cook them. Your choice! Also, if you have a steamer, you can use that too. Enjoy.
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