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If I may ask, how do you prepare your artichokes? It does not appear that you prep them in any way. I usually take off some of the lower, outer leaves, trim the top and bottom, remove the choke and spread the artichoke for stuffing with a breadcrumb and herb stuffing. If they are older, large or toward the end of the season, we will also par-boil or steam them first before roasting at 350 degrees for about 60+ minutes. It appears you rub them with EVOO, drizzle lemon and roast. If so, how hot an oven and for how long? Your way looks a lot less work and I am all for "a lot less work."

Hi, Rocky,

You are correct, I don't do a lot of prep. I cut them in half, and remove the choke using a thin (i.e., cheap stamped) tablespoon. Then I drizzle with lemon juice and EVOO, and sprinkle a little salt. Like you, if they are large, I may microwave or steam a little, and sometimes I peel the ligneous part of the stem with a parer if needed (as I did on the ones in the picture above). I put them cut-side down in an Al-foil lined roasting pan, and roast at 375 or 400 for ~1 hour. (The oven temp depends on what else I have going on, so it may be 350 for 75 to 90 minutes, or 425 for 45 minutes.) In the summer, I often cook them on the grill this way, but there you really need to par-cook them first.

I think they would benefit from cleaning them up as you do, but I am too lazy! I never stuff them, but maybe I should try it.

Do you and your bride often refer to them as carciofi as I and mine generally do? :)
 
When people ask me for the recipe for my food I usually start with . . .

“In May you plant the seeds . . .”

THIS Mexican inspired beans and Oaxacan green corn polenta is no exception. I grew the pink eyed purple hull peas that were the foundation of the bean dish. I also grew the onions in it. It was seasoned with a fermented cayenne hot sauce from my own peppers. I grew the heirloom corn last season, dried it, ground it and made my own corn meal for the polenta.

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When people ask me for the recipe for my food I usually start with . . .

“In May you plant the seeds . . .”

Love that line. But Holy Carp that is impressive.

(I suppose it is kind of funny that I think subsistence farming is impressive but your recondite chemistry research is normal!)
 
Hi, Rocky,

You are correct, I don't do a lot of prep. I cut them in half, and remove the choke using a thin (i.e., cheap stamped) tablespoon. Then I drizzle with lemon juice and EVOO, and sprinkle a little salt. Like you, if they are large, I may microwave or steam a little, and sometimes I peel the ligneous part of the stem with a parer if needed (as I did on the ones in the picture above). I put them cut-side down in an Al-foil lined roasting pan, and roast at 375 or 400 for ~1 hour. (The oven temp depends on what else I have going on, so it may be 350 for 75 to 90 minutes, or 425 for 45 minutes.) In the summer, I often cook them on the grill this way, but there you really need to par-cook them first.

I think they would benefit from cleaning them up as you do, but I am too lazy! I never stuff them, but maybe I should try it.

Do you and your bride often refer to them as carciofi as I and mine generally do? :)

Thanks, Paul. I had to go back and look at your pictures. I did not notice that they were halved. And, yes, we do call them carciofi and we have to laugh when we go to the super market and see the price for one!
 
When people ask me for the recipe for my food I usually start with . . .

“In May you plant the seeds . . .”

THIS Mexican inspired beans and Oaxacan green corn polenta is no exception. I grew the pink eyed purple hull peas that were the foundation of the bean dish. I also grew the onions in it. It was seasoned with a fermented cayenne hot sauce from my own peppers. I grew the heirloom corn last season, dried it, ground it and made my own corn meal for the polenta.

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All I can say is "Wow!".
 
Okay, okay, it was only 10ºF on my walk in this morning, but it was sunny and dry, and it feels like spring is around the corner (hahahaha). But I had asparagus from North America in the fridge, and so decided to make Pasta Primavera. (You probably know this, but "Primavera" means "spring" in Italian.) So, I sauteed up some mild Italian sausage, mushrooms, shallots, asparagus, frozen peas, and garlic, then doused in cream. I added some cheese (Pecorino and Parmigiano-Reggiano), tomato paste, and seasonings, then mixed in with cooked rotini pasta and lots of fresh basil.

Washed down with a nice Columbia Crest H3 Cab Sauv. Not a great pairing, but it was open and delicious.

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Not very interesting, but what the heck? I had a pasture-raised pork chop; it had a wonderful fat cap, but lacked marbling that I thought it would have. I wonder if that is typical of pasture-raised?? I dry-brined it and seared it, then served with sauteed 'shrooms with garlic/thyme/sherry/soy. I made Swiss chard braised in ho-made chix stock, seasoned with coriander, and this turned out delish. I bought some plantains and made tostones, served with salt, lime juice, and ancho chile. Also had some broccoli rabe, sauteed with LOTS of garlic and EVOO.

The pairings of the flavors were far from ideal, but it all worked okay and slid down the gullet easily enough!


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Not dinner but late lunch yesterday with Mrs IB. Made a quick run to Santa fe. I needed a chile fix bad. We stopped at one of our favorite places for locals. Atrisco Bar & Grill. Needless to say no dinner was necessary last night!


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Taco night.

More from my homegrown corn. I made corn tortillas from scratch. It is quite the process. First, you have to boil and soak the dried corn with slaked lime (calcium hyroxide) to remove the hard pericarp layer from the corn kernels. The. You have to wash it, grind it and knead it with water to the right consistency to make the masa. The tortillas are the pressed out and cooked in a flat griddle (comal). I stuffed them with red chili seasoned soy curls, black beans, avocado, and tofutti sour cream. Yum. Oh, I also made some fire roasted salsa.

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Taco night.

More from my homegrown corn. I made corn tortillas from scratch. It is quite the process. First, you have to boil and soak the dried corn with slaked lime (calcium hyroxide) to remove the hard pericarp layer from the corn kernels. The. You have to wash it, grind it and knead it with water to the right consistency to make the masa. The tortillas are the pressed out and cooked in a flat griddle (comal). I stuffed them with red chili seasoned soy curls, black beans, avocado, and tofutti sour cream. Yum. Oh, I also made some fire roasted salsa.

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Wow! Amazing looking.

How do you dry the corn?
 
Wow! Amazing looking.

How do you dry the corn?

The corn is mostly dried in the field. I pick it when the stalks are all dried. But there is still moisture. It just needs to be stored in a dry space with lots of airflow. Some of my corn started to mold so I laid them out in front of a fan for a couple of weeks.
 
The corn is mostly dried in the field. I pick it when the stalks are all dried. But there is still moisture. It just needs to be stored in a dry space with lots of airflow. Some of my corn started to mold so I laid them out in front of a fan for a couple of weeks.

Sounds similar to the Amarone process.
 
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