Artichokes

I remember the day I had my first artichoke.  I was 16 and at my boyfriend's (future hubby's) house and he cooked steaks, mashed potatoes and artichokes.  I'm not gonna lie, I was nervous!  If your not familiar with an artichoke they can be very intimidating.  After spending a few minutes teasing me he showed me how to eat an artichoke.   I quickly decided it was one of my favorite things to eat, super yummy and fun to eat!  I have spent the last 10 years eating artichokes every chance I get and I have made them all kinds of different ways.

Since it took me 16 years to discover an artichoke I figured not everyone knows about how great they are, or you too are slightly intimidated by them!  This is why restaurants are able to charge $18 or more for a grilled artichoke!  CRAZY!  So, I have put together a little instruction guide on how to do artichokes at home.  There are a bunch of different ways to cook them, but this is my recent favorite.

What you need:

2 artichokes, the more closed the artichoke the better

2 lemons
3 garlic cloves
2 bay leaves
Salt
Pepper
Olive Oil

This is what they look like

First you need to cut off about 1 1/2 inches from the top (depending on the size of your artichoke), you want to get rid of most of the thorns.  Then cut the end of the stem, and use a potato peeler to peal the outside layer off of the stem.  Then pick off any artichoke leaves on stem, and I normally take the outer most leaves off as well.  Then you can use scissors to trim any leaves that still have their thorns.

  They will look like this:

Now its time to boil them!  You need a big pot of salted water.  Use the potato peeler to peel the zest off of your lemons, add zest as well as lemon juice to water.  Also add the whole garlic cloves and bay leaves.  They will need to boil for about 25 minutes.  You will know its done when you can take off a leaf and eat it by using your top teeth to scrape off the "meat" from bottom of the inside of the leaf.  Test a leaf and allow to boil longer if needed.

This is what they will look like boiling (the water is cloudy because of the lemon juice)

When they are done boiling they are ready to eat!  Because you boiled them in such well seasoned and yummy water the artichokes are great to eat on their own, or dipped in your favorite sauce (see below for a new favorite of mine!)  If you want to take them to the next level keep reading for how to make grilled artichokes!

So, now that your artichokes have been boiled and you have pulled them out of the water, slice them in half.  Use a spoon to carve out the "choke" and the itty bitty thorny leaves in the center.

The one on the right is what it looks like sliced in half, the left has the choke and leaves removed.

Now brush both sides with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper!

Put these on a hot grill for about 3 minutes per side (or until you have some nice grill marks).  This just adds a nice smokey flavor!  So yummy!

Size of basil, zest and shallots for sauce

For Lemon Basil Aioli dipping sauce:

4 tablespoons mayonnaise

1 shallot diced super fine

Finely grated zest from 1/2 lemon

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2 teaspoons white wine vinegar

3 tablespoons chopped basil

Salt & Pepper to taste

Place the shallots, lemon zest, juice, vinegar and salt into bowl and let sit for about 3 minutes (or longer).  Then add in the mayonnaise and basil stirring it all together.  Taste and add salt and pepper as necessary.

Now you are ready to eat!!  I know it seems like a lot of instructions and a lot of work.  It isn't, I promise!!  These are so yummy and make a great presentation as well!

And now just for fun...here are some pictures of Connor (my now 4 1/2 year old) enjoying his first artichoke at 7 months!  I was determined not to let him live 16 years without one like his mama!!

 

5 Minutes to Awesome Garlic Bread

I am a strong believer in making everything you serve taste great!  This may seem obvious, but I find so often people don't take the time to taste what they are making and season it properly, or they make some delicious chicken, but the side dishes are boring or missing something.  It has happened to me on many occasions, I spend so much time on the main dish that I run out of time for the others...oops!  So, I have mastered making delicious and very simple garlic bread in almost no time at all.  I hope you like it too!!

Ingredients:
1 loaf french bread
1/2 stick butter, super soft-but not melted
3-4 garlic cloves, chopped and mashed super fine
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1/4 cup mozzarella cheese
1/2 tsp salt
A couple grinds of pepper

Slice your bread in half length wise, and put cut side up on a cookie sheet.  In a bowl use a fork to mash together butter, garlic, parmesans, salt and pepper.   Smooth butter mixture completely over the bread.  Sprinkle with the mozzarella cheese and put into oven at 350 for about 2 minutes to warm it up.  Then turn the broiler on and let the cheese melt and turn golden brown, and the bread will crisp up!  (Watch carefully the broiler will go from perfect to burnt in seconds :)  Pull the bread out and slice it!

Grilled Peppers and Sausage Rigatoni

Monday night I was way behind on making dinner, and Casey was home.  When he is home I normally like to make something that he is going to love and be excited to eat since we don't get to eat as a family very often with his CRAZY schedule!!  Since Casey loves a little spicy in pretty much everything I decided to make some pasta with some spicy sausage.  I grilled the sausage and some bell pepper and the flavor from the grill added so much to the pasta.  We all loved it!  Casey and I loved it even more paired with a beautiful Pinot Noir :)

Ingredients
1 lb hot Italian sausage
2 red bell peppers
Tomato Sauce (about 24 oz homemade or 1 jar)
4 oz fresh mini mozzarella balls, quartered
1/2 cup chopped basil
1 lb rigatoni pasta
Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper

Put a pot of SALTED water on the stove to boil.  Slice the sides off of the bell peppers and toss them with a little olive oil, with salt and pepper.  Grill the bell peppers along with the sausages on the bbq.  Let the bell peppers get some nice grill marks and get soft.  Grill sausages until they are cooked through.  Cook pasta according to directions on the box.  Slice the grilled sausages and cut up the grilled peppers.  When pasta is done, drain water and toss with the tomato sauce.  Add in the sausage, bell peppers, mozzarella balls and basil.  Toss it all together and serve. 

Easy Beef Stroganoff

I love taking inexpensive cuts of meat and turning them into something delicious!  That is something Casey has taught me for sure!  Add a bunch of flavor and cook it slowly and you can make it so yummy!  I bought a bunch of mushrooms earlier this week because I was going to make a tomato ragu with mushrooms, but I never got around to it.  So, I was looking around to figure out what to make for dinner and beef stroganoff sounded super yummy so I threw it together! 

1.5 lbs stew meat
1 large onion, cut in half then sliced
4 garlic cloves, smashed peeled and sliced
1 lb mini bella mushrooms, quartered
1 1/2 cups red wine (I prefer a Burgundy or Cabernet)
1 can cream of mushroom soup (I find in this recipe you can use low cal and not notice a difference)
3 tablespoons olive oil
salt & pepper to taste

Start by heating 2 tablespoons olive oil in a wide shallow pan.  Next season all sides of the stew meat with salt and pepper.  When the oil in the pan is hot (if oil is not hot the meat will stick!) add your beef, allowing each side of the meat to brown (about 30 seconds on each side).  Take meat out and set aside for later, beef will still be raw in the middle but should have a nice crust.  Add another tablespoon of olive oil to your pan and add in the sliced onions.  Add salt & pepper.  Stir these and allow to cook for about a minute, then add in the garlic.  Stir this constantly so the garlic doesn't burn.  After another minute or so add in the mushrooms.  The mushrooms are going to soak up all the liquid so just keep them moving so they don't burn.  At this point, stir in your wine while scraping the bottom of your pan with a wooden spoon to loosen up all the browned bits from the beef.  Now add in the mushroom soup and stir until well combined.  Put the beef back in the pan and cover with the sauce.  Turn heat to low and slightly cover pan with lid.  Cook on low for about 4 hours or until beef is fork tender.  Make sure you do a final check of your sauce and add salt & pepper if needed.  Serve over rice, egg noodles (my favorite!) or mashed potatoes and with your favorite green veggie!

***This recipe is GREAT in your crock pot!  Put all ingredients in the pot in the morning and have a super yummy dinner that smells amazing at dinner time!

Salt

Not only am I the wife of a chef...but I am a mommy, a daughter, a sister, a friend, but most importantly I am a Child of God.  I love the Lord with all of my being.  The more I study the Bible and the more I learn about God and the more I love Him and feel loved by Him.

In Bible Study this week we were studying the book of Colossians and I was struck by Colossians 4:6.
"Let your conversation always be full of grace, seasoned with salt so that you may know how to answer everyone."  Paul was talking about spreading the message of Jesus, and how it should be our life's mission to share the gospel!  In this verse he is talking about sharing without being too overbearing or too intense, while still sharing and answering to everyone.  It is my joy to be a person who has Jesus inside of me and now I want to share like a perfectly seasoned meal.  Of course...I brought it back to food :)

I started thinking about salt in connection with sharing God's Word.  Have you ever had something that was WAY too salty?  I remember going out to eat and having a piece of fish and it was sooo salty I couldn't even eat it, it was gross, I pushed it away and had no desire to partake in it.  This can be very much the same for Christians who are constantly pushing their faith on to others.  A non-believer looks at us like a freak, fanatic, "bible-thumper" and wants to be nothing  like us.  Instead of seeing us as a new creation in Christ we are viewed as someone too extreme and we are unattractive.  Then there is the opposite.  There is when you get a meal that is completely under seasoned, or not seasoned at all.  It just doesn't taste right, it is lacking, something is missing and the meal leaves you wanting.  I find in life this happens way too often (in both food and Christians)!  Too often as Christians, we become stagnant in our lives and we just go along through the motions of life without sharing, without being salt in the world.  When we are living this bland life, there is nothing special about us, we are lacking and we are not fulfilling our potential.  Why would this life be appealing to an unbeliever? 

Now, what do I want to be?  I want to be like a perfectly seasoned steak (or whatever it is you like to eat)!  I want to be the kind of streak that when you take your first bite the salt floods your mouth and and makes you melt away into that moment.  The steak that makes you sit back in your seat and forces you to let out a little groan "ummm".  The steak that the rest of the restaurant is noticing and wants a little taste for themselves.  The salt enhances the meat, it makes it better, its so good that I just want to eat more!  I want to be that type of Christian, the kind who stands out, who constantly has the taste of Christ in me.  I want to share the truth without being annoying, yet not compromising.  I want for people around me to notice there is something different about me, and make them want to have what I have.  I want people to see my joy and be comforted by the truth I have to share.

So, let me rephrase the verse in Colossians so that it can be my prayer today "Lord, let my conversation always be full of grace, seasoned with salt so that I know how to answer to everyone."

Guacamole...that will stay GREEN

A chef perk I received recently was when my hubby walked in the door with a bag of avocados and oranges one of his regulars brought to the restaurant for him.  I love oranges...well, anything citrus so the boys and I had fun eating those last week!  The avocados were all green and hard as a rock, I wasn't even sure they would ever soften up and be good to eat, Casey told me to be patient and he was RIGHT!  So, I made a big batch of guacamole with some chicken tacos for dinner and it was delicious!!

Now, how often have you made guacamole only to have it turn brown and gross looking half way through your party?  I know I have and so many parties I have been to I have seen this happen.  Putting the pit in it does NOT work!  But, today I will share with you the hint that my chef taught me and you will never have to worry about brown guacamole again.  The secret? Olive Oil.  Who knew, right?  Just a little drizzle of olive oil and my guacamole was still green and tasting great 2 days after I made it!

Everyone has their favorite recipe so if you love your recipe you can continue to make it your way, just drizzle a tiny bit of olive oil in it and stir it up.  If you want to try a new recipe I have included the way The Overtons make it below :)
Ingredients:
3 avocados, cubed
1/2 jalapeno, diced super small
1/4 onion, diced small
1 garlic clove, smashed into a paste or finely grated
3 tablespoons, chopped cilantro
Juice of 1/2 lime
1/2 teaspoon olive oil
heavy pinch of salt
fresh ground pepper

In a bowl combine jalapeno, onion and garlic with the lime juice and salt.  Stir this and allow to sit for about 10 minutes.  Then add the avocado, cilantro, olive oil and pepper.  Stir, but don't smash avocado.  Now enjoy your guacamole (now or later :) with some chips or with some yummy dinner.  I recommend storing in a bowl covered with plastic wrap pushed down so it is touching the guacamole so NO air gets in!

Mini Quiche

I love hosting parties at my house and this year before Christmas I had a mommy and me Christmas party at my house.  It consisted of about 10 moms and about 22 kids (most of which were under 5!)  I did the party around 10:30 so I needed snack type food and that is when I came up for the idea of these delicious mini quiche!  They were a hit and I have since made them for few different occasions and everyone always loves them and asks for the recipe (sorry it took me so long to post it!)

You can do whatever type of filling you want: broccoli, spinach, tomato basil, seriously any veggie with some cheese makes a great quiche!  The recipe below is for ham and cheese!  These are easy to buy in the frozen section of the store, but now you can make these in less than 15 minutes and impress all your friends :)

For the crust:
1 1/4 cup Bisquick
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 Tablespoons warm water

For the filling:
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, diced super fine
1/4 cup ham, diced
1/4 cup cheese, shredded
2 eggs, plus 1 egg yolk
1 cup half and half (milk or heavy cream work too!  I use whatever I have in fridge :)
Salt & Pepper

Lightly grease a mini muffin pan with cooking spray.  Next, mix ingredients for your crust until it forms a dough.  Put a small amount of dough into the bottom of each mini muffin spot, about 1/4 inch thick (the dough will rise so don't put too much dough!).  Now I saute my onion and garlic.  The way I find it best to add my fillings is to put a little bit of the onion, ham and cheese mixture into the tins and add the egg mixture separately. So put a little bit in each tin.  Next, whisk together eggs and milk with the salt and pepper until well combined.  Then slowly pour egg mixture into each tin, almost filling to the top.  Put these in the oven at 350 for about 7 minutes (or just until the eggs set) and they are done!!