Sunday, April 19, 2009

Dim Sum Sunday - Spring Vegetables

For my spring vegetable dishes I chose to use Asparagus and Artichokes, both of which are in plentiful supply. I turned to Alice Water's Chez Panisse Vegetables for my Artichoke recipe.

Artichokes Baked with Anchovy Stuffing
4 large artichokes
Juice of 1/2 lemon
3 onions
6 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 sprigs thyme
1/4 to 1/2 cup white wine
Salt and pepper
3/4 cup pitted niçoise olives
Stuffing:
Zest of 1/2 lemon
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
2 salt-packed anchovies
1-1/3 cups toasted bread crumbs
Salt and pepper
Splash of white wine
Extra-virgin olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
A few sprigs thyme
Parsley
Pare the artichokes down to their hearts and scoop out the chokes with a spoon. Drop the hearts into water acidulated with lemon juice (or rub them with a little olive oil) to prevent them from discoloring. Set aside.
Peel the onions and garlic and slice very thin. Heat the olive oil in a sauté pan, add the onions, garlic, and sprigs of thyme, and cook slowly for 10 minutes, until the onions have softened. Add about 1/4 cup of the white wine and cook 2 minutes more. Season to taste. Reserve about 1/4 cup of this onion mixture and set aside. Spread the rest of the onion mixture in a small, nonreactive baking dish large enough to hold the artichokes. Scatter the olives over the onions. Preheat the oven to 375° F.
To make the stuffing, grate the zest from the lemon; chop the parsley; and rinse, fillet, and chop the anchovies. Mix together with the reserved onion mixture and the bread crumbs.
Stuff each artichoke with one quarter of this mixture and place the artichokes stuffed side down on the bed of onions and olives in the baking dish. Season generously with salt and pepper. Splash a little white wine over them and drizzle with olive oil and a few drops of balsamic vinegar. Strew with a few sprigs of thyme, cover the artichokes with parchment paper, and cover the baking dish tightly with foil. Bake for 60 to 90 minutes, until the artichokes can be easily pierced with a knife.
Serves 4. I added a little pancetta to the top but frankly this recipe did not make me want to repeat this effort. The stuffing seemed uninspiring and the artichoke itself was bland.The Asparagus, on the other hand, was much more successful. This month's Cook's Country, sister magazine to Cook's Illustrated, has a recipe for Broiled Asparagus with Mustard Vinaigrette that I highly recommend. Nothing could be easier than broiling asparagus.The last component to my Sunday dinner was Ina Garten's Roasted Shrimp Salad. Ina is one of the few chefs on the Food Network I enjoy and it's recipes like this make me want to tune into her show. The freshness of the orange zest really pops with the roasted shrimp. Pairing the zesty asparagus with the creaminess of the shrimp salad was a nice contrast. Two winners out of three's not bad.

7 comments:

The Phosgene Kid said...

Had 'chokes for dinner. Not too shabby...

Susan said...

Oh my goodness what a lovely Sunday dinner. I'm definitely trying that roasted shrimp salad. Yum.

LaDivaCucina said...

Ok, I could really dig having some of that scrimpy in a po' boy sammich! YUM!~

Shame about the artichokes but now that my CSA is over, I can actually buy some veggies...like artichokes! Ive had a hankerin' for them too. I just stuff mine with crumbs, parsley, garlic, lemon zest and then steam over chicken broth.

The 'gus looks great...yum!

Big Shamu said...

I think you'll like the shrimp salad Susan, it's really quick and easy to throw together. Orange zest and juice in a shrimp salad kinda threw me but it's really good.

Thanks, Diva but I still want Java's pasta over my dinner. Olives, cheese and pignolis. I'll even resist the urge to add some form of bacon. Yum.

Buzz Kill said...

Anchovies, they're not just for pizza. 2 anchovy recipes in 2 weeks. lol

The asparagus looks great but it looks like you need to be a member to get the recipe. I think I might try the shrimp salad although I may cut it in half - 2 1/2 pounds is a lot of shrimp.

Nice job. Happy DSS!

Big Shamu said...

Yes Buzz, have to be a member which only points out my discomfort at posting a recipe from a magazine that's currently on newstands or part of their online subscription. You do have choices, sign up for the two week trial membership, buy this month's issue or see if your library carries the subscription. I like the magazine especially since like it's sister publication, there is no advertising.

Dani said...

Yummy! I will definitely give those two a try.