Go Green for Super Bowl Sunday! And Cook Easy-to-Make Roasted Artichokes

We are planning a Super Bowl Sunday party. My plan is to serve "picnic" food. Carrot salad, potato salad, Little Gem green salad, Persian salad, crispy fried chicken, brown sugar salmon and roasted artichokes.

Super Bowl Sunday food should be fun, delicious and healthy.

Spring is happening and artichokes are showing up in our farmers markets. The dark green vegetable, prized by cooks, is healthy and easy-to-prepare.

Looking at an artichoke, with its hard exterior and sharp pointed leaves makes me wonder how anyone figured out they would be good to eat. With a small amount of effort, that tough looking exterior gives up the wonderfully savory flavor bits at the end of the each leaf.

Choosing a good artichoke

Whether you find one that is the size of your hand or a larger one the size of a soft ball, give it a squeeze. If the artichoke feels solid, you've found a good one. An artichoke past its prime will be squishy like a child's squeeze toy. Make sure all the leaves are green. Don't buy an artichoke with brown or blackened leaves.

Having a sharp pair of scissors or kitchen shears, a pairing knife and a chefs knife will make breaking down the artichoke easy.

Roasted Artichokes

One person can easily eat one artichoke the size of your hand. The larger artichokes will feed 2-3 people as an appetizer or a side dish. 

Serves 4

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cooking Time: 30-35 minutes

Total Time: 40-45 minutes

Ingredients

4 medium sized or 2 large artichokes, washed
1 tablespoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup sweet butter (optional)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350F.

Place a large stock pot on the stove on a high flame. Add kosher salt. Bring to a low boil. Cover.

To roast the artichoke sections after boiling, cover the bottom of a baking sheet with parchment paper, a Silpat sheet or a piece of aluminum foil. Set aside.

Using scissors trim off the pointy end of each artichoke leaf.

Trim off the stem of each artichoke, flush to the bottom. Discard the stems.

Give each artichoke a flat-top haircut. Place the artichoke on its side. Using a chefs knife, trim off the top 1/4" of each artichoke and discard.

Place the artichoke on the cutting board. Using a chefs knife, cut each artichoke in half, from bottom to the top. Cut each half into two pieces. If the artichoke is large, cut those four pieces in half, creating eight segments.

Working quickly, because the inside of the artichoke will discolor when exposed to air, use a sharp pairing knife to remove the fuzzy part on the inside of each section. Rinse the artichoke sections and discard the fuzzy parts.

Place all the artichoke sections in the boiling salted water. Cover and cook 10 minutes.

Using the pairing knife, test one of the artichoke sections. The knife should easily go into the fleshy part on the bottom of the leaves. If the knife doesn't go in easily, cook another 5 minutes but beware not to over cook the artichokes. They should be firm not mushy.

Place a colander or strainer in the sink. Pour the hot salted water with the artichoke sections into the colander and drain.

Transfer the artichoke sections to a mixing bowl. Drizzle with olive oil. Season with sea salt and black pepper. Toss well to coat.

Arrange the artichokes on the prepared baking sheet, leaving room between the sections.

Place in the oven and cook 15 minutes. Using tongs, turn the sections over and place back in the oven another 15 minutes so they cook evenly.

If serving with melted butter (optional), melt the butter in a small saucepan being careful to avoid burning.

Remove the artichokes from the oven and serve hot or at room temperature. Accompany with sea salt, black pepper and small dishes of melted butter (optional).

Go Green! And Cook Easy to Make Roasted Artichokes

Spring is happening and farmers markets are filling up with artichokes. The dark green vegetable, prized by cooks, is healthy and easy to prepare.

Looking at an artichoke, with its hard exterior and sharp pointed leaves makes me wonder how anyone figured out they would be good to eat. With a small amount of effort, that tough looking exterior gives up the wonderfully savory flavor bits at the end of the each leaf.

Choosing a good artichoke

Whether you find one that is the size of your hand or a larger one the size of a soft ball, give it a squeeze. If the artichoke feels solid, you've found a good one. An artichoke past its prime will be squishy like a child's squeeze toy. Make sure all the leaves are green. Don't buy an artichoke with brown or blackened leaves.

Having a sharp pair of scissors or kitchen shears, a pairing knife and a chefs knife will make breaking down the artichoke easy.

Roasted Artichokes

One person can easily eat one artichoke the size of your hand. The larger artichokes will feed 2-3 people as an appetizer or a side dish. 

Serves 4

Ingredients

4 medium sized or 2 large artichokes, washed
1 tablespoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup sweet butter (optional)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350F.

Place a large stock pot on the stove on a high flame. Add kosher salt. Bring to a low boil. Cover.

Using scissors trim off the pointy end of each leaf.

Trim off the stems of each artichoke, flush to the bottom. Reserve the stems.

Trim off the top 1/4" of each artichoke and discard.

Using a chefs knife, cut each artichoke in half, from bottom to the top. Cut each half into two pieces. If the artichoke is large, cut those four pieces in half, creating eight segments.

Working quickly because the inside of the artichoke will discolor when exposed to air, use a sharp pairing knife to remove the fuzzy part on the inside of each section. Discard.

Place all the artichoke sections and the stems in the boiling salted water. Cover and cook 10 minutes.

Cover the bottom of a baking sheet with parchment paper, a Silpat sheet or a piece of aluminum foil.

Using the pairing knife, test one of the artichoke sections. The knife should easily go into the fleshy part on the bottom of the leaves. If the knife doesn't go in easily, cook another 5 minutes.

Place a colander or strainer in the sink. Pour the water with the artichoke sections into the colander and drain.

Transfer the artichoke sections and stems to a mixing bowl. Drizzle with olive oil. Season with sea salt and black pepper. Toss well to coat.

Arrange the artichokes and stems on the prepared baking sheet.

Place in the oven and cook 15 minutes. Using tongs, turn the sections over and place back in the oven another 15 minutes so they cook evenly.

If serving with melted butter (optional), melt the butter in a small saucepan being careful to avoid burning.

Remove the artichokes from the oven and serve while hot. Accompany with sea salt, black pepper and small dishes of melted butter (optional). Trim the stems down to the round center, chop and use in a salad.

Crispy Baby Artichokes & Spaghetti

In today's Bitten, I talk about making crispy baby artichokes with capers and shallots. I find steamed artichokes very satisfying. The creamy sweetness of the heart combined with butter is comforting. Crispy artichokes are a very different experience. Salty, crunchy with a caramelized sweetness they are delicious in a completely different way. Sold at upscale markets they can be pricey but at Trader Joe's they're very affordable.

The artichokes can be served as an appetizer, side dish, or a main course. They take a bit of work--trimming the outer leaves, cutting out the fuzzy-choke-- so this is something to enjoy making on the weekend when you can have some company while you're cooking.

The recipe on Bitten is vegetarian, although you could add bacon or sausage if you were so inclined.

Home Alone: What to Do When Your Family Leaves You to Your Own Devices

I work at home and the days can be a bit like Chinese water-torture: wake up, do the laundry, clean up, run around doing errands, cook dinner for my wife and son, make a fire, watch TV (In Treatment; The Daily Show; Colbert), and crash. It's not a bad routine. It's actually kind of great. And yet I'm not in control of my choices or my time.

Yesterday Michelle told me she had to go to a reception for work. Normally our youngest son, Michael, would be home for dinner, but he was flying up to Seattle to look at a college. I had one of those envy-flashes: "They're having all the fun." What was I going to do? I could go to a movie, but I don't like going to the movies alone. I could stay home and make dinner for myself, but cooking just for me sounded sad.

Then I had an epiphany: Home alone...I could eat anything I wanted for dinner.

Michelle doesn't like blue cheese, so I could make an Arugula Salad with Crispy Bacon and Blue Cheese. Michael doesn't like steak, so I could defrost and grill a nice rib eye steak. And what about a drink before dinner? A Perfect Manhattan with a twist. A Caipairina with Lime and Kiwi Fruit. A tumbler of the rum we brought back from our trip to Havana in 1990. Or maybe a Dirty Martini.

Doing an errand, I passed Bay Cities, a great Italian deli in Santa Monica. I decided to stop and get some treats. Inside there were aisles of olives, cheeses, salamis, Italian sausages with fennel, hams, prosciutto, breads, pastas, anchovies, and snails. I got carried away and bought enough to eat for days.

Back home I found another treasure, a jar of American caviar that Michelle had gotten in one of her Sundance Festival goodie bags.

My mind was racing. If I didn't calm down, I'd need a Lipitor chaser and an epi pen at the end of the meal. I decided against the Arugula Salad with Blue Cheese and focused on basics: a charcuterie plate with prosciutto, mozzarella, green olives, and fresh Italian bread. The caviar I'd have on slices of bread. The main course: the rib eye steak, grilled medium rare. For a side dish, artichokes with melted butter. To start, a Perfect Manhattan.

A Perfect Manhattan

4 oz. Bourbon or Whiskey
½ oz. Sweet Vermouth
½ oz. Dry Vermouth
1 twist of lemon peel, 1" long, ¼" wide

Keep the Bourbon in the freezer so it will be extra cold. Pour the Bourbon and both vermouths into a martini glass, stir, drop in the twist, and sip contentedly.

Serves 1. Preparation Time: 2 minutes.

A Charcuterie Plate

From a good deli, pick out a selection of your favorite meats,. Some of the best are handmade by Paul Bertolli for his Fra' Mani label. You can find a selection of his salumi all over LA, especially at Joan's on Third, Whole Foods, or Surfas. For my plate, I laid out paper thin slices of prosciutto, slices of my favorite salami, felino salami, green olives, and mozzarella dredged in seasoned olive oil, with slices of Italian bread, drizzled with olive oil.

Grilled Steak

In college I was a vegetarian, but ultimately I missed eating meat too much and I re-discovered hot dogs, hamburgers, roast chicken, and steak. There is nothing that tastes quite so good as a steak, simply grilled, seasoned with sea salt and black pepper.

1 10 oz. steak, T-Bone, Porterhouse, Rib Eye with the Bone-in, washed, pat dry
Olive oil
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper

I've talked before about the advantages of marinating meat with a simple, seasoned olive oil marinade before freezing. The meat stays tender and fresh-tasting, even after weeks in the freezer. Defrosted and brought to room temperature, the steak was ready for the grill. Seared on one side for 5 minutes to get the grill marks right, turned over for another 5 minutes to get that side marked, then for 5 minutes on each side again. The steak came out cooked perfectly: medium rare. Letting the steak sit for 5 minutes, covered with tin foil, the juices began to run. The steak was ready to join the feast.

Grilled Artichokes with Melted Butter

1 artichoke, washed, the stem trimmed, the sharp ends of each leaf cut off
2 tablespoons sweet butter, melted
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Cut the artichoke into 8 sections. Use a sharp paring knife to remove the choke from each section. Drop the artichokes into boiling, salted water, cover, cook for 30 minutes, drain, and put into a large bowl. Drizzle the artichoke sections with olive oil, sea salt, and black pepper. Toss well, then grill on the bbq on all sides. Serve with the melted butter and sea salt.

Home alone...not so bad.