Stuffed Artichokes - 2 types |
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This one came off TV too. It's not as good as the other, but is more elegant and
easier to eat. The artichoke bottoms are piled high with the "stuffing".
Cut the stems off the artichokes. Then bend back each leaf until it breaks off. Don't break the leaves off the base - you'd remove too much of the heart. The technique is to bend the leaves about one third of the way up from the bottom. They'll break, then pull them off and a bit of the dark green skin of the choke will come off with them too. When you get to the tender yellow inner leaves you can yank them off. Use a sharp potato peeler to peel off any remaining green skin. The skin will cook up too tough to eat. Rub each artichoke heart with lemon juice to keep it from turning black. Bring 2 inches of water to boil, add 2 tbs butter, and add the artichoke hearts. Cook until a fork easily pierces the heart bottom, about 30 minutes. Remove from the water. Use a spoon to remove the center leaves so the only the edible choke is left. These can be done a day ahead and held cold. If so, place in boiling water and remove from the heat. The hearts will be ready to use in five minutes. Separately chop the shallots and mushrooms very finely. (I put them into a food processor and pulsed it until they were well chopped.) Put the mushroom bits into a cheese cloth. Twist the cheese cloth together and squeeze all the liquid out of the mushrooms. Saute the shallots in 2 tbs of olive oil. When they are nicely browned, add the mushrooms and cook until soft. Mix Madera with flour and cream. Add to the mixture and cook slightly until the mixture thickens. Salt and pepper to taste. On an oiled cookie sheet, place the choke hearts. Mound each with the filling mixture. Sprinkle parmesian cheese on top and place under the broiler for 10 minutes or until the filling is well browned. |
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