Sandi is blogging from the WhistleStop Cafe kitchen. It's all about good home cooking; food, family and fun. Thousands of posts . . .

~In the south and around the world.



Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Artichokes, Roman Style

I spent yesterday in the kitchen... and trying to learn a new blogging system. I will say that 'blogger' may have it glitches, but it is very user friendly compared to others. I will be getting a 2 for 1 post~ since that is how I've set it up. Or should I say Y'aLL will get a 2 for 1 post!

This is my first recipe from our Pomodori e Vino cooking challenge, and luckily it is one of my favorites when eating at a Roman trattoria. Carciofi alla Romana~ or Artichokes, Roman style.

The first of many weekly challenges... to find the right ingredients here in Alabama. I managed to find the large globe artichokes, which are not exactly the stout, tender artichokes found in Italy. Allora. These will just have to work.

Most of the essentials of Italian cooking involve the 'process' of cooking. Marcella goes into details about the proper way to clean and prepare the artichokes... which is essential for most dishes using the fresh artichoke.

First~ remove the outer leaves. If at first this seems wasteful, she says it is more wasteful to cook something that can't be eaten.
Continue until you reach the tender inner leaves. Cut the tips of the inner leaves off.Rub all of the cut surfaces with lemon to prevent browning.Mean while, mince some mint, parsley, garlic and mix with salt and pepper.Rub the chokes well with the herbs and place tops down in a pot and cook until tender~ the smell is amazing! I served mine with a nice bowl of fennel risotto.Don't forget to follow us with a new recipe everyday on Facebook or at Pomodori e Vino.
Buon Appetito y'all,
Sandi

11 comments:

The Split Pea Cottage said...

Ohh Man! This looks fantastic! You know how much I love Artichokes!

nanny said...

I would just love to taste this!!! Looks wonderful.

Dar said...

Flashback!!!!to high school. OMG, I have not made, nor have I had, steamed artichoke in 42 yrs. That sounds so wonderful and fulfilling. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I remember it tasting like fresh sugar peas. I'll bet the fennel risotto was as grand. I grow fennel and will have to try this too. Thanks so much for the memory flash.
Bless You this Easter Week and weekend

Jerry said...

Fennel risotto sounds amazing - where is the recipe for THAT? Or did you use one of Gail's frozen Trader Joe's risottos . . . .

BTW - artichokes from California are only $ 2 here. Funny that you get dinged $ 5 and you're in the same country!

Sandi @the WhistleStop Cafe said...

Christy~ I felt very Italian peeling my artichokes.
Nanny~ come on by :-)
Dar~ High School and Artichokes?? I'd love to hear that story.
Jerry~ Never fear... that recipe is coming. I'm glad to see that you think Alabama is a part of the rest of the country. (sometimes I wonder)

Chef E said...

I could OD on those beautiful 'baby'! meaning I see one, but look there's a dinosaur, ha made you look and I ate the artichoke!

Leslie said...

Happy Easter!

barb cabot said...

Wow looks absolutely wonderful.

STILLMAGNOLIA said...

Yummy!

Unknown said...

Just came by to see your Artichokes! I like your take on this, different! Thanks for sharing!!

marta said...

This looks wonderful.

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