Artichoke Dip

So Sunday night during the Oscars, I had this hot artichoke dip simply because I needed a reason to finish up those baby artichokes from last week. And like all my recipes, I just eyeball everything and adjust according to taste and ingredients on hand (and sudden whims).

Prep and steam (or grill, or sautee) the artichokes until cooked, then set aside to cool. Meanwhile, roughly 1 cup of light cream cheese gets mixed with a tablespoon of mayo, handfuls of grated parmesan and romano cheese, some finely chopped green onion, a big dab of dijon mustard, a dash of Worchestershire sauce, grated garlic, salt, pepper and a generous squeeze of lemon juice. Chop up the artichoke and add it to the mix. Spoon the mixture into a ramekin (did I mention the oven should be at 400F?), top off with powdered parmesan cheese (for texture, and also because I keep it around for making cheesy croutons) and bake until brown and bubbly! Sometimes I add some bell pepper to this and if you have crabmeat around, this could easily become a great Crab & Artichoke Dip. In any case, you need to serve with homemade pita chips or Guiltless Gourmet tortilla chips, because those tasty mofos are the crispiest beeyotches you have ever had. Trust me.

Lambchops & Artichoke

From the lunch section of Breakfast Lunch Tea - The Many Meals of Rose Bakery, I made the recipe for Braised Artichoke, Lemon and Lamb Chops recipe for dinner. I used baby artichokes and New Zealand shoulder lamb chops that were on sale, and served it all on a bed of brown and wild rice.

Braised Artichoke, Lemon and Lamb Chops from Breakfast Lunch Tea

Serves 6
- juice of 2 lemons (for prepping artichokes)
- 12-14 medium globe artichokes
- 4 tbsps extra virgin olive oil (plus more for frying lamb)
- 3 onions diced
- 1 celery heart finely sliced (I omitted this)
- 3 carrots, diced
- 1 tsp salt
- pinch of black pepper
- grated zest of a lemon
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 3 cups veg or chicken stock
- 1 tsp sugar (I omitted this)
- 1 tsp of thyme (my addition for the lamb)

Prep artichokes (fill a bowl with water and lemon juice, cut off artichoke stalks and remove tips and outer leaves, slice in half and discard chokes if there are any, then place artichokes in the bowl).

Heat the olive oil in a saucepan and cook the onions until softened. Add carrots, seasoning and lemon zest. Cook for about 15 minutes. Then add garlic and artichoke hearts, and pour in the stock to cover everything. Simmer for about 15-20 minutes until the liquid has reduced by half. Taste and see if sugar needs to be added.

Season the lamb chops (salt, pepper and thyme) and fry them in oil or grilled until they are cooked through, but still slightly pink inside--about 5 minutes each side.

Serve with artichokes on the side.

Still Life: Artichoke