La Platicona Habla: Tastes, Passions and Pursuits

This "1-2-3" of preparing artichokes is dedicated to Chris the produce worker at Whole Foods in Boulder who hooked me up with a free sample of the mini globe artichokes I was lusting after in the store. The artichoke is a large immature flower bud of a thistle called Cynara Scolymus that is native to the Mediterranean. The etymology of the name is actually from the Arabic, al'qarshuf. The edible part of this flower is towards the base, requiring the cook to discard the outer petals to prepare for eating. I made a delicious pasta out of these chokes, but you can also use them as appetizers, in a salad (raw or cooked), and as toppings for pizza.

Step one: Take the choke and peel off the outer layer of leaves - there are a lot, so don't panic when you are left with half of what you started with.

Step Two: take your knife and peel the stem down to the green, and cut off the top half.
At this point, you can cut the choke into 2 halves, cut out the core and serve raw with salad, or cook them following step three.

Step Three: Add artichokes to a pot of boiling water with lemon and salt. Boil for 4-7 minutes, remove and drain. Cut the chokes in half and remove the spiny hearts. You can finally eat these little guys any way you'd like.

Labels: artichokes

This basic scone recipe is really easy to make, and better yet, it is delicious. I make two versions of these scones, one for dinner and one for breakfast. This recipe yields about 8-10 mini scones (smaller than a biscuit) and is great with jam and clotted cream (sold in your grocer's diary aisle). For vegans, I suggest using cold vegetable lard (crisco) or margerine rather than butter.

You will need: 4 1/2 tbsp of cold butter; 1 c flour; 1 1/2 tsp baking powder; 1/2 c milk.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Step One: Cut the cold butter with the flour and baking powder using a fork. The mixture should be like breadcrumbs.

You can add grated lemon zest, grated zucchini, and 1/2 tsp salt for a dinner scone or grated lemon zest, dried cranberries, and 1 tbsp sugar for a breakfast scone.

Step Two: Mix in milk using fork until dough forms. Knead with your hands and form a ball.

Step Three: Roll out on a floured surface about 1 inch thick, cutting out scones with 2" cookie cutter rounds or heart shapes.

Bake for 8-10 minutes or until golden and eat hot.

Labels: scones

Beans are a major source of protein, iron, B vitamins, folic acid, and starch. For vegetarians, this plant is perhaps the most important part of a healthy diet. This dish uses a lot of beans and is a fast meal when you are in a hurry. This chile has a very different flavor from the black bean soup recipe (post 12/20/05), but if you like black beans, I suggest that recipe specifically because the flavors posted there marry well for that particular bean.

You will need: 1/2 of a bell pepper diced; 1/4 white onion, diced; 4 cloves crushed garlic; either fresh red chile (that you make and have frozen, see blog from 1/18/06) or powdered, use 2 tbsp of powdered chile or 1/2 cup of fresh chile; 1/2 tsp of cumin; 2 regular sized cans of beans, I like to use a can of pinto and a can of mixed beans that includes kidney, black, and pinto beans; 1 c of vegetable stock; a 28 oz can of diced tomatoes; brown rice.

Step One: Cook 2 cups of brown rice either in a rice cooker or pot according to directions. Start the rice before starting the soup.

Step Two: In a large pot, saute onions, garlic, and bell pepper in 3 tbsp of vegetable oil over medium heat until translucent. Add the 2 cans of beans with their liquid, and 2 more tablespoons of vegetable oil. Cook for 7-10 minutes, stir often.

Step Three: Add spices, salt to taste, chile, vegetable stock, and tomatoes. Simmer for 15-20 minutes.

Step Four: Serve chile over rice and a side of quesadillas. I make my quesadillas with either corn (for gluten free eating) or flour tortillas and jack cheese (chedder isn't quite as flavorful). Salt to taste.

Labels: pinto beans, red chile, rice, soup, tomatoes

Jaime Oliver to the rescue. I had my two nephews, one niece, along with two of my sisters and for a visit recently. What to make for children and adults alike is easy - pasta! I decided to go for a traditional meat sauce - sorry to all my vegetarian followers - but for you carnivores, this one is especially for you. Thank the English guy.

You will need: 10 slices of bacon with most of the fat trimmed off; handful of chopped rosemary; 4 cloves of minced garlic; 1/2 white onion finely diced; 1 c of red wine; 1 large can of whole peeled tomatoes; 2 tbsp tomato paste; 1 tsp dried oregano; 1 handful of chopped Italian parsley and basil; olive oil; 1 lb of fresh ground lean chuck; one chile piquin crushed; spaghetti; 1/2 c (or more) fresh grated parmesan.

Step One: Place the slices of bacon on a cookie sheet, sprinkle the rosemary on top, and bake in oven at 350 degrees for 10-13 minutes or until bacon curls. Baking the bacon will prevent the pool of grease normally found in pan frying from forming, and will leave the bacon just golden and not very crispy. Remove, and dice up.

Step Two: In a large pan, saute your onions, garlic, and chile piquing over medium heat. After onions are translucent, add the ground chuck and bacon. Break up the meat while it browns. Add the red wine after meat is almost done cooking (about 8-12 minutes).

Step Three: Add can of whole peeled tomatoes along with its liquid. Be sure to break up the tomatoes with your hands so they are bite sized. Add tomato paste, oregano, salt and pepper to taste. Cook unti lsauce thickens.

Step Four: You can skip this step, but you risk having a runny sauce if you do. Take that cake pan and put your sauce you've been cooking into it, cover with foil, and bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove, add basil and fresh parsley.

Step Five: Cook pasta according to directions. Add parmesan to sauce and serve over pasta. Feel free to drizzle a little olive oil on top of it all; eat with a side salad.

Labels: ground beef, pasta, sauce, tomatoes

The avocado is a member of the laurel family and has very aromatic leaves. Avocados have very little sugar or starch, and have up to 30% oil (although this is the "good fat" -that is, monosaturated fat). Its native name, "ahuacatl" comes from Nahuatl, the indigenous language of central Mexico. The type of avocado you see in the grocery store is usally the Hass avocado, a variety from the Guatemalan lowlands.

Important for maintaining their flavor, you should never refridgerate these fruits until they are absolutely ripe. You can accelerate this process by placing the avocado in a paper bag with a plantain or banana. After they are ripe, you can put them in the fridge, otherwise, you risk damaging the fruit.

You will need: 2 or 3 ripe avocados; handful of chopped cilantro leaves; 1/4 c of red onion minced; 1 ripe tomato, diced; 3 cloves of crushed and minced garlic; 2 seeded and minced serrano peppers or jalapeno; salt; juice from 1 lime.

Step One: Cut avocados in half and remove the bone. Spoon out the flesh into a bowl and mash it with a fork or masher until smooth.

Step Two: Add onions, garlic, cilantro, lime juice, serrano peppers; and tomatoes. Season with salt. Serve with any meal or as a dip for chips.

Labels: avocado, guacamole

Spring rolls are a special treat for vegetarians, vegans, and gluten free eaters alike. Unlike pasta, rice wrappers (and rice noodles) are held together by amylose, a rice starch, rather than gluten proteins of wheat flour, and so they are easier to digest for persons with IBS and those allergic to wheat.

Rice paper wrappers are round like tortillas and are called "bangh trang" in Vietnamese. These wrappers are used to make spring rolls. The wrappers are made from soaked and ground rice made into a paste and dried in thin layers. Rice wrappers are sold in many asian and natural food groceries, and are rehydrated by individually soaking each round disc in warm water, and used immediately to make spring rolls. Making these spring rolls requires preparation of all the ingredients first, and then assembly last.

You will need: 1 package of vermecelli rice noodles; 1 package of rice wrappers; 1 bunch of thai basil and fresh cilantro; tofu or cooked and halved shrimp; shredded romaine lettuce. Peanut sauce requires 3 tbsp of peanut butter; 2 tbsp of "hoisin" sauce (sold at asian food markets and is made from sugar, soybeans, vinegar, and wheat flour); 1 can of coconut milk.

Step One: Soak the skinny vermecelli rice noodles in very warm water until soft; promptly drain and rinse in cool water; set aside for assembly.

Step Two: Rinse and dry romaine lettuce leaves. Shred the lettuce by chopping into thin slices or slivers. Set aside for assembly.

Step Three: Cook shrimp by deveining, removing shell, and throwing into a small pot of boiling water with garlic clove and salt. Remove after 2 minutes; drain; rinse; set aside for assembly.

Step Four: Rinse cilantro and thai basil, dry well. Remove individual leaves of basil for assembly and chop off stems of cilatro, using 2 sprigs per roll.

Step Five: Pour very warm water into a large mixing bowl. You are ready to begin assembly. Place one rice wrapper in the water until soft; remove gently with both hands; place on clean work surface and place a handful of noodles, lettuce, basil and cilantro; tofu strips or shrimp in a pile at one end of the round wrapper (like making a burrito). Fold in the right and left sides; now fold over the bottom half of the wrapper with the ingredients like you would a burrito. The edges seal naturally. Place on a tray or plate, but don't stack them. Cover with plastic and put them in the fridge.

Step Six: In a small pot, add 2 tbsp of hoisin sauce (made from black soybean paste), 3 tbsp of peanut butter, and one can of coconut milk. Cook on medium high heat, stirring so mixture won't burn. Sauce is done when all the ingredients thicken. Remove from heat and cool.

Step Seven: Serve spring rolls with a side of peanut sauce and chili garlic sauce (sold at asian grocer too). For variation on ingredients, you can also add sliced avacado to the the rolls, or batter fry the shrimp.

Labels: herbs, rice noodles, shrimp

The most fabulous food blog I've found to date has to be Chocolate and Zucchini by Clotilde. The site is run from her home in Europe and features mostly French cooking. I tried this herb muffin recipe posted also on NPR and adjusted the ingredients for what was in my pantry. You can do the same as long as you keep the liquid and dry ingredients consistent.

You will need: handful of chopped flat leafed Italian parsley and thyme, or basil (fresh); 3 eggs; 1/2 c buttermilk; 1 tbslp pesto; 1/4 fresh grated parmesan; 1 1/4 c flour; 1 tbsp baking powder; 1 tblsp sesame seeds; 1/2 tsp salt and pepper.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Step One: Whisk the eggs with a blender or by hand until very frothy. Add salt and pepper.

Step Two: Pour in buttermild, pesto, parmesan cheese, and whisk until incorporated.

Step Three: Sift flour and baking powder into the bowl and stir ingredients together with a wooden spoon - do not over mix. It is okay if your batter is lumpy.

Step Four: spoon batter into muffin pan halfway full and sprinkle with sesame seeds and bake for 17-20 minutes.

Labels: bread, herbs