EASIEST ARTICHOKES

The hardback version of The Easiest Cookbook is full of forgotten surprises for me—in this case a memory of a trip to Italy, circa 1980.

Today, the Campo dei Fiori ( field of flowers) is one of the last of the open-air markets in central Rome---supermarkets now reign  supreme.  At night, the Campo turns into a  night-life haunt.

Three days after a clumsy fall off a cobblestone curb in Naples, I wrote in my travel journal:

    

      Warm enough for a cappuccino outdoors at a restaurant on the Piazza Navona.  The trick is to stop on the cobblestones, not slip in between them.  Rehearsed and ready for the unabashed, curious Romans, explaining (cheerily) to all who asked about my foot and some who didn’t, “Sono caduta a Napoli.”(“I fell in Naples.”)

     At the Campo dei Fiori, I inspected every baby eggplant, cheese, and prosciutto in sight.  I bought some flowers, then stood on one leg and watched a woman transform artichokes into sculpture.  She held the artichoke high, turning it round and round with one hand while her other hand artfully circled the artichoke in the opposite direction with a paring knife, an action that removed the artichoke’s thistly thorns from stem to tip.  Plop—each artichoke dropped into a pan of water.  The ready-to-cook chokes are sold to restaurants.

    
 “Brava,”I said, and explained in bad but getting-better Italian that I liked very much Italian carciofi because all was edible. “Mi piace (I like) carciofi alla Romana (vinegar and oil) e alla Giudea  (deep fried).

     
 “Come ha fatto male il piede?” (“How did you hurt your foot?”)

     
 “Sono cadutta a Napoli.”

       
 I was rewarded with an understanding nod.

       At one o’clock the market disappeared, loaded up and driven away in pickup trucks. 

My tried and true way to prepare and cook artichokes. I looked over the several recipes in The New Cook’s Cookbook (link) and the latest in The Gourmet’s Recession Cookbook (link)

Allow 1 artichoke per person.  A 4-quart casserole will accommodate 4 medium artichokes.  You will need kitchen scissors.

4 medium artichokes

olive oil

lemon slices

melted butter or vinegar and oil dressing

1.      To prep, wash the artichokes.  Use a sharp knife to slice off about ½ inch off the top of the artichoke.  Rub the cut with lemon to prevent darkening.  Pull off the small, brown leaves around the bottom. Slice off the bottom of the stem evenly so that artichokes will stand up in the casserole.

2.      With kitchen scissors, cut off the thorny tips of the leaves.

3.      Drizzle approximately 1 tablespoon of olive oil over each choke.  Place a lemon slice on the top.

4.      Fill the bottom of the pot with 3-4 inches water.  Cover the pot and steam on low heat for 45 minutes or until a leaf pulls out easily.  Size doesn’t seem to matter... even a jumbo will steam done in 45-50 minutes.  Make sure the water doesn’t boil away.  Add more, if needed.   

5.      Serve hot with melted butter and lemon juice or vinegar and oil dressing. 

There are special artichoke plates sectioned off with a place for the artichoke in the center, a "well" for the sauce and another section for used leaves.    

HOW TO EAT AN ARTICHOKE

Pull off the leaves one at a time.  Dip the meaty base of the leaf into the sauce, then scrape the meat through your teeth.  Use a knife to cut it away the fuzzy ‘choke’ under which lies the delectable artichoke bottom.   

EASIEST BAKED CUSTARD

Photos by Carol Guilford

In the spring, Trader Joe’s sells delicate daffodils.  I want to share them, along with one of my favorite poems.  

DAFFODILS

by William Wordsworth

I wandered lonely as a cloud

   That floats on high o'er vales and hills,

   When all at once I saw a crowd,

   A host, of golden daffodils;

   Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

   Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

   Continuous as the stars that shine

   And twinkle on the milky way,

   They stretched in never-ending line

   Along the margin of a bay:

   Ten thousand saw I at a glance,

   Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

   The waves beside them danced; but they

   Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:

   A poet could not but be gay,

   In such a jocund company:

   I gazed—and gazed—but little thought

  What wealth the show to me had brought:

   For oft, when on my couch I lie

   In vacant or in pensive mood,

   They flash upon that inward eye

   Which is the bliss of solitude;

   And then my heart with pleasure fills,

   And dances with the daffodils.

EASIEST BAKED CUSTARD

From my THE DIET BOOK  written after I read every diet book published (at New York University’s medical library) since the first one—William Banting’s Letter on Corpulence—a low-carbo diet, in 1856, 100 years before others popularized it.  The updated e-book version of The Diet Book includes the entire Banting pamphlet.

Easiest Baked Custard has 15 carbohydrates and 140 calories.

4 servings

You will need 4-ounce pyrex cups or ramekins. Personally, I think the ramekins are prettier but the pyrex baked better.

2 large eggs

1 ½ cups milk

¼ cup organic sugar

¼ teaspoon vanilla (buy the real deal)

1.      The easiest way is to whirl all the ingredients in a blender.  An eggbeater will work.

2.      Fill 4-ounce pyrex cups or ramekins with the mixture.  (See picture  below)

3.      Put the custard cups into an 8X8 baking pan.  Put the pan into a 325 degree oven.  Pour ½ inch water into the baking pan after it is in the oven—the chance of spillage is way reduced.

4.      Bake for 50 minutes or until the custard is set. Custard is done when a toothpick  inserted through the center comes out clean. Eat hot or cold.