Braised artichokes

We picked up some baby artichokes at the store the other day. We all love artichokes and braising baby artichokes makes them delicious and easy to eat. Although making whole artichokes and dipping them is a lot of fun, it is a big mess with three kids, so this is a good compromise. Baby artichokes are only in season for a short time and I can't bring myself to pare down and throw away most of a mature artichoke to get it to the soft braising part, so we make this once a year.

baby chokes, butter, garlic, lemon, salt

top the artichokes, pull off outer leaves, and cut in half

let halves sit in acidulated water

melt butter with garlic

arrange artichokes in a oven dish and pour garlic butter over them and salt liberally

cover and cook until fork tender

turn at least once while cooking

then serve as a delicious side

I used to pick artichokes in my yard when I was a kids. Now I buy them at the store.

Chickpea salad

I saw this recipe for chickpea salad on g+ about three weeks ago and since then I have made this salad three times. We like it that much. It is a similar to chicken salad and/or tuna salad but so much tastier and healthier. 

I have modified it a bit to suit our tastes. I don't ever use canned beans, I soak my own. I doubled the amount of celery as I love the crunch celery adds in these types of salads. I minced my carrots (I loathe shredded carrots), and I added capers and vegetarian fish sauce for color and flavor. The first time I made it, I followed the smashing instructions in the original recipe, that took a long time, now I just pulse it in a food processor which keeps it chunky and only takes about 5 seconds to do.

I sneak a spoonful of this salad every time I open the refrigerator if it is there, otherwise we eat it in a sandwich, on crackers, on lettuce, and I even put some in a veggie dog. 

carrots, celery, green onions, tofu, chickpeas, mayo, lemon, pickles, salt, and pepper

soak beans overnight if not longer

cook for an hour or so with salt until done

add beans, tofu, pickles, and mayo to food processor (you can add capers here instead)

blended, but still chunky

mince celery, carrots, and green onion

add mix and vegetables to a bowl and stir in lemon juice and veggie fish sauce

season to taste - more salt and some spicy

decide it needs some capers

enjoy on crackers, sandwiches

I already need to make more!

Congee

I love congee. I was in heaven in Hawaii where every hotel has congee at their breakfast buffet. So much so that upon coming home I decided I had been too long without regular doses of congee. It is pretty easy to make. The most time consuming part is preparing the all the sides you put on top, but most of those we already have in the fridge. I just need to roast some tofu and make the szechuan sauce/marinade. You just have to plan ahead to soak the rice overnight, otherwise the cooking time will be twice as long. I make a big batch and then eat it all week re-heated with a little water.

rice, tofu, onions, sesame seeds, soy sauce, salt

soak your rice overnight

toast your sesame seeds and decide you want some toasted cashews also

crush the cashews once toasted (you can sub in any nut here for crunch)

make the sauce - oil, onions, szechaun peppercorns, and soy sauce

cube your drained tofu and remember you want some rice vinegar in the sauce

toss the tofu with the sauce and let sit 30 minutes or so, save the leftover sauce

then roast low and slow until the tofu is very brown and dry

now that the rice has soaked, drain and rinse

then add 7-8 parts water for your 1 part rice

bring to a simmer and cook covered for 1-2 hours until it looks like this

line up all the sides and assemble (I am just missing japanese pickles)

so yummy and warm and filling

This is my kind of breakfast!

Pigs in a blanket (and biscuits)

These are a long-time favorite of my husband and I. I realized we hadn't made them since before my youngest was born and I am not sure why. You can make these using store bought biscuits in a can or you can make your own biscuit dough. 

This biscuit dough is based on a recipe I found online called Mee-maw's Buttermilk Biscuits. This is our go to biscuit recipe and it is really, really good - almost bojangles good. Except instead of  buttermilk I use coconut milk and vinegar and if you don't want to use real butter, you can sub in margarine, just make sure to use the stick version to properly form the biscuit dough. With this recipe you want to work to keep everything cold, cold, cold just like pie dough, so the butter doesn't warm up at all until it hits the oven.

veggie dogs, flour, butter, salt, coconut milk, vinegar, baking soda and powder

mix your dry ingredients together

then cut your cold butter or margarine into small pieces

toss the butter into the dry and pinch pieces flat, they should be the thickness of a nickel

chill the mix for 15 minutes or so, we use cold flour, so we don't have to wait as long

arrange your veggie dogs (field meat frankfurters for the adults, yves for the kids)

now mix in your coconut milk with a TB of vinegar

you should have a wet dough

fold the dough into thirds like a letter on a well floured surface, then do it again the other way

roll or pat it to 1/2 inch thickness
either use a biscuit cutter (no twisting) or cut into squares for blankets

place eat dog diagonally

then pinch the corners up and over

bake in a hot hot oven for 15-20 minutes

they should be just golden brown on top, let rest 5 minutes

then gobble them up

Comfort food rocks!

Roasted brussel sprouts

Brussel sprouts - a mostly misunderstood vegetable. We love them just as long as they aren't cooked whole. If you cook them whole it takes forever to cook and the whole thing is mushy. The only time you can cook them whole is if they are slightly bigger than peas. This is one of our favorite ways to cook them, roasted, in shreds, lightly seasoned.

The recipe originally said to grate the brussel sprouts, which I did the first time I made it. Never again, tedious, instead I just cut them in half and then cut the halves into thirds which almost achieves the same result. Before serving this you can sprinkle some daiya or parmesan on the sprouts to give them a little unctuousness.

brussel sprouts, oil, garlic, salt, pepper

cut off bottom and remove any dirty/holey leaves

peel and smash your garlic

halve the sprouts and then third the halves

toss with oil, garlic, salt, and pepper in a roasting pan

cook in a medium oven for 30 minutes stirring twice, then up the heat

you want them to caramelize on the outside, salt to taste and add a squirt of lemon if needed

serve with other yumminess

Viva la cruciferous ones!