Overcast Artichokes

Hello World! I’m sad to say I woke up this morning to overcast skies and a general feeling of lethargy that comes with rainy days. I can only hope that the vegetables I planted yesterday (post to come!) are holding up under all this water. I’m a college student, so I’m fully enjoying my precious lazy-days of summer and the inclement weather is quite a buzz kill. Gone are my dreams of soaking up rays of sunshine and Vitamin D. Instead, I’m facing the reality of lots of quality time with the sofa *insert sloth mode here* ;). Oh well! I dooo miss my couch a lot while I’m at school. And as the saying goes, when life gives you lemons make lemonade.

Hmmm, now that I think of it this day could be perfect… if only it were accompanied by some roasted artichokes and my signature tangy, creamy dipping sauce. YUM. Are you drooling yet?! Well get ready to feast your eyes on some major food porn and an outstanding recipe. Follow my directions and you will transform those tough artichoke leaves into tender slivers of heaven. The perfect vehicle for my light and creamy garlic herb dip!

My favorite part about this dish is that artichokes are super healthy and chockfull of fiber, folic acid and loads of vitamins and minerals. In fact, ancient Greeks and Romans considered artichoke to be an aphrodisiac and pregnant women were encouraged to feast on this meaty veg to ensure the birth of a son! Sexism aside, if it’s good enough for the Ancients it’s certainly good enough for me. The BEST news (you didn’t think it could get any better did you?!) is that artichokes are in season right NOW! As in go out immediately and get yourself some ‘chokes! I promise it’s worth the trek off the couch and into the rain. In addition, I highly recommend you make the dipping sauce – it’s light (using greek yogurt and reduced fat mayo) and is just tangy enough to bring out the citrusy flavor of the artichoke. Enjoy!

-Tita

ROASTED ARTICHOKES AND TANGY DIPPING SAUCE 

Ingredients:

• 2 Artichokes
• 6 cloves of garlic (it seems like a lot, but trust me it’s just right!)
• several sprigs of fresh thyme
• ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil and additional olive oil for drizzling
• ½ cup 0% plain greek yogurt
• ¼ cup reduced fat mayonnaise
• 1 tsp. ranch seasoning
• ¼ cup chopped red onion
• 2 tbsp. Dijon mustard (I particularly like Grey Poupon, but use whatever brand is your favorite!)
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1 tbsp. fresh thyme coarsely chopped
• Salt and Pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F
2. Rinse artichokes under cool water to get off any dirt. Cut off woody stem – make sure to cut enough to make a flat bottom, allowing artichokes to stand straight. Trim off all the spiky points of leaves (careful, they’re sharp!).
3. If some outer leaves seem super tough, remove them. Continue snipping off sharp tips until you reach the center. Some sharp tips will be in here so make sure to really dig your scissors in!
4. Cut two cloves of garlic into long, thin slices. Place slices in between layers of leaves. 1 clove of slices per artichoke. (See above image for visual).
5. Stuff two garlic cloves into the center of each artichoke. Push them down right on top of the heart.
6. 6.     Place each artichoke into foil – don’t seal yet! Note: I like to double wrap mine with one smaller piece of foil wrapped tightly around artichoke and another larger piece to insulate – but you could probably get away with one layer.
7. Drizzle each artichoke with olive oil (I’d say at least 1 tbsp. per choke) and season well with salt and pepper. Cover with one or two sprigs of thyme. Seal foil tightly around chokes.
8. Place chokes in pan on medium-low rack in oven and roast for 1 hour.
9. Remove from oven and allow to cool until able to handle. Open up foil (careful! hot steam will be coming out) and remove the garlic cloves from centers with small fork.
10. Place garlic cloves, greek yogurt and mayonnaise in blender. Blend to combine. Add ranch seasoning, red onion, mustard and thyme. With blender running, gradually add in lemon juice and olive oil (alternating between the two). It should be nice and creamy – if too thick add a bit more olive oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
11. Transfer dip to dish and serve alongside chokes!

Note: If you’ve never had an artichoke before it’s important to know that you only scrape the meaty part of flesh with your teeth! Dip the leaves into dip and scrape to your heart’s content! Once the leaves are gone you’ll be left with a weird looking center part covered in translucent purple leaves – sounds yummy right! haha – to get to the heart you have to remove the tough fibrous part (called the choke). You should be able to push it off with with your fingers and reveal the soft, luscious meat beneath! Buen Provecho!

An Intro and Vanilla Lemonberry Pie!

I can’t believe it! I’ve really done it. Started my very own blog! It’s not as though creating a blog is some groundbreaking achievement. In fact, a quick google search for “blog” yields 11.2 billion (!!) results. Essentially I’ve done nothing but join the masses and yet I can’t help but be excited – insert yelp here – and look forward to embarking on this journey with you all.

Anyhow, I plan for this blog to be a mash up of all the things I enjoy. From DIY to cooking and baking to the garden I plan to grow this summer, I want to create a catalogue of the things I’m doing, loving and thinking.

For my inaugural post, I’ve created a divine Vanilla Lemonberry Meringue Pie adapted from Bon Appetit with my own Vanilla Lemon Crust. I know the recipe may look daunting (plan at least two days to prepare!) and it is complicated, but I promise the end result is worth it!

-Tita

VANILLA LEMONBERRY MERINGUE PIE 

Ingredients:

Vanilla Lemon Crust

• 1 ¼ cup of flour
• 1 stick of butter (nearly frozen, cut into ½ in cubes)
• a pinch of salt
• small bowl with water and a few ice cubes
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• the zest of 1 small lemon (½ large)

Caramelized Lemon Curd and Mousse

• 1 ½ cups sugar
• 1 ¼ teaspoons of cornstarch
• ¾ cup fresh lemon juice (about 6 lemons)
• 9 large egg yolks
• ¾ cup butter
• ½ cup very cold heavy whipping cream

Vanilla Blueberry Compote

• 1 ¾ cup fresh blueberries
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• the juice of ½ lemon
• the zest of ½ lemon
• pinch of salt
• seeds of 1 vanilla bean
• 2 tsp flour

Meringue

• 5 egg whites
• ¾ cup sugar

Directions:

For the Crust:

1. Add flour and salt to food processor (my mini-prep works perfectly for this or you could use a blender). Pulse to combine.
2. Add butter 1/3 at a time (very important that the butter is nearly frozen!). Pulse until small clumps start to appear.
3. Add 2 tbsps. of ice cold water, lemon zest and ½ tsp vanilla extract.  Pulse to combine, mixture should resemble a coarse meal.
4. If dough forms when pinched together remove. If dough is still too dry, add water 1 tsp at a time. Check after each tsp.
5. Turn out dough onto lightly floured or nonstick surface (such as a silpat) and form into disk. Wrap disk in plastic and go over quickly with rolling pin (makes it easier to roll out later). Chill 30 mins, up to 1 day. This can be done 1 day ahead.

For the Lemon Curd

1. Caramelize the Sugar: Whisk sugar and water in pan over med heat until dissolved. Continue to stir sugar until it reaches a boil. Stop stirring and boil until mixture becomes a light amber. Swirl pot to distribute color.
2. Meanwhile heat the lemon juice and cornstarch over med heat in a separate pot. Stir to combine. Add caramelized sugar to pot and whisk in yolks. Add butter. Whisk mixture constantly until curd thickens and boils. Immediately remove from heat.
3. Transfer Curd to medium container and allow to cool. Press plastic wrap against surface of curd and refrigerate. Prepare at least 1 day ahead. Up to 3 days ahead

For the Mousse

1. Using stand mixer, beat whipping cream with whipping attachment (beat around level 6 or 8 on kitchen aid) until stiff peaks form. It’s key that the cream is very cold and the peaks are very stiff!
2. Fold ¾ cup lemon curd into cream, ¼ cup at a time. Chill mousse.

For the Blueberry Compote:

1. Combine 1 cup blueberries, sugar, lemon juice, zest, salt, and vanilla in small saucepan.
2. Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves. About 5 mins. Whisk in flour and stir until combined.
3. Remove from heat and add in ¾ cup to 1 cup blueberries. Transfer to small bowl and cool. Cover with plastic wrap just as you did with the lemon curd. Can be prepared 1 day ahead.

The Day of Serving:

1. Roll out dough until large enough to fit 9in pie pan. Crimp edges and freeze for at least 1 hour.
2. Preheat Oven to 375.
3. Fill pie pan with parchment and pie weights or beans and bake for 20 minutes. Be sure to really fill up pie to prevent sides from “shrinking” – all butter crusts tend to do this.
4. Bake for 15 mins or until sides are set. Remove weights and parchment. Brush edges with egg white wash and pierce any bubbles with fork. Bake for 20 minutes – until golden and cooked through. Cool
5. Once crust has cooled, spread the remaining curd along bottom of crust. Spoon ½ blueberry compote over curd. Spread lemon mousse over blueberry – use knife and be careful to avoid mixing. Spoon remaining berries over mousse. Chill.

Meringue

1. Bring water to simmer on stove. Whisk egg whites and sugar in a large metal bowl. Place bowl atop simmering water. Whisk until sugar dissolves – about 1 minute.
2. Transfer egg mixture to stand mixer. Using whipping attachment bead until thick and fluffy peaks form.
3. Spoon meringue into gallon Ziploc bag. Cut off tip and arrange decoratively over pie. I then used knife fancy up the top.
4. To singe the meringue you can either use a blow torch or broiler. If using the broiler I would recommend freezing the pie (I didn’t! :0) instead of chilling before placing meringue. Otherwise, you run the risk of melting the mousse and it gets a bit messy to serve (as seen below, oops!).
5. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve. Get ready for lots of oohs and ahhs!