Recipe: Spaghetti with Fresh Artichokes ala Pink Door (Spaghetti con Carciofi "Porta Rosa")

Sarina and I were so in love with the Spaghetti with Fresh Artichokes we had last week at The Pink Door, I wanted to recreate it at home. I got reasonably close for a first try. This is a pretty simple dish, but requires a bit of prep time for the artichokes, and the technique is a bit different depending on whether you use baby artichokes or larger ones.

To prepare baby artichokes up to around 2 inches wide:

1. Cut off the top 1/3.
2. Pull off dark green outer leaves until you get to ones that are yellowish
3. Trim off the very end of the stem.
4. Use a vegetable peeler to peel the stem and any coarse stuff at the base.
5. Slice in half lengthwise.
6. If there is any hair bit (choke) in the middle, remove it with a spoon (grapefruit spoons work well).
7. Put in acidulated water (bowl of water with a lemon squeezed into it) to keep from browning.

To prepare larger artichokes:

1. Remove all leaves.
2. Trim end of stem.
3. Use a paring knife to remove all of the coarse stuff around the base of the heart.
4. Peel the stem and any last bits of thick skin on the heart.
5. Remove all of hairy choke with a spoon.
7. Put in acidulated water (bowl of water with a lemon squeezed into it) to keep from browning.

There is a good visual tutorial at cheftalk.com, on the second half of the page. But don't waste the stems, and don't quarter them since, we'll be slicing them thin instead.

Once you have your artichokes trimmed, the rest of the dish goes together quickly. Other flavor ideas that I think would work well are chili flakes, orange zest, or fresh mint (which you would add at the very end).

Spaghetti with Fresh Artichokes ala Pink Door (Spaghetti con Carciofi "Porta Rosa")
Serves 3-4
Vegetarian; not vegan or gluten-free

• 16 baby artichokes, 8 medium artichokes, or 4 large artichokes trimmed as described above
• 1 lb. spaghetti
• 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• extra virgin olive oil
• salt
• pepper
• pecorino romano cheese, grated

1. Put large pot of salted water on to boil.
2. Put serving bowls somewhere to warm.
3. Drain the artichokes, pat dry thoroughly, and slice them about 1/8" thick.
4. In your largest frying pan over high heat, add a few tablespoons of olive oil and saute the artichokes, tossing frequently. Add a couple teaspoons of salt. They will probably take about 15 minutes to get tender. I like them with just a hint of crunch left and some browning. When they are close to done, add the garlic.
5. Meanwhile, when the artichokes are beginning to get done, start the pasta boiling.
6. When the pasta is just about al dente, drain well and return to the pot. Over medium-high heat, add all of the artichokes, a handful of the cheese, and more olive oil. Toss for one minute.
7. Taste and adjust seasoning, then divide among the serving bowls and top with more olive oil if you like, and more cheese. Serve immediately.

 

Seattle Chocolate Salon

Just a quick note to say that I'll be on the tasting panel at TasteTV's first annual Seattle Chocolate Salon. It is Sunday, July 13th at the Bell Harbor Convention Center, on the waterfront. I imagine it will be a fun event. There are certainly some great chocolatiers coming to town. I'll be there at least from 2:00 - 4:00 PM (unless our baby comes early), so by all means come by and say hi!

Recipe: Grilled Eggplant And Shiitake Bruschetta

Grilled Eggplant And Shiitake Bruschetta

I cannot tell a lie. This was a totally failed experiment, but a yummy bite of food.

Experiment first: I've been interested for awhile in the idea of using the microwave to glaze a plate with sauce. The way I've tried it, I put maybe a tablespoon of a fairly thin sauce on the plate, then microwave it for 20 seconds at a time, giving it a shake occasionally, until it just barely dries into a thick coating. It makes kind of a mess and you have to wipe the plate carefully where you didn't want the sauce. But my evil plan was that then I could put a piece of hot, moist food down on it, and the diner could swab the reduced sauce with the food, rehydrating the intense flavors.

I still think I can make it work somehow. But it just wasn't working last night; all I was getting was an ugly brown splotchy mess.

All that 'sperimenting made me pretty hungry though, and I'd made a delicious red wine/soy/miso sauce. So I reduced that to a glaze and used my favorite pastry brush to drag it across the plate, which looked nice (see picture above). I grilled some bread, fresh shiitake, and Japanese eggplant (the last with more of the glaze), and had a midnight snack that assuaged the pain a little. This would make a fine first course for dinner on the deck.

Grilled Eggplant And Shiitake Bruschetta
Makes 4 pieces
Vegetarian; vegan if you omit the parmesan; gluten free if you omit the bread

• 1/2 c. red wine (I used a Tempranillo)
• 1/4 c. tamari or shoyu soy sauce
• 2 T. brown miso
• 2 T. mirin or 1 T. sugar
• 4 slices country bread
• 1 Japanese eggplant, quartered lengthwise
• 4 fresh shiitake caps, reserve stems
• flat leaf parsley
• olive oil
• safflower oil (or other neutral high-heat oil)
• sea salt (Maldon!)
• black pepper
• parmesan (optional)

1. In a small saucepan, combine the red wine, tamari, miso, mirin (or sugar) and shiitake stems. Bring to a boil and then simmer until syrupy on a spoon after it cools for a second. Remove the stems.
2. Rub the eggplant and shiitakes with the neutral oil and a bit of salt. On a grill pan or over a charcoal grill, cook until tender. The eggplant will take longer. For the last few minutes of cooking the eggplant, glaze it with a bit of the sauce. Try to only flip each item once so you get nice intact grill marks.
3. When the vegetables are almost done, rub olive oil generously on both sides of the bread, and grill them until lightly brown. Watch closely so as not to char the bread.
4. To serve, use your pastry brush to put a line of the remaining sauce down the center of a long platter. (Or do individual small plates). Cut the eggplant and shiitake into large bit size pieces and arrange a generous amount on each slice of bread. Top each bruschetta with a few leaves of parsley, sea salt, black pepper and slivers of parmesan.