Grilled Artichokes

In case you can't tell, most of my cooking inspiration comes from my dad. Last night, for my mom's birthday, we had perfectly cooked and seasoned fillet, perfect baked potatoes, a salad with my dad's healthy salad dressing and grilled artichokes. Artichokes are by far, my favorite veggie. My mom ate an artichoke almost every day when she was pregnant with me. I truly believe that is the reason for my deep love of artichokes. If you have never cooked an artichoke you are missing out. I think they intimidate people. But please embrace the artichoke. It is artichoke season right now. The globe giant artichokes are best. The following recipe is the best way to prepare them.

4 globe artichokes

1/2 stick butter

3 TB vinegar (any kind, I like cider or red wine vinegar)

4 cloves of garlic - just dump them in whole

olive oil

kosher or sea salt

aioli for dipping (recipe follows)

Slice the top of each artichoke off. Slice stem so artichoke can sit up by itself with the petals sitting up. Take scissors and cut off the top 1/4 of each petal. This is the thorny part. Give artichoke a good rinse under water. Get a big stock pot of water boiling on the stove. Add butter, vinegar and garlic cloves to the water. Add the artichokes and cover. Turn heat down to about medium low. You want it to still be a rolling boil but not boil over. Boil artichokes for about 35 minutes. Get a pair of tongs and carefully remove them from the water. Slice them in half with a large serrated bread knife. Scoop out the purple leaves that are prickly in the middle with a spoon. Rub each half of artichoke with olive oil and sprinkle kosher or sea salt. Grill over direct flame for about 5 minutes on each side. They should have some grill marks but not be black. Serve with aioli, mayonnaise or melted butter with lemon on the side. To eat: pluck each petal off and dip in whatever sauce you choose and scrape teeth from top of petal to the bottom. Discard petal in a bowl. Eat entire bottom or heart. It's the best part.

aioli

2 or 3 fresh garlic cloves, peeled and chopped. (If they've started to sprout, don't use them for aioli.) Large pinch coarse sea or kosher salt

1 egg yolk, at room temperature

1/2 lemon, juiced 2/3 cup pure olive oil (not extra virgin)

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil Freshly ground black pepper
Place garlic and salt in a food processor fitted with a metal blade, or in a blender. Pulse for 2 seconds. Add the egg yolk and lemon juice, and pulse on and off until blended. Turn on and begin adding the olive oil (pure first, then extra-virgin) in a thin stream. If it becomes too thick, thin it out with some room-temperature water and continue adding oil until you've used it all. Finish with pepper and (if necessary) a bit more salt. The reason for using 2/3 pure olive oil is to keep the flavor of the oil from becoming overpowering. This is a perfect example of how by using a fully-flavored extra virgin oil you can use much less, thereby saving money and getting better flavor.

FAKE IT - Club Med Salad From Raley's

This recipe will only help those of you in California although the principle can be applied to anyone with a fresh deli case at their grocery store. Raley's/Bel Air has this great pasta salad in their fresh deli case called Club Med Pasta Salad. It is in essence, shell pasta, feta, kalamata olives, sundried tomatoes and the BEST creamy pesto cold dressing. I don't like serving premade stuff to company - or my family for that matter. But with the littlest bit of help, this salad goes from ordinary to truly one of the greats. The following recipe serves 4 people as a side dish.

1 lb club med salad from Raley's/Bel Air
1 Diced Tomato
1 Can Regular Black olives (small) NOT KALAMATA
A few fresh basil leaves cut into ribbons (technical term is to chiffonade the basil but cut into ribbons is so much more me even though I love saying "chiffonade" pronounced "shif-oh-nod" in a snooty French accent)
A bit of ground pepper and a tiny bit of sea salt

Stir everything but basil to combine and present in a pretty white bowl with the ribbons of basil on the top.

Ode To My Dad & His Lamb Chops

Yesterday for Easter dinner we had something that I didn't like. My dad was making both lamb chops and a pork loin roast on the grill. I knew in advance that I was having none of the lamb because I hate lamb. It's just "lamby" tasting and I just hate it. My dad presented the New Zealand petite chops on a beautiful platter garnished with fresh rosemary. The problem was - they looked really good. "Mike, do you like lamb?", I asked. "I'm not really sure, I haven't really ever had lamb." he said. "well, I don't like it, but you take a chop and give me a tiny piece just so I can taste it because I haven't tasted lamb in a long long time.", was my reply. So he cut me a little piece and a topped it with some mint sauce (not mint jelly). I prepared to make a yucky face and confirm to myself what I already knew...I am not a lamb person. But then something funny happened. Both Mike and I fell in LOVE with these lamb chops. You don't understand...they were sooooo good. Not lamby at all. Just plain melt in your mouth great. So, I appeal to all of you who say you hate lamb or who haven't tried it. Go right this instant to Costco. Buy the New Zealand lamb chops in the fresh meat case. Fire up the grill and make the following recipe today. Serve it with the Greek rice (recipe follows this) and a salad and you will discover that we are ALL lamb people. All I can say is Baaaaaaaa!!!

Lamb Chops

Drizzle each chop with good quality Extra Virgin Olive Oil on each side.

Rub fresh thyme leaves, fresh chopped rosemary leaves on each chop.

Throw into a ziploc bag that contains a little bit of Balsamic Vinegar, more olive oil and more of the thyme and rosemary.

Toss the chops in the bag and marinate overnight.

Fire up the gas BBQ grill.

Sprinkle some kosher salt and black pepper on each chop.

Grill over medium high heat until they are medium to medium rare. DON'T OVERCOOK

Let them rest about 10 mins after they come off the grill.

ENJOY

Greek Rice

We are having Greek rice tomorrow for Easter. Dad is BBQing lamb chops and pork loin in his most excellent way. Mom will make a jello, veggies, slice fresh pughleise bread and will make Greek Rice. We have been having this rice FOREVER since I was a little girl and Grammie Bea made it. We aren't Greek. We hail from Hawaii and normally are soy sauce rice people. We eat rice a lot and we always use soy sauce. always. We don't do pilaf, cheese & rice, cream of whatever soups and rice, rice pudding etc. BUT, we for some reason do this Greek rice on holidays. It was unappreciated when I was a kid. I just saw more freakin rice. But now that I am a growed up, I truly appreciate the delicate flavors and yumminess that this rice holds. It is great with fish, pork roast or lamb. Also if you grill an herb crusted chicken breast, it's great too.


Steamed White Rice (Let's say 5 cups cooked rice)
5 TB butter
1 TB fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp lemon zest (just the bright yellow part)
OPTIONAL: when you steam rice add 2 cans sliced mushrooms or 2 cups sauteed and sliced fresh mushrooms OR toasted pine nuts and raisins.
Lots of salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste

Salmon - In Honor of My Trip to Portland

(sorry for no picture this time) This is a great way to cook salmon. It ends up salty, sweet and the topping tastes like candy. It's sooooo good.

Salmon fillet or steaks (whatever makes your skirt fly up - enough for 4 people)
1 cup kikkoman soy sauce
1 1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp crushed or minced ginger or 1/2 tsp dried ground ginger (optional)
1 tsp crushed garlic or 1/2 tsp garlic powder (optional)
1/4 cup mayonnaise
Steamed white rice (I like jasmine or sushi rice for this recipe)

In a bowl make a paste with the soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger, garlic and mayo. Lay some foil down on a cookie sheet or preheat and grease your gas grill. Spread a HEAVY layer of sauce top of each piece of fish. Either bake or grill until it is done but do not flip in the fish in the cooking process. This is really good on the grill on a plank of cedar or with cedar chips to give it some smoked flavor. But it's great in the oven too! Serve with steamed rice.

Chicken & Broccoli Casserole

I grew up as an only child. So casseroles were NOT part of my life. Egg noodles, cream of mushroom soup, hamburger, peas, tuna fish etc...were just not included in mom and dad's dinner rotations. We had to feed 3 people. That meant a dinner salad, a piece of meat, rice or potato and a steamed veggie of some sort. Occasionally my dad would break out an Asian stir fry or a great pasta dish. But 9x13 pans did not grace our table. So...when I went away to college to BYU, I began a secret love affair. With casseroles. My roommates were part of big Mormon families with 4 to 6 kids and were basically casserole experts. I picked their brains, sampled their dishes and occasionally called their moms for advice on how to perfect my casseroles. I was in leftover heaven surrounded by tuna surprise and chili mac. Then, I married Mike. He was from a big Mormon family too. In fact, he was the oldest of six. And upon getting married and sitting down to dinner in which I proudly served my famous tamale pie, he politely said, "Honey, this is just great... really really really great. It's just um... I grew up on casseroles my whole life and I got so tired of casseroles. You can make ANYTHING for dinner, really ANYTHING. I'll cook too. I just don't want to eat casseroles." Thus, ended my casserole affair. Except for the occasional pan of brownies or lasagna, my 9x13 pans have sat unused and dusty.

So I dedicate this post to what might have been. For one brief shining moment, cubed chicken, cream of chicken soup, cheese and I ...man we were something.

4 Chicken Breasts - cooked and diced into small pieces
1 pkg frozen broccoli florets - cooked according to package directions and drained
2 cans cream of chicken soup
8 oz container of sour cream
6 cups cooked white rice
3 cups grated mild cheddar cheese
salt and pepper to taste

In a big bowl, mix everything except 1 cup of cheese. Spread into a 9x13 pan. Top with cheese. Cover and bake at 325 until bubbly and hot. Uncover and bake 10 mins more. Let sit for 15 mins before serving.

Overnight or Super Easy Lasagna

I was feeling guilty about the bread recipe I just shared. So I'm going to give you a great lasagna recipe that is actually from Weight Watchers but you can't tell at all. The best part of this recipe (well there are a couple of good parts) is that you don't have to boil the noodles, it's super cheesy without being greasy, it's very easy and can be made up to 48 hours before you bake it or just before you bake it. So you can plan ahead or not. Flexible lasagna, that should be it's title. No, flexible, non greasy, super cheesy, yummy lasagna that will make you feel less guilty about eating that bread. Add a salad with my dad's healthy salad dressing and you can eat 1/2 the loaf.

1 pkg jimmy dead reduced fat breakfast sausage (in the tube)

1 jar prego tomato, onion and garlic spaghetti sauce

1 15 oz container of lite ricotta cheese

1 lb skim or part skim mozzarella cheese

1 egg

1 TB dried oregano

2 TB Parmesan cheese

1 can sliced mushrooms, drained

1 can sliced olives, drained

1 can diced tomatoes not drained

10 lasagna noodles (not baked) the ruffled edges kind

1 cup water

Cook and crumble sausage. Take paper towel and wipe up some grease in bottom of pan although there really isn't much. Add mushrooms, olives, spaghetti sauce, diced tomatoes and water. Cook until it barely comes to a simmer then take off the heat. Beat egg, ricotta and oregano in a separate bowl. Grab your 9x13 pan. Layer a little bit of meat sauce in bottom of pan just so noodles won't stick. Add layer of noodles. Spread 1/2 ricotta mixture on top of noodles. (a rubber spatula works good for this part) Sprinkle half the mozzarella cheese on top. Spoon about 1/3 of meat sauce on top of mozzarella. Repeat process with noodles, ricotta, mozzarella and then the rest of the meat sauce. Top with 2 TB of Parmesan. Cover with foil and pop in the fridge until you are ready to bake it. Or proceed to baking directions now.

Baking: Bake UNCOVERED at 350 for 55 minutes. Take out of oven and cover tightly with foil for 15 minutes. Let sit another 5 to 10 minutes uncovered. A weight watcher portion is 1/10th of the pan. In reality it feeds about 8 people max if you have salad and bread and 6 if you don't. We always add 2 cans olives and 2 cans of mushrooms just because I HAVE to change recipes (it's a thing I have) and we really like mushrooms and olives around here.