How To Tame An Artichoke

Artichokes are formidable opponents. They are dangerous. You may need a first aid kit handy when you wrestle with choke. But a perfectly cooked artichoke is certainly worth it. And let's face it, the battle is half the fun. You will need: a chef's knife, a serrated knife, pairing knife, kitchen shears, a steamer, a melon-baller, a lemon, patience, and a sense of adventure.

Step One: Trim off the stem

Step Two: And for all subsequent cutting steps...immediately cover the fresh cut with lemon juice.

Step Three: Pluck off the smallish leaves near the stem.

Step Four: Peel the stem with a paring knife.

Step Five: Slice off the upper third of the artichoke. If you don't have a very, very, sharp chef's knife, use a sturdy serrated knife.

Step Six: Using kitchen shears, trim off the tips of all remaining outer leaves.

Step Seven: Rub lemon juice over all cut surfaces.

Now take a moment to appreciate the simple beauty.

Step Eight: Pry the artichoke open in the middle. Be very careful here. Lots of super sharp inner petals that will really hurt you.

Step Nine: Very carefully grab a few "petals" toward the base and pull firmly using a pinching motion to pluck out the whitish, purplish, super sharp petals.

Keep going...

Until you have removed all of the whitish-purplish, super sharp petals and you hit the fuzzy choke on the bottom.

Step Ten: Using a melon baller, (a spoon will NOT cut it...literally) scrape out the choke. You have to cut under the choke where it will come out in chunks. Underneath the choke is much harder stem, you'll know when you hit it.

This is what the chunks of choke look like.

Keep going...

Until the the choke is all gone. Squeeze lots of lemon juice into the cavity.

Step Eleven: Put the choke into a steamer insert, I like to toss the used lemon halves into the boiling water, and steam artichoke until a paring knife slides easily into the thicker part of the stem.

Step twelve: Serve with some yummy dip like an aioli or pesto. Just pluck off a leaf and dip. Bite down as you pull the leaf out of your mouth to scrape off the artichoke meat that hangs on to each leaf. Artichokes are wonderful for social eating. When you get to the middle, you can cut up the artichoke heart and dip those in too.

Or you can get extra fancy with the artichoke hearts.

Fi's First Communion Cake

When I asked what she wanted the cake to look like, Fi's mom handed me a graceful pink invitation with a Celtic Cross. The fondant knots made me crazy dizzy.

Strawberry Shortcake

A trifecta of perfection.



The shortcake is made with a barely blended dough. The chunks of butter are what gives it the flakiness. As my chef-instructors used to say, "an ugly dough is the best dough." In fact, the dough should be near impossible to work with. Thats how you know it will be perfect. Muffins, short cake, scones, quick breads and biscuits all fall into this category. Under mix!

The strawberries are gently macerated with sugar. The best strawberries need no further embellishment.

Then there is just enough creme fraiche (mixed with vanilla and demarara sugar) to drizzle around it all. Sure, whipped cream would make it more photogenic. But trust me, the tang and ooze here tastes much better.

Craftzine.com blog : How-To: Mail Needle Book

Craftzine.com blog : How-To: Mail Needle Book

Go ahead and breathe in deeply...

...allergies be damned. I love the perfume of spring!

Lemon Meringue Pie

On the first glorious day of spring everyone I knew headed outdoors, but I just wanted to be in my kitchen with all the windows open. The answer was Lemon Meringue Pie. These were made with wonderfully fragrant Lisbon Lemons that grow on thorny trees--be careful! They have about ten segments, and few and small pits. They were just beautiful. This is a great pie when kids want to help out. Kids all seem to love to juice lemons. Don't forget to brush the pie crust with some beaten egg when there are about five minutes left during blind baking. This helps seal out any moisture from the filling and will keep the bottom crust crisp.

Pie Fest '09

Oh how I love Fall produce!!! I was lucky enough to take my family to a beautiful pick-your-own farm last weekend. Ostensibly for apples, but I'm in it for it all: Concord Grapes, Squash, Rhubarb! When I returned home and took stock of my trunk, I realized that my enthusiasm far outweighs my free time! I've found ways to squeeze out a batch of pastry crust in 15 minutes here and there, and prepared a batch of grapes, while the kids were sleeping. I've been trawling for a good old fashioned apple peeler to deal with this fine peck. The first pie off the line is rhubarb. It is such a simple and beautiful pie fruit.
Rhubarb is pretty enough to display on its own.