Stuffed Artichokes

It pains me to say, but I haven't really cooked much at all in the past couple of weeks.  I've had to force my attention on something else...namely sandwiches.  We'll get into that in another post. 

Summer is always a busy time.  For me it feels like a time bomb, the bomb being cold weather, is just tick, tick, ticking away and if you don't spend every available second outside to enjoy the warm weather, its going to pass you by.  That leads to unexpected drinks on patio invitations and golf nights which mean that you have to grab something fast, or by yourself. 

I found myself alone for dinner one night since Joe was going to be gone on a golf outing.  I decided it would be the perfect time to make something that I love and he doesn't.  Namely artichokes.  Oh how I love them.  Especially how my grandma made them.  She had the Sicilian word for them that I can't even begin how to spell, nor can I find it anywhere online.  Phonetically it is pronounced "Gil-o-chi-os" but I have a feeling that is not how the Italians spell it. Glioccios?  I can't figure it out. 

Anyway, names aside, this is an uncomplicated dish.  Well, let me take that back.  Its simple to cook, the work comes in the eating of the artichoke.  Some might find it daunting, I find it to be like a big present that I get to take my time unwrapping until I get to the delicious present inside.   

Buy a nice looking artichoke at the grocery store.  One that is medium/large in size and has nice, bright green leaves with no black spots.  To prepare, take a sharp knife and cut off the top and bottom of the artichoke.  Just enough off the bottom to let it stand up on its own; the top you'll want to take off maybe an inch.  Then, take some kitchen scissors and snip off the sharp little point on each leaf.  Wash and drain the artichoke and squeeze the artichoke on its sides to make the leaves open up.  This is where you'll be stuffing all the goodness.

Mix equal amounts of grated Parmesan cheese and Italian breadcrumbs.  Stuff the crumb mixture in between the leaves.  Be generous.  This is what makes the artichoke taste so good.  I really stuff those babies full.

Using a deep pan with a cover, saute diced onions in olive oil.  Add the stuffed artichokes and add water to pan about 1 inch up the artichoke.  Cover and simmer for a good two hours on low. 

So that was pretty easy right?  The most difficult part is eating it.  It's pretty simple at first, you just pull away one of the leaves.  You don't want to eat the whole leaf, just the very bottom.  Make sure you get all that good breadcrumb/cheese mixture with the bottom of the leaf.  So you keep repeating this with every leaf you pull off.  Once you get to the flimsy, transparent leaves in the center, you want to stop and start picking those off.  Underneath those is the unpleasant part.  Hair.  It kind of reminds you of a sunflower with all those little hairs sticking up.  I feel like this is the artichoke's defense mechanism against hungry humans ready to devour it.  Sorry, I am ruthless when I'm hungry so you lose artichoke.  Once you pull off the hairs, you are left with the artichoke heart; like the prize in the cracker jack box, that delicious tootsie center of a tootsie pop.  So it seems, sometimes the good things take a little work to get to.