Stuffed artichoke

I opened the fridge and realized I had an extra package of asparagus, and another one of champignons so I decided to make this same recipe but adding champignons lightly fried in butter.

Want to share those beautiful flowers from my garden

I also saw on the market that the artichokes were at a good price. And after thinking a lot about the preparation, I decided to stuff them.
I have to be honest and say that it was the first time I prepared them. I always buy them canned.

It's a bit laborious, but  at the end,  the result is very good. I hope today's suggestion be helpful and you have a very good week.

Ingredients 4 artichokes 1 /2 cup of lemon juice Water For the stuffing 1 large onion, chopped 6 cloves of garlic 1 / 2 red bell pepper A crusty bread processed (in a blender or food processor) 1 cup  parsley and chopped chives Black pepper ,  and salt to taste 4 tbsp  olive oil 4 tbsp of grated parmesan

Directions: Wash artichokes under cold, running water. Pull off lower petals and cut off bottom stems (cut flush with the base). Cut off about 1/2 inch of the pointed top of the artichoke. Trim tips of leaves with scissors to remove thorns.  Dip in lemon juice to preserve color. Over medium-high heat, place a steamer basket over a water-filled pot. Place the whole artichokes into the steamer basket and cover. Once the water comes to a boil, lower the heat to a simmer and allow the artichokes to simmer for approximately 10 to 20 minutes or until an outer leaf can be easily pulled off and the flesh scraped off easily. Remove the artichokes from the steamer and allow to cool enough to handle safely. Spread the outer leaves apart, pull out the petals covering the choke, and use a teaspoon to scrape out the choke. Stuffing In a large frying pan over medium-high heat, fry onions until translucent then add garlic cloves (chopped) and fry until golden brown. Remove from heat and add bread crumbs Put the remaining oil. and if it looks too dry add a little water or broth. Add the bell pepper and chopped parsley and green onion Mix well, put salt and pepper. In a skillet or roasting pan put a little water. Arrange stuffed artichokes and bring to oven for 15 to 20 minutes. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan and serve immediately

Cold days, warm meals

As I said in my previous post, nothing lasts forever and the cold back .The cloudy days are back with light rain falls, some days are bright blue but unbearably cold that makes you want stay at home.

To me these are special days to eat a good homemade meal. These things that will comfort the soul and warm up the heart.

The idea is to bring some color to my food to contrast with the cold days outside.

And what better than red tomatoes, green peas, fresh, crisp spinach leaves and soft potatoes And of course, yellow eggs yolk that recalls a sun.

With this amount of color and texture to the kitchen I was inspired to make a fettuccine with fresh tomatoes, oregano from my garden and peas with a tread of olive oil and chicken cubes.

In spite of the cold intensom the weekend was sunny and very very cold.

Spanish tortilla with spinach, bacon and shallots was our dinner last night, Warm, perfect for a  cold night. But , also good for a picnic, I like cold too, for when the day are warmer.

And finally, to end the holiday there was here an orange flan with caramel sauce.
Have a good week.

Spanish tortilla with spinach and bacon

Ingredients 6 medium potatoes cut into cubes and half-steamed 1 cup steamed spinach 6 eggs 2 shallots, or chopped onion if you can not find 50 g of bacon cut into slices Salt and pepper

Method: In a large skillet brown the bacon, remove and chop Beat eggs with salt and pepper Add the potatoes to the egg mixture, spinach, cut the bacon chopped shallots, chopped well mix well In the same skillet that you browned bacon, heat  and add this mixture, smooth Simmer, covered 15 minutes poe With the help of a plate or other pan of the same size  turn over and cook uncovered for 15 minutes Makes 6 serves

Stuffed vegetables

I do not like winter, cold beyond the obvious, I'm not fond of winter greens and vegetables, at least think dearth of diversity here.

I miss fresh markets and the din and wonderful fresh vegetables and fruits, as the fresh market that we ad closer to my mom's home who had never went away without eating " pastel " a deep fry turnover, mostly made by Japaneses.

 How many times in the output of the scholl,  I went to the fresh market  and ate a lot of fruit, only saying the magic word: "Can I prove it?".

I miss finding fruits like acai, mangosteen, lychee, tamarind, even such common ones such as passion fruit and papaya. Also miss white Italy  grape and bergamot and fresh grated coconut.

  

It was with this nostalgia, the homesickness, that made ​​me think of eating something very homely, simple and full of flavor.

My mother made ​​us a little stuffed vegetables, usually round peppers, I only ate the filling.Today I like everything.

 I went to the fridge and saw that I had leftover zucchini, tomatoes and peppers.

Stuffed with rice, but could have been with meat or something else

The aroma while cooking rice led me to these memories and my mom's kitchen.Although continued longing, the food comforted my heart.

Ingredients Vegetables of your choice I used two peppers, two tomatoes and a zucchini. For stuffing: 1 cup of thasmin rice. 1 medium onion, chopped The pulp of zucchini chopped 3 cups vegetable broth 1 tablespoon dried oregano 1 dried bay leaf A handful of chopped parsley  Thread of olive oil Grated Parmesan Salt and pepper

Method: Wash vegetables and cut in half Discard the seeds of tomatoes and peppers. Place the oil in a medium saucepan and let warm up. Place the onion and zucchini pulp in warm olive oil and wait until it is soft and onions are transparent. Place the rice moving for a minute. pour two cups of hot chicken broth, a tablespoon of oregano and bay leaf. Cover the pan and when it starts to boil lower the fire. Cook until water has almost evaporated. Remove from heat, remove bay leaf and add chopped parsley. Check the salt and pepper sets Fill the vegetables and place on a baking sheet. Carefully pour the remaining cup of broth. Cover with a sheet of aluminum foil. Leave in oven for 25 minutes, remove the aluminum foil and cover the vegetables with the grated Parmesan cheese. Let gratin and serve Makes three servings.