Category: Recipes

Artichoke Hearts

Detailed instructions

Marta Giralt Pujol has given us some of her recipes for artichoke hearts – the tender bits at the centre of globe artichokes.

Harvest the artichokes before they grow too big and before the top leaves start opening. Harvest the artichokes with about 15 cm of stem. Stems are edible and quite tasty; you simply need to peel the outer skin.

Peeling the Artichokes

  • Sharp short knife
  • Water
  • Ice cubes
  • A bunch of parsley or a lemon or water with a bit of flour.
  • Optionally, gloves as artichokes may stain if peeling loads of them

Fill a bowl with ice cubes, then add the bunch of parsley torn in two or squeeze the lemon in the water or do both. The lemon may leave more flavour than the parsley so use whichever you prefer. If you cook the artichokes quickly this step its not necessary.

Cut the stem, leaving about 8 cm with the artichoke. Remove any leaves left in the stem. Holding the artichoke with the tip away, use a sharp short knife to cut downwards from under the second level of leaves (counting from the base). Start cutting downwards from under the leaves then turn the knife 90 ° and keep turning the artichoke to cut the rest in the same movement. The exterior thick leaves can also be peeled from the bottom of the globe up. Either way it´s easier than peeling the leaves one by one. Cut the top of the interior leaves with a single horizontal cut. Peel the outer layers of the stem. If you want to remove any hairs (the ‘choke’) cut them out with a spoon or a melon baller. Keep the artichoke hearts in the bowl with water and parsley until they are ready to cook. Or use them quickly.

The pictures show clearly how to do it.

Cut the outer leaves from the bottom of the globe. If you find it hard peel the stem first, but I like to do it last because the stem turns black very quickly.

Keep peeling the darker outer leaves around the globe.

Here, the outer harder leaves have been removed.

Cut the tips off the remaining leaves.

Peel the outer layers of the stem (this stem is brown because this artichoke had been in water for too long while I was finding time for the pictures)

That’s it!

Marta Giralt Pujol

Fried Artichoke Hearts

Fry the artichokes you have just peeled…

  • Peeled artichokes
  • Olive Oil
  • Salt
  • Optional: Serrano ham cubes (if you find them in the UK) or serrano ham strips

Pat the artichokes dry with a kitchen towel and slice them in half or quarters.

Optionally, pre-cook the artichokes using a microwave or boiling for 5 min. This step is not essential, but the artichokes will be more tender inside by the end of the recipe. To cook in a microwave, place the artichokes in a plate slightly oiled, cover with a bowl or the microwave plate cover. Cook in the microwave for about 5 minutes, depending on the size.

Add olive oil to a small pan. Add enough to cover all the surface of the pan with a good thickness of olive oil. Heat the olive oil and add the artichokes turning from time to time. Add the ham (if any) and cook for a bit more until the artichokes have changed colour or browned to your taste. Lift them out and remove any excess oil with a paper towel.

Salt to taste and enjoy!

Marta Giralt Pujol

Marinated artichoke with pomegranate

Cold slices of artichoke

Mix olive oil, lemon juice and salt to taste in a bowl. Slice the raw artichoke hearts thinly and add them to the olive oil and lemon juice. Mix well and ensure the mix covers the artichokes.

Place the artichoke heart slices flat in a plate and add the pomegranate peas, grated Parmesan and grated lemon peel.

Marta Giralt Pujol

Globe Artichoke Soup

Use the left over bits from peeling the artichokes

  • Artichoke peelings and stems
  • Water
  • Olive Oil
  • Salt
  • Optionally, serrano ham in small strips or bread croutons.

Boil the leftovers from peeling the artichokes long enough so that they are tender. Blend with a blender and remove any fibres with a strainer. Add salt to taste. (Fry the serrano ham in a bit of olive oil so that it becomes crispy.)

Serve the soup in a bowl with a swirl of olive oil and the Serrano ham or croutons on top.

Marta Giralt Pujol

Achocha

An ancient Peruvian crop.

Achocha (Cyclanthera pedata), also known as “kaywa” or “stuffing cucumber” has been cultivated in mountainous areas of South and Central America since ancient times. In 2014 I found a large-fruited variety called Bolivian Giant for sale at The Real Seed Catalogue . It is quite easy to grow – very vigorous once it gets going and the seeds are easy to save. I’m still just discovering the possibilities for eating it.

The fruits start to ripen in August/September, when the soft “prickles” form and they feel hollow when you squeeze them. Harvest them before the frost kills them off.

The simplest way to use them is to pick the young fruits before the seeds start to develop and eat them raw as a snack or in a salad. The most popular way of preparing them seems to be to stuff them, like sweet pepper. A visitor from Columbia gave me the trick: take the seeds out and blanch flesh for a couple of minutes in boiling water so it relaxes and is easy to stuff. Once they are blanched the fruits can be frozen for later use.

Any stuffing used for chille rellenos would work. So would one for Greek stuffed peppers.

Joe Foster

Cucumber Soup

A good use for a giant cucumber

A good way to use up that cucumber that hid away behind the leaves and grew into a giant. Sally adapted the original recipe from our ancient “Menus & Recipes for Vegetarian Cooking” from Sunset Magazine.

  • 3 tbs butter
  • A cucumber, peeled, seeded (if necessary) and sliced.
  • 3 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into 2 or 3 cm chunks
  • 2 cups lettuce leaves, coarsely sliced
  • 4 spring onions, including tops, thinly sliced
  • 3 cups vegetable stock
  • 1 tsp dill weed
  • 1.5 cups milk
  • 1 cup natural yogurt
  • Salt + pepper
  • Fresh dill sprigs or parsley

Melt the butter in a large pan and sauté the cucumber and potatoes for 4 or 5 minutes, then add the lettuce, spring onions, dill and stock and simmer until the potatoes are done. Purée the soup, and stir in the milk and yogurt. Heat it to the serving temperature, season, and garnish with dill or parsley.

Joe Foster

Curried Parsnip Soup

A delicious and warming winter soup.

Curried parsnip soup is just what we need for the cold-dark months – nourishing, comforting, and just a little bit spicey. I’ve made it for years, following recipes from several books, mainly Jane Grigson’s classic Vegetable Book, and The Goodness of Potatoes and Root Vegetables by John Midgley. Here is my version.

  • 500 grams parsnip, cleaned and cut into large lumps
  • 1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
  • a clove or two of garlic, chopped fine
  • 1 litre stock
  • 150 ml cream
  • 2 tbs butter, heaped
  • 1 tbs flour
  • 1 or 2 tbs garam masala
  • ground chili to taste

Boil the parsnip until it softens a bit, then drain and let it cool. Now you should be able to lift the skin off easily with a sharp knife. Cut into smaller lumps and combine with the onion, garlic and butter in a heavy bottomed pan. Fry gently, with the lid on for about ten minutes, then add the flour and spices. Fry for another couple of minutes, stirring occasionally, then slowly add the stock and leave it to cook. When the parsnip is really tender, purée it, warm it up again and add the cream. Serve garnished with parsley, chives, or coriander.

Joe Foster

Pumpkin au Gratin

A simple but comforting bake of pumpkin, potatoes and cheese.

This works with many kinds of pumpkin and winter squash, including Butternut and Golden Hubbard – my current favourite. The inspiration came from Jane Grigson’s Vegetable Book We have been making it for many years, adapting it to our own taste.

Serves four.

  • About 1 Kg pumpkin flesh
  • 400g or so of potato, peeled and chopped
  • A good lump of butter, or a mix of butter and olive oil
  • Two eggs
  • About 150g of grated Gruyère plus some Parmesan.

Boil the potatoes and pumpkin flesh* until they are soft and drain them well. Add the butter/oil, the eggs and most of the grated cheese and mash them all together. Tip the mixture into an oven dish, scatter the rest of the cheese over the top with some dots of butter, to help it brown. Bake in a medium hot oven until the top is brown and golden.

*Butternut squash has very thin skin which comes off easily with a peeler, but some pumpkins have quite tough skin. You can cut these into large chunks, take out the seeds and stringy bits and bake the chunks until they are soft. Then the flesh can be scooped out easily and added to the cooked potatoes for mashing.

From Joe Foster

Rahkomenakakku

A versatile Finnish cake with apples or other fruit.

This versatile recipe for an Finnish apple cake was published in 1978 by the Leeds branch of the National Childbirth Trust in a little booklet called Growing Up With Good Food. The booklet was a collection of recipes from Leeds mothers, edited by Catherine Lewis. We still occasionally use our old copy, now dog-eared and food-stained.

Rahkomenakakku has been a long time favourite in our family.

Joe Foster

Fennel Baked with Parmesan Cheese

If you manage to grow good fennel…

I’ve only recently discovered how to grow fennel without it bolting while it is still small. The answer (for me) is to keep the carrot fly away from the plants by covering them with fine mesh netting.

I’ve tried several recipes for fennel, and my current favorite comes from our ancient copy of Jane Grigson’s Vegetable Book. It is very simple, and simply delicious.

  • Some heads of fennel
  • Butter
  • Black pepper
  • Parmesan cheese

Quarter the heads of fennel and boil them in salted water until they are just tender – neither crisp nor mushy. Drain them and lay in a generously buttered oven dish. Grate Parmesan over them along with plenty of black pepper. Bake them at 200deg C until they are bubbling in buttery juice and the Parmesan is golden.

Joe Foster