Seasonal Delights

I am now going to report about Sunday, which was a much more successful day for cooking.

I started by preparing a light lunch for myself. This is a difficult time of year, in terms of produce. Tomatoes are mealy in texture and tasteless. Bell peppers are rotten and ugly, and broccoli is no longer a good choice. This leaves asparagus, new potatoes and artichokes.

While I love artichokes, I really have no desire to extract the tender hearts from their pointy exteriors. One way that I have found to get fresh artichokes without any of the work is by purchasing artichokes from the olive bar at the local grocery store. The ones that I brought home are called roman artichokes. These already have a lot of flavoring.

A recipe that I like to use for artichokes is based on a recipe from Giada DeLaurentiis . However, on Sunday, I made a smaller version using ingredients that were available to me at the time.

This is a really tangy, flavorful dish. There is also a nice hint of spice. Eating with bread or crackers balances the flavors. Still, a little goes a long way.

Artichoke Gratin
(based on a recipe by Giada DeLaurentiis)

* 3 tablespoons butter, plus more for topping the breadcrumbs (optional)
* 1 garlic clove, minced
* 1/4 pound roman artichokes, chopped
* salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste (if using cooking wine, use less salt)
* pinch red pepper flakes
* 1/4 cup chicken broth
* 1/8 cup Marsala wine or sherry
* 1/4 cup plain bread crumbs
* 1/4 cup grated Romano or similar cheese

Directions

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Melt two tablespoons of butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the artichoke hearts, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes and cook until the artichokes are starting to brown at the edges, about 3 minutes. Add the chicken broth and wine and simmer for 3 minutes. Transfer the artichoke mixture to a small baking dish or gratin dish.

Melt one tablespoon of butter in the same skillet used to cook the artichokes. Remove from heat. In a small bowl, mix the melted butter with the bread crumbs. Stir in the Parmesan and top the artichokes with the bread crumbs. Dot the top with pieces of the remaining butter, if desired. Bake until the top is golden, about 5 minutes. Serve with fresh bread or crackers.
Serves two as a side-dish or light meal.


Part II
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My other project for Sunday was a lemon-yogurt cake. I got the idea for such a cake on Friday, while perusing Orangette. I remembered a very similar recipe from Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa at Home. I chose the second version because I don't actually own the right type of cake pans at the moment, though I do have loaf pans.
The result of this recipe is a luscious, bright-tasting dessert. My cake was rather soft in the middle, so I would like to try the making the cake as a sort of hybrid the of the loaf version and the round cake. One detail that I really like about Ina Garten's version is the lemon juice and sugar mixture that you pour onto the cake ten minutes after taking the cake from the oven. It adds an extra layer of sweetness and tart lemon flavor.

Lemon Yogurt Cake
Reproduced, with my own notations, from Barefoot Contessa at Home by Ina Garten. Clarkson/Potter Publishers, 2006.
This recipe is a variation of a recipe by Dorie Greenspan. A berry sorbet or ice cream would complement this delicious, easy-to-prepare cake very nicely.

*1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
* 2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
* 1 cup plain whole milk yogurt
*1 1/3 cups sugar, divided
* 3 large eggs (Ina Garten calls for extra-large, but this is optional)
* zest of two lemons (about two teaspoons)
*1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1/2 cup vegetable oil
*1/3 freshly squeezed lemon juice

For the glaze:
* 1 cup confectioners' sugar
* 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (will turn out to be about 1 1/2 lemons)


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease an 8 1/2 X 4 1/4 X 2 1/2 inch loaf pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper. Grease and flour the pan (I used Pam with flour).
Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt into one small or medium-sized bowl. In another (larger) bowl,whisk together the yogurt, 1 cup of sugar, the eggs, lemon zest, and vanilla. Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. With a rubber spatula, fold the vegetable oil into the batter, making sure it's all incorporated.



Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 50 minutes, or until a cake tester place in the center of the loaf comes out clean.

Meanwhile, cook the 1/3 cup of lemon juice (strain the juice to remove any seeds) and remaining 1/3 cup of sugar in a small pan until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is clear. Remove from heat; set aside.

When the cake is removed from the oven, allow it to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Carefully place on a baking rack over a sheet pan. While the cake is still warm, pour the lemon-sugar mixture over the cake and allow it to soak in. Cool.

For the glaze, combine the confectioner's sugar and lemon juice and pour over the cake.

Makes one loaf.