Artichoke Butter in Phyllo Cups

Sometimes I'm a bit slow on the uptake. For example, only recently have I discovered the convenience and crunchy deliciousness of frozen mini phyllo cups. Where have these been all my life? They are amazing!  Crisp them up a bit in the oven and fill them with any and every luscious filling you can think of, bake, and serve to appreciative and amazed guests. Fill them with lemon curd or pipe them full to bursting with chocolate mousse and you have one heck of a delicious hand-held dessert. This product goes on my list of favorites.

For a snack prior to my annual St. Patrick's Day dinner I decided to fill them with Artichoke Butter. I made the filling the day prior and stored it in a sealed container in the fridge. About fifteen minutes before I intended to serve them I dolloped a healthy teaspoon (to a teaspoon and a half) of the mixture into the cups and baked at 350°F for 10-12 minutes. Yummy!   

Artichoke Butter

1 6.34-ounce package Melissa's Steamed Artichoke hearts, finely chopped*
3/4 cup sour cream
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Mix all ingredients together until thoroughly blended. Fill thawed and oven crisped phyllo cups, and bake for 10-12 minutes.

*If using canned or frozen artichoke hearts, drain, chop finely, and measure out one cup.

This post is linked to:

Creative Ways

Create It Thursday

Full Plate Thursday

Foodie Friday

Friday Finds

Parmesan Artichoke Quiche

Last Saturday night I got it into my head that I was going to serve an impromptu brunch on Labor Day. If you ever get it into your head to do the same, here's a word of advice: don't!  A brunch is a lot of work and takes more time, I am convinced, than it does to prepare a dinner, particularly in my case where there was both little time and little planning.  But, I'm a softie, and as a number of people had no place to go and were so appreciative of the invitation, ultimately, I was glad that I did it. It was, however, no easy task. One person eats nothing raw, another is a vegetarian, still another eats only things of tepid temperature, but two others, bless them, will eat anything.

My menu was as follows:

Freshly Squeezed Orange Juice
Chilled Cucumber and Avocado Soup
Caesar Salad
Bacon
Creamed Chipped Beef on English Muffins
Parmesan Artichoke Quiche
Green Beans Amandine
Fruit Salad
Pecan Chocolate Espresso Coffee Cake

Coffee, Tea

Everybody loved it. The recipe for the quiche was a new one and is the creation of Magpie Café in Saint Charles, MO. I've talked about them before -- their potato soup is legendary -- so it stood to reason that the quiche would be tasty as well. 

Parmesan Artichoke Quiche
Magpie Café, Saint Charles, MO

Pastry for 9-inch deep-dish pie

1 1/4 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large clove garlic, finely minced
1 cup coarsely chopped canned (not marinated) artichoke hearts, drained
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3 eggs
2 cups half-and-half
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper or to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9-inch deep-dish pie plate with pastry; flute edges. Sprinkle Monterey Jack cheese in an even layer over bottom of pie shell.

Melt butter with oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add garlic; cook, stirring for 30 seconds. Add artichokes; sauté until all liquid from artichokes has evaporated, about 5 minutes.

Scatter sautéed artichokes over Monterey Jack cheese in pie shell; sprinkle evenly with Parmesan.

In a medium bowl, beat eggs with half-and-half; stir in salt and pepper. Slowly pour egg mixture into pie shell. Bake on bottom shelf of oven until top puffs and turns golden brown, about 50 to 60 minutes. Let cool 30 minutes before slicing.

This post is linked to:

Full Plate Thursday

Be Inspired Friday

Foodie Friday

Artichoke Spaghetti Sauce

Three ninety-degree days in a row has me looking for something quick, easy, that will not heat up the kitchen or weigh us down, yet satisfy that craving for pasta.  Tonight my answer was on the table in less than forty minutes in this unique and delicious dish; sour dough rolls and a dry white wine, made it extra special and one I’m apt to repeat during what looks to be a long, hot summer ahead.

Artichoke Spaghetti Sauce

2-3 tablespoons butter

1 large onion, diced

4 ounces cooked ham, diced

1 14-ounce can (not marinated) artichoke hearts, drained and cut into eighths

1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes

1 pint whipping cream*

Ground dried basil, to taste

1/8-1/4 teaspoon garlic salt

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Melt butter over medium heat in a large skillet. Sauté onion and ham until onions are transparent. Add basil, tomatoes, salt, pepper, and cream. Simmer over medium-low heat for 30 minutes. Add nutmeg, and simmer an additional five minutes. Serve over spaghetti and top with Parmesan. For a zestier taste, add a touch of pepper sauce.

*I used half cream and half milk.

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Foodie Friday

Foodie Friday at Simple Living

Sunday's Best Party

Seasonal Sunday

On The Menu Monday

Asparagus, Mushroom and Artichoke Quiche

Tonight’s dinner was the delicious result of trying to get rid of the seemingly massive amounts of fresh vegetables clogging our fridge.  You see, my husband loves to shop.  When he does, he buys lots of fruit, lots of vegetables, lots of yogurt, and jams it all into the fridge.  He never has anything particular in mind for these purchases, mind you, he just figures that I’ll “come up with something” to justify his many bargains.  Not a lover of fruit – I’ll take a green bean over an apple any day -- I do tend to use up all of the vegetables.  Here is the result of my latest endeavor.

Asparagus, Mushroom and Artichoke Quiche

1 tablespoon butter

6 ounces button mushrooms, sliced

Coarse salt and ground pepper

1 bunch (1 pound) asparagus, tough ends removed, thinly sliced on the diagonal (save some whole spears to decorate the top, if desired)

½ can artichoke hearts, thoroughly drained and quartered

2 cups shredded Gruyere cheese (8 ounces), divided

4 large eggs

1 1/4 cups half-and-half

¼ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg

1 deep dish pie shell

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In a large skillet, melt butter over medium heat and sauté mushrooms until tender.  Remove from heat and allow to cool. 

Place pie crust on a rimmed baking sheet.  Once the mushrooms have cooled, place them in the bottom of the deep-dish pie crust, and top with a third of the shredded cheese.  Place artichokes on top of the cheese and press down lightly.  In the same skillet that you used for the mushrooms, sauté asparagus until tender crisp, about 6-8 minutes; season with salt and pepper.  Allow to cool. Layer cooled asparagus on top of the mushroom-cheese-artichoke-cheese mixture and top with last of the cheese.

In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, half-and-half, ¼ teaspoon salt (more or less to taste), gratings of freshly ground pepper to taste, and nutmeg.  Carefully pour egg mixture over the top of the vegetables and cheese.

Bake until center of quiche is set and golden, 50 to 60 minutes, rotating sheet halfway through. Let stand 15 minutes before serving.

This post is linked to:

What's Cooking Wednesday

Foodie Friday

Salmon Wellington

It’s always a great day in St. Louis, when that doyen of cooking, Helen Fletcher, guests on the local CBS affiliate’s Great Day St. Louis morning program, one that has become a daily addiction.  Her book The New Pastry Cook will make your mouth water with every turn of the page.

When I saw Helen make Salmon Wellington one morning, I knew this was a recipe custom-made for my husband, my live-in salmon chef (he is currently writing a book of salmon recipes of his own creation).  According to Helen, “The recipe for the Salmon Wellington is based on one that Marlene Sorosky, a food writer I have long admired, developed long ago.”  Like Helen, we too admire Sorosky and, also like Helen, we decided to change up her version a bit by using a leek and mushroom filling.  Not that we don’t love artichokes, quite the contrary, but I am passionate about leeks, even going so far as to grow them in the garden every year.  

Below is Helen’s recipe from her wonderful website called The Ardent Cook.  Follow the link to see her very informative step-by-step pictorial on how to put this dish together.  At the bottom of this page is the recipe for the leek filling that we used.

SALMON WELLINGTON

Mushroom Artichoke Filling

3 tablespoons butter or margarine
8 ounce can artichoke quarters, coarsely chopped
1/2 small onion, diced
1/2 pound mushrooms
2 tablespoons Maderia
Salt and Pepper to taste

Remove the stems from the mushrooms by cutting or de-stemming.  Slice the mushrooms.  Then coarsely chop.  Set aside.

Melt the butter in the saucepan.  Sauté the onions and artichokes until slightly browned.  Add the mushrooms and Madeira and cook, stirring, until most of the liquid is evaporated.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Remove to a bowl and chill.  Can be made the day before assembly if desired.

Assembly

Line a perfectly flat plate with film with letting it extend on both sides.  Place the salmon on the film. Salt and pepper the fillets.  Divide the filling between the fillets.  Place one portion of filling on top of one fillet, pressing somewhat to compact it and make it fit the entire top of the fillet.  Wrap the film around the salmon and freeze at least overnight.

The puff pastry comes in sheets that are rolled.  Roll the pastry out 18 inches long cut it into two 9” x 9” sheets.

Place one fillet, filling side down, on one piece of the pastry.  If the puff pastry is too big, trim it so not more than 1 inch overlaps when both sides are folded.  Fold one end over the salmon.  Brush excess flour off pastry.  Egg wash the edge of the opposite side. Fold it over to overlap the other.  Brush excess flour off.  Make two cuts in the shape of a triangle on the top piece of puff pastry and remove it so it won’t be so bulky (see the photo).  Egg wash it so it will stick to the other piece. Fold it over.

Repeat with other side and fold over to enclose salmon.  Turn the package over and with a very sharp knife, lightly score the top in a cross hatch design.  Do not go through the pastry.

Glaze the top of the pastry with egg wash.  After glazing all, go back and glaze again.  Freeze overnight.

Baking

DO NOT THAW. It is important these be frozen hard so the salmon doesn’t overcook before the pastry gets done.    Place on a baking sheet in a preheated 375 degree oven for 40 to 45 minutes.  Let rest 5 to 10 minutes before serving.  Serve hot.

To make leek filling:

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter

4 large leeks (white and pale green parts only), thinly sliced

8-ounce package of mushrooms, cleaned and thinly sliced

Pinch of Old Bay Seasoning

Salt and pepper, to taste

1 cup whipping cream

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in heavy large skillet over medium-low heat. Add leeks; sauté until tender, about 7 minutes. Set aside.  Melt 2 tablespoons butter in same skillet and sauté mushrooms until golden.  Add leeks to mushroom mixture, slowly pour in cream and simmer until slightly thickened, about 3 minutes. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and Old Bay. (Creamed leeks can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill.)

 This post is linked to:

Totally Tasty Tuesdays

What's Cooking Wednesday

Foodie Friday

Sunday's Best Party

Wild Wednesday