Believe it or not I do not think of myself as one who really sets goals and monitors their outcome, Hmmmm...as I read that I don't know if I can be that honest...It just doesn't sound like the me I think of myself as...you know goal oriented...I guess what I mostly have is thoughts...good thoughts, I do monitor those, like about this blog..i believe and can visualize Bob Proctor reading this blog and then of course making the recipe I have chosen to support it..you see I admire Bob, he is my mentor, like NH was to Bob. I want to work with him like my objective here is to.... Food and spirituality, how do I bridge that. I guess by just as my friend Kwaku said last night ...”don't ever forget about it.”
Today is the first day of a personal, spiritual and physical cleanse. Fruits and vegetables, sans protein. A vitaminly rich 4 oz. Of something good for you 4 x per day...oh and a few nuts tossed in with careless abandon. As I am reading this a few ozs of yogurt would go nicely. I wonder if I will garnish my cupfuls.
And exercise. Ok I know. We all do.
A few timely steps up and down on my heart rate accelerator. Starting off slow always works. I feel determined, I always do the night prior. I smell the artichokes, nearly done. Food is done, people are finished. Artichokes are my favorite food on the planet. Having some as a last summer (meant supper) kind of event...before d-day… didn't think of it that way until now.
Yum
I have been, my whole cooking life, waiting for a state of the art kitchen to call my own, that is relative too you know, state of the art.
The house I bought some 18mos ago was going to be the one....opening that front door, no kitchen in sight just a bare space where logically it would have been, you could see a few wires protruding from the wall. I could see me there, cooking, just cooking, that is all I ever really want to do. Well, seasons and reasons why it did not happen overnight, even though my decorator (sister) her beau (my honeydew too) kept assuring me that it was time and money keeping my vision from being realized. All I wanted to do was cook. So when it was finally 85% finished and I could cook, why was I not Cooking? days later …and still was not cooking...why? But you don't understand, I go into to unrehearsed kitchens all the time and find no problem foraging around turning this and that on till something works...but not in my kitchen. I had to look at it, charm it, zen it, decorate it, stand back and wait for the right moment. Breathe into it. There is something I knew would tell me and move me to the right moment. It was time, I was shopping for produce and came upon the most beautiful, green, luscious, prickly pile of artichokes, two reached up and spoke (poked) to me to take them home. Say no more. They sat overnight in my sea blue glass bowl waiting...of course, to plunge head first into salted water from my boiling All-Clad pot. Artichokes, that was what I was waiting for. They had to be the first thing I would cook in my new kitchen, it all just seemed right. My favorite thing to eat would be my first thing to cook. Simmered artichokes, plain and outstanding.
…listening from my bedroom I could here the simmer and smell the earthiness.
At the moment, and I had to be precise, I took the artichokes out of the green tinted water they were perfectly tender. Cut them in half this time, never have done that... Some things just seem so right. For the first time cooking them was more satisfying than the shredding of each baby leaf through my teeth and the devouring the soft succulent heart. Be still mine.
ARTICHOKES STUFFED WITH CHEESE SOUFFLE...I know it not part of my program, but this recipe is part of my life, rich and full
• 4 T. softened butter
• 6 T. flour
• 2 c. hot milk
• ½ t. paprika
• Pinch nutmeg
• 1 t. salt
• ¼ t. white pepper
• 4 egg yolks
• 6 egg whites
• 1½ c. coarsely grated Swiss cheese(the best you can buy)
• ¾ c. finely grated Imported Parmesan + some to sprinkle on the top
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Trim and prepare 6 artichokes and cook in boiling salted water until hearts are tender. Drain upside down. Remove choke and clean out the hairs around the heart.
In a large saucepan, melt 3 T. butter over medium high heat. Stir in the flour and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly, until the butter and flour foam and froth. Remove the pan from the heat and beat in the hot milk, then simmer over medium heat and stir slowly until thick, about 1 to 2 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the seasonings, then the egg yolks, 1 by 1. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.
Whip the egg whites to stiff, shining peaks, then whisk 1/4 of them into the sauce to lighten it. Delicately fold the remaining egg whites into the sauce, alternating with the grated Swiss cheese and Parmesan cheese.
Cut pieces of foil large enough to surround the artichokes. Brush the foil pieces with olive oil and wrap around the artichokes. Turn the souffle mixture and fill to the top into the prepared artichokes, dust with paprika. Bake until the souffle has puffed 1 or 2-inches.and the top is slightly browned about 25 to 30 minutes. Serve immediately.
Enjoy!
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