Grilled Artichokes with Lemon Garlic Butter
I know artichokes don’t exactly scream comfort food, but I’ve found a lot of comfort in them lately, especially when they’re grilled.
As you know, back in April I (along with my friend/coworker/future business partner) was laid off from the agency I had been with for almost four years. As most people realize at some point after getting laid off, it was the best thing to ever happen to me. Not only do I have way less stress in my life, I’m just…happier. Sadly, that thrill and excitement went away, at least temporarily, because three weeks after we were laid off, my friend took his own life, leaving behind two little kids. Marc had suffered with depression most of this adult life, but none of us knew the extent of his horrible disease. Marc was an incredibly devoted dad, a successful marketer, and an all around good, kind person.
Marc always made fun of my new found love of artichokes, and I happened to be eating one when I was told he was missing. I realize it’s a weird thing to remember, but you know how there are some moments in life that you can remember vividly? Me sitting on my couch, watching House Hunters and eating an artichoke when I got the call, is one of them. So now, I have this weird association with Marc and artichokes. (Sorry Marc, but I guess there are worse things to be associated with.)
In attempt to take my mind off things, I went to Pinterest (naturally) and discovered you could grill an artichoke. What? Being in an apartment and sans BBQ, I decided to attempt this using my grill pan. Fortunately, it was a success, and even though my apartment was filled with smoke, my smoke detector didn’t go off and my neighbors were not alarmed.
Aside from the amazing flavor the grill gives to the artichoke, it is possible that the best part of this recipe is the lemon garlic butter dipping sauce. I mean, we all know that artichokes really are just a vehicle for inhaling that stuff, right?
Finally, for some reason, in our society there is a negative stigma attached to talking about depression; that needs to change. Talk about it. Give hugs. Make that phone call or send that email to check in on a friend. And the next time you eat an artichoke, think about Marc and others like him who are still suffering from depression.
Artichoke Ingredients
2 large artichokes
4 cloves garlic
1 lemon, halved
Olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Artichoke Preparation
With a serrated knife, cut artichokes into quarters and using kitchen shears, cut sharp tips of leaves off. Scoop out the prickly center part of the artichoke, and discard. Immediately rub the cut side of the artichoke with a lemon half to help avoid yellowing. Place artichokes in a large stockpot filled with cold water.
Add garlic cloves. Squeeze the juice of the lemon into the water and add the leftover lemon skin/peel to the water. Bring artichokes to a boil, reduce to simmer and cook for 20-25 minutes or until artichoke leaves easily pull from the head and the bottoms of the artichokes are tender.
Remove from the stock pot and drain.
Prepare a grill with hot coals or a gas grill over high heat. Drizzle artichokes with olive oil and kosher salt and pepper.
When grill is hot, place artichokes on grill and cook for 3 minutes each side or until nice grill marks appear. Remove and serve immediately or at room temperature with garlic lemon butter.
Lemon Garlic Butter Ingredients
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
2 lemons, zested and juiced
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Lemon Garlic Butter Preparation
Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Remove from heat and allow the solids to cool slightly, then skim the fat solids from the clear butter below and discard the solids. Add lemon zest, garlic cloves, and kosher salt and cook on medium until garlic browns slightly and becomes aromatic, about 5 minutes.
Add lemon juice to butter mixture and mix well.
Drizzle over artichokes or on the side as a dipping sauce.
Recipe adapted from Go Bold With Butter.
Monkey Bread
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As I’ve mentioned before, growing up we pretty much ate non-sugared cereal or bagels for breakfast. On weekends, my mom would sometimes make French toast or German pancakes with apples and cinnamon and sugar, but things like cinnamon rolls and monkey bread were never a breakfast food for us. Then, during high school, I got a job at a Mrs. Fields bakery called La Petite Boulangerie. I opened the store every weekend morning and was there while the baker made the cinnamon rolls and sticky buns. What a delicious smell.
And that was the beginning of my demise. That cinnamon roll is a weird shape? Guess we’ll have to eat it for breakfast. That sticky bun was a little too burnt? Save it to take home to my dad. My love of sticky cinnamon and sugar began.
This monkey bread is similar to a sticky bun, minus the nuts, with a glaze. Since it’s 64 pieces of dough in a Bundt pan, it’s easy to tear apart and eat with your fingers, and sticky and gooey just like it should be. If you’re planning on making this, just remember it’s a yeast dough with two rises, so it does take a while to make but is so worth it!
Dough Ingredients
4 tablespoons butter, divided, 2 tablespoons softened and 2 tablespoons melted
1 cup milk, warm (about 110 degrees)
1/3 cup water, warm (about 110 degrees)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast (I used rapid rise yeast)
3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for work surface
2 teaspoons salt
Brown Sugar Coating Ingredients
1 cup packed light brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
8 tablespoons butter (1 stick), melted
Glaze Ingredients
1 cup confectioners sugar
2 tablespoons milk
Preparation
Butter a Bundt pan with the 2 tablespoons softened butter. Use a pastry brush or a paper towel or anything that will really help get inside all of those nooks and crannies. Set aside.
In a large measuring cup, mix together the milk, water, melted butter, sugar, and yeast. Mix the flour and salt together in a standing mixer fitted with dough hook. Turn the machine to low and slowly add the milk mixture. After the dough comes together, increase the speed to medium and mix until the dough is shiny and smooth, 6 to 7 minutes. If you think the dough is too wet (i.e. having a hard time forming a cohesive mass), add 2 tablespoons flour at a time and mix until the dough comes together (it should still be on the sticky side, just not overly wet). Coat a large bowl with nonstick cooking spray. Place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat lightly with the cooking spray. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rise until doubled, 1-2 hours (alternately, you can preheat the oven to 200 degrees, turning it off once it reaches 200 degrees and place the covered bowl in the oven to speed up the rising time).
For the sugar coating, while the dough is rising, mix the brown sugar and cinnamon together in a bowl. Place the melted butter in a second bowl or shallow pie plate. Set aside.
To form the bread, gently remove the dough from the bowl and press it into a rough 8-inch square. Using a bench scraper or knife, cut the dough into 64 pieces.
Roll each dough piece into a ball (it doesn’t have to be perfect, just get it into a rough ball-shape). Working one at a time, dip the balls in melted butter, allowing excess butter to drip back into the bowl or pie plate. Roll the dipped dough ball in the brown sugar mixture, then layer the balls in the Bundt pan, staggering the seams where the dough balls meet as you build layers.
Cover the Bundt pan tightly with plastic wrap and let the monkey bread rise until puffy and they have risen 1-2 inches from the top of the pan, 1-2 hours (again, you can use the warm oven approach to speed this up).
Heat the oven to 350 degrees F (remove the pan from the oven if you placed it there to rise). Unwrap the pan and bake until the top is deep brown and caramel begins to bubble around edges, 30 to 35 minutes. Cool the monkey bread in the pan for 5 minutes (any longer and the bread will be too sticky and hard to remove!), then turn out on a platter or large plate and allow to cool slightly, about 10 minutes.
For the glaze, while the bread cools, whisk the confectioners’ sugar and milk together in a small bowl until the mixture is smooth. Using a whisk, drizzle the glaze over the warm monkey bread, letting it run over the top and sides of the bread. Serve warm.
Recipe from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe.
