Artichoke Hearts

My wonderful wife, Cheryl, made these artichoke hearts earlier in the week (you can see a picture of it HERE, as well as find the recipe. I tried to link the image but ran into insurrmountable problems... ) We thought that we had panko flakes on hand for the recipe but discovered that what we had available was tempura batter, which still worked. It's a great, easy to make treat as an appetizer; we had it as a side with chicken. Plus, you bake them rather than deep frying them, so it's a bit more of a guilt free & healthy snack. Give it a try - I think you will love them, too!

Here is the recipe from the page where she found them, but you Really must go and look at the picture first, so that you will get the full anticipatory effect - and don't forget the Panko crumbs.Ciao!

Artichoke Hearts

Open bag of frozen artichoke hearts and add the juice of half a lemon (if it's juicy, a whole one if it's not).

In a bowl, beat one egg with a tbs of water

In a large zip bag mix
1/2 c of flour
1/2 c of breadcrubs (I used panko)
1/4 c of shredded (not grated) parmesan or romano cheese
1 tbs of dried oregano
S&P to taste

Coat hearts in egg mixture then drop in bag of breading and shake to coat.

Pour out in a single layer on baking pan, drizzle with plenty of olive oil and bake at 450 for about 20 mins or until golden brown, turning halfway through.

I serve with a dipping sauce of 1/4 c of unflavored greek style yogurt and about
2 tsp of sriracha or similar hot sauce.

A Late Brunch Between Neighboring Worlds

Due to my new position as a freelance correspondent for the Belchertown Sentinel, the local newspaper, our landlord/ neighbor lent me this great book, "Make Hay While The Sun Shines: Farms, Forests and People of the North Quabbin", by Allen Young, a journalist who lives in the area and has been writing about the local residents of North-West Massachusetts since 1973. In his book he covers the "back to nature" movement that began in the early seventies, stemming from the traditional way of farming and living off the land that has been a common and popular mainstay of New England since we stumbled and tripped upon the shores of the region.


In the third chapter of the book he writes about the Diemand Egg Farm in Wendall, which is still producing eggs and can be bought in local stores here. The next time I went shopping I specifically sought out their eggs so we can try them at home, and as a fitting tribute to farmer and author alike, I made the Finnish Pancakes from the recipe provided at the end of the chapter. It is really rich and filling, but it is also really easy to make, so it just might become a regular brunch item here.

Finnish Pancakes

(from the Massachusetts Poultry Association)

Six large eggs
1 quart milk
1/4 lb. butter
1 cup flour
4-5 Tb. sugar
1 tsp. salt

Melt and brown the butter in a 12" x 16" pan.

Beat the eggs and milk together, then add the sugar, salt and flour, mixing it in until well blended and without any lumps. Pour the mixture into the baking dish and bake in a pre-heated oven at 450 degrees for 20-25 minutes until golden brown and firmly set.

The "pancakes" will have the consistency of custard (or a flan) with a slight crust.


I didn't follow the recipe but still got fair results. Since we have some wonderful wild blueberries that are grown in our neighborhood, I added 1 cup of them into the batter. We are also going away for the weekend and we had a pint of heavy cream on hand, so I used that for half of the milk amount. I also added a couple drops of vanilla extract. The dish needed to bake for approximately 10 minutes more than the recipe recommended, probably because of the blueberries and the cream, and it came out with the consistency of bread pudding.

Bon appétit!