Asparagus Artichoke Cheesepocalypse.

I’ve probably mentioned here before—my mom gets Bon Appetit magazine and saves them for me.  Which means I am bestowed with a large pile of magazines every time I visit.  I’m not complaining.  Not one bit.  I flip through the mags, tear out the recipes I want to try, and then recycle the rest.

And as I KNOW I’ve mentioned here before, my friend Kathy gave the Hubs & I this gorgeous handmade fleur-de-lis casserole dish for our wedding, with the promise that because of Kathy & I’s shared love of cheese, must be utilized for cheese-tastic dishes.  Last time, it was a de-LUSH-us lasagna.  This time…ohhhhh….this time…

Here.  I’ll just show you the page I ripped out of Bon Appetit:

I mean….SERIOUSLY.  Who in the world could ignore that page?  It’s like, the most delicious looking sheet of paper on the planet.  I would EAT the paper…but then I wouldn’t have the recipe anymore, so let’s not do that.

If you’re going to a holiday party this season, this would be a FANTASTIC thing to bring.  And if you have vegetarian friends like we do, they will LOVE you, because this gives them something fairly hearty to chow down on all evening as they avoid the meatballs and finger sandwiches.

And while I can’t really call this technically a “healthy” dish because of all that luscious CHEEEEEEESE… it’s actually not THAT awful for you.  A 1/3 cup serving has about 100 calories (plus whatever you use to dip—crackers, baguettes, veggies, etc.) and it’s crammed full of veggies.

 

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup asparagus, cut into 3/4 inch pieces

2 tbsp light butter

1 cup onions (if you don’t like onions, sub in spinach or leeks here)

2 tbsp flour

1.25 cup skim milk

1 cup shredded Monterey jack cheese or white cheddar

salt & pepper to taste

14 oz jar marinated artichoke hearts in water

1/2 cup peas, fresh or frozen

2 tbsp chopped green onions

4 oz crumbled goat cheese or feta

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 450 F.

In a large pot of boiling water, cook the asparagus pieces for about 2 minutes or until crisp-tender.  Drain and let cool.

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat.  To this, add the onions (or spinach) and cook until soft (about 10 minutes).  Whisk in flour and then gradually add the milk. Bring this to a simmer, whisking constantly.  Continue cooking until thickened and then remove from the heat.

Add to the sauce pan the shredded cheese and whisk until melted and smooth.  Season to taste with the salt & pepper.

Mix in the asparagus (reserve the tips for the top of the dish), artichoke hearts, peas, chives, and 2 oz of the goat/feta cheese. 

Transfer this to a 4-5 cup baking dish, and then arrange the asparagus tips on the top.  Crumble the remaining goat/feta cheese over the top.

Bake until gold & bubbly, about 15-20 minutes.  Let rest for about 5 minutes before serving.

Serve with tortilla chips or sliced & toasted baguette.

NUTRIFACTS: (1 serving = 1/3 cup; makes 16 servings total)

 Calories 106.1

  Total Fat 6.4 g

  Saturated Fat 1.1 g

  Polyunsaturated Fat 0.2 g

  Monounsaturated Fat 0.4 g

  Cholesterol 18.7 mg

  Sodium 139.1 mg

  Potassium 87.4 mg

  Total Carbohydrate 8.1 g

  Dietary Fiber 0.5 g

  Sugars 1.5 g

  Protein 6.2 g

 

 

Pineapple Upside Down Pancakes: YUM.

 
Today’s recipe comes from a stack of Bon Appetit magazines I hijacked from my mom.  The title was irresistible.  The recipe didn’t feature a photo, but rather a drawing.
I’m pretty sure the reason for the drawing is, based on my experience with cooking them, that they’re nearly impossible to make look as pretty as they should be.  Evidence is below.

However, I also discovered this: Even the ugly ones taste PHENOMENAL.  SOOOOooooo good.  Probably the tastiest at-home breakfast I’ve had in a year.  It was like having cake for breakfast.
So I present this recipe with plenty of photos & tips to help your baking experience go easier.
Ingredients: (makes 4 pancakes)

Pineapple & Syrup:	Pancake Batter:
4 pineapple rings (fresh is preferred, but canned will work) – NOTE: the original recipe had us slice the rings pretty thick, with the intent of dividing one large pineapple into 8 rings. I don’t recommend this, for reasons you’ll see later. Aim for about 1/2 inch thick rings. 1 cinnamon stick, broken into 2 pieces 1 tbsp light butter 1/2 cup dark rum 1/8 cup (packed) brown sugar	1/2 cup wheat flour 1.5 tbsp sugar 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/4 tsp salt 1/2 cup buttermilk 1 egg white 1 tbsp light butter, melted 1/4 tsp vanilla 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon nonstick cooking spray

Directions:
Melt the 1 tbsp of butter along with the cinnamon stick in a large skillet or on a griddle over medium heat.  When the butter begins to brown, add your pineapple rings.  Have fun making faces with the contents of the pan:
 
Grill each ring for about 4 minutes on each side. (if you use fresh pineapple, your rings are going to be pretty big, so you can only manage about 2 at a time—this is where a stove top or electric griddle would have REALLY helped speed up the process.)  While these are grilling, you can mix together your pancake batter with a whisk.

Set rings aside, and then add rum & brown sugar to the pan.  Cook until sauce begins to thicken.

Pour into a small bowl & set aside.
Spray your pan or griddle with nonstick spray, and portion out your pancake batter—a little over 1/4 cup per pancake. (NOTE: SERIOUSLY—if you have a stovetop griddle—USE IT.  Each pancake takes about 4 minutes to cook so if you can only do one at a time, it takes FOREVER.)
Now, here’s where my results differed from the directions.  The recipe says to cook the pancake for about 2 minutes, THEN add the pineapple ring.  But because your cake is basically cooked by that time, and because our rings were sliced so thick, THIS was what happened:

  It just sits on top & doesn’t sink into the pancake at all.  Which makes it IMPOSSIBLE to properly cook the now-pineapple-laden side of the pancake, because when you flip it, it’s basically a small table, and the pancake won’t touch the skillet.

Look!  I’m magic, my pancakes hover off the bottom of the pan!!! OOOOOoooohhhh!!!

So, here’s what you should ACTUALLY do:
Pour your batter, then wait about 20 seconds.  When the first couple bubbles start to appear on the surface, THEN add your pineapple, like so:

Let each side cook for about 2 minutes, or until golden brown.
Once all your cakes are cooked, portion them out onto plates (2 cakes per person—or just one if you plan on serving as part of a larger breakfast). Reheat your syrup in the microwave for 10-15 seconds, and then drizzle over the cakes.  Serve with a cinnamon stick for garnish.

There aren’t even sufficient words for how good this was.  I’m typically a little “meh” about pancakes, but these?  If I had someone to cook them for me, I’d eat them every morning.

(PS—that cinnamon stick has essentially been candied, & is coated with buttery, sugary goodness.  Try to stop yourself just short of chewing on it.)

NutriFacts: (for two pancakes w/syrup—if you only eat one cake, divide in half.)
Calories 334.6
  Total Fat 3.9 g
  Saturated Fat 0.9 g
  Polyunsaturated Fat 0.7 g
  Monounsaturated Fat 1.2 g
  Cholesterol 93.7 mg
  Sodium 1,867.3 mg
  Potassium 384.3 mg
  Total Carbohydrate 67.8 g
  Dietary Fiber 5.7 g
  Sugars 42.3 g
  Protein 9.9 g

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