I’ve always loved artichokes stuffed with breadcrumbs, but have been to intimidated (or lazy?) to do it myself. What was I waiting for? Sure, it took a little time to scrape out the hairy choke at the beginning (with a serrated grapefruit spoon, as the recipe suggested), but really, it was done in just a couple of energetic minutes.
Emboldened by an article in the New York Times this spring (I often like the dishes Melissa Clark writes about), I gave it a try, and was very pleased with my results. I used a slightly stripped down version of the recipe in the article (no carrots), but I did use homemade breadcrumbs, since I keep them on hand (I am always buying more bread than I can use fresh, so I make dried crumbs). Plus, I am partial to homemade’s varied texture. The resulting dish was very good, and the pan juices were an unexpected treat in themselves. Next time I won’t wait so long.
NJ SPICE 