Baldur

For some reason they also always have huge delicious redskinned grapes.
We can get those at the local market occasionally but at the Chinese buffet these are a staple, Baldur has never found the grapes missing. They also like to serve chunks of bananas in a melba sauce.
Steamed crab legs are also a crowd pleaser, but I find the odor disturbing.
Robert will eat quite a pile of those crunching the shell with his teeth rather than using the implement handily provided. By the time we leave he is spattered in crab juice. Sometimes he is more in the mood for the Teryaki, which at least sprays less when eaten.

marius

Reading about the Chinese food buffet is making my taste buds tingle and that's quite amazing as I just ate a most satisfying lunch: plain tuna with fresh parmesan melted on top, a roll and an artichoke. It was the artichoke that made me think of Baldur while dining. Wondered if he eats them and if so, how he cooks them.

I add mine to boiling water that has a tad of olive oil, some vinegar and a bay leaf in it. Simmer 45-60 minutes. Then eat. It was delicious but couldn't eat it all - which is fine cause will snack on it later.

And, giggle, perhaps Baldur should wear a plastic rain poncho when dining with a crab-leg eating Robert? Funny story that is. ; )

Dragon

I have always been amused that just about every Chinese buffet I've ever been too also has (for some reasome) perogies. Is this a Canadian Chinese restaraunt phenomenom or is it the norm everywhere?
I also get quite irritated when a buffet will advertise 'Over 100 items' on their buffet and when you get there you find out that 10 of these are different flavours of Jell-o and another 10 are different kinds of salad. Iceberg lettuce with carrots and Iceberg lettuce without carrots should not count as 2 seperate items.

marius, I've never tried putting a bayleaf in when cooking artichoke. We always just throw it in the water and let it steam away. I'll have to try this next time. I recently introduced my fella to artichoke, I'm always a little at a loss when someone asks (as he did) 'What do they taste like?' I reply, without fail, 'They taste like Artichokes.' I'm noteven joking, I just can't think of anything that tastes remotely like them.

Baldur

hmmm Artichokes and pierogis.

Admittingly Baldur rarely eats whole artichokes because it seems they are typically just a carrier to get melted butter directly into one's bloodstream.
Usually they are prepared much as you suggest marius and then each petal is dipped into melted butter, the little fleshy bit and the butter of course being scraped off with one's teeth.
More often I will use marinated artichoke hearts in salads or on pizza. Those are marvelous.
Have you ever tried stuffing them?
Now that is a marvelous recipe.

Baldur's stuffed artichokes

Choose a shallow earthenware or ovenproof glass casserole dish that will comfortably hold the number of artichokes you would like to prepare (while allowing them to stand upright shoulder to shoulder) with a little extra room for expansion. Spray the casserole dish with cooking spray or butter it lightly, put aside.

Prepare the artichokes by trimming the sharp points with kitchen shears and cutting the nub of the stems off level with the bottom. They should be able to stand upright.
Cook them as usual in a large cauldron of boiling water (bay leaf enhanced with whatever additives you'd like), but remove the artichokes while they are still slightly underdone. Aim for about 5 minutes shy of perfect doneness.
Remove the artichokes from the boiling water and place them in a large bowl of cold water to cool them down rapidly

Meanwhile prepare the dressing:
(I will state the quantities based on stuffing 4 artichokes, but you may adjust it up or down as necessary)

In a saute' pan melt 2 tablespoons of butter
add 1 medium onion minced fine and cook until the onion is translucent.
Add 1 or 2 cloves of peeled and smashed garlic and continue to cook for another minute or so.
Turn the flame down very low under the pan and add 2 cups of crushed butter flavored crackers (in the US these would be 'Ritz' crackers, but you may substitute other types of crackers that readily absorb liquid or even use bread (Italian, French, Sourdough etc) torn into little bits.
Remember when using crackers that most likely you will not need additional salt in the recipe.
To the onion/cracker mixture add some chopped herbs.
Good choices here are basil, green onion or chives, oregano, tarragon etc.
Turn off the stove and add a small amount of vegetable (or animal based) broth. 1/2 cup might be enough but add more if the stuffing seems too dry.

Baldur will now point out that you can add animal products at this point, but match the broth to the critter. Precooked and crumbled sausage meat would be good with chicken broth. Shredded lobster or crabmeat would be good with clambroth.
Taste the stuffing and adjust the seasonings.
You can also add chopped olives, mushrooms, hot pepper flakes, really feel free to customize it as you like.
Drain the now cool artichokes and shake them dry.
With your fingers separate the topmost petals and then with both hands force all the petals downward to open the center up.
It should look somewhat like a green sunflower trying to curl back up into a ball.
With a large spoon take a 1/2 cup ball of stuffing and mound it into the center of each artichoke. Press it in on itself as you go to make a firm mass.
The artichoke petals should cradle it in a neat mound.
Arrange the artichokes in the prepared casserole dish.
Pour approximately 1/2 inch of hot broth into the bottom of the dish.
Over the tops of the stuffed artichokes you may sprinkle a quantity of shredded cheese or you can just top it off with some paprika.
Place it in an oven preheated to 350 degrees Farenheit and bake for approximately 30 minutes.

To remove the artichokes from the pan to a plate use two spoons and cradle it from both sides, taking care to remember there may still be broth underneath that could drip.

Baldur

I WISH that Baldur could get pierogis at his Chinese buffet.
Most likely they would be filled with pork and make me despondent though.

There is a Polish deli/smokehouse/bakery that does make wonderful pierogis not too far from here.
That is a blessing.

Baldur

You can also use Baldur's Artichoke stuffing to make stuffed jumbo mushroom caps.

Buy large mushrooms, clean them and remove the stems.
Chop the stems into small pieces and add them to the onions and saute them.
When the stuffing is done mound it into the overturned mushroom caps and bake on a shallow rimmed baking pan without the addition broth.

Baldur

addition +al =additional

'All Baldur, All the Time'

Robindcr8l

Baldur, took the liberty of adding your artichoke recipe to my recipe thread.

Marius, meant to tell you, I was quite impressed with your cryptogram! It was very long, and tricky, too! The dyslexia and misspellings didn't phase me... perhaps I am dyslexic, too, so it seemed somehow correct! But I could tell that much time and effort went into it, and my little slee-deprived brain thoroughly enjoyed it!

maddyjean08

I'm not the biggest fan for mushrooms. I have an amazing pork chop recipe! Anyone want to hear it?

Baldur

Yes, maddyjean please post it. We have a lot of people who are interested in recipes.
You can put it here on Radio Baldur or on Robindcr8l's recipe thread, or both.
I find that if I put it here Robin takes it and puts it on her thread anyway and saves me the trouble. LOL

maddyjean08

Good for six pork chops!
Okay here goes.

First, put a stick of butter in a bowl and melt it, microwave, hair-dryer, whatever. DOES NOT NEED TO BE COMPLETELY MELTED!
Mix parmesean cheese and crackers into a zip-lock bag, about 1/4 full. Get it crushed together, rolling pin, bare hands, again, whatever. Put you pork chops in a glass pan ( reason is a secret!). Pour your melted butter evenly on top of your pork chops. Then, spread your parmesean mix, once again, evenly on top. Bake.

Robindcr8l

Sounds delicious, Maddyjean. How long to bake and at what temp?? I will add it on my recipe thread. I like to keep the recipes in one place so I know where to look. Especially now that Channel Baldur is approaching nearly 3000 posts!

Tonight, I am making breakfast for dinner. Eggs to order, homemade hash browns, bacon (yuck!, but my boy likes it!) and toast. Tomorrow I am making homemade baked potato soup, so will use the extra bacon as an "extra" to add to the soup. Friday I must make a huge vat of homemade chili for our tailgate party for 12yo football game on Saturday! It is a busy week for cooking at the cradle household!

Dragon

I will definitly be trying Baldur's stuffed artichoke recipe! I have a wonderful stuffed tomato recipe but I don't really have measurements.

Cut tomatos in half and scoop out the centers so you have fairly firm tomato cups. Chop up (or smash) the centers of the tomato and set aside. Chop some mushroom stems (and the tops if you like them) very fine and add to tomato mash. Should have about half as much mushrooms as tomato centers. Chop very fine or smash some garlic, I'm a large fan of garlic and use about 1 clove per full tomato. Add this to tomato/mushroom mash. Throw all of this in a pan with some olive oil and sautee until the garlic and mushroom is cooked. I like to add ground pepper, and fresh parsley and basil. While sauteeing (is that a word?) add finely crushed soda crackers or bread crumbs, I just keep adding them until the concocotion looks good- you don't need a large amount, maybe half the mushrooms. When this is all cooked scoop it into the tomato cups. They should be sort of heaping. Throw it into the oven at 350 for about 30 minutes. The tomatoes should be cooked but not mushy. You can sprinkle some shredded cheese on top if you so desire.

marius

Dragon - your stuffed tomatoes sound yum. I'm hoping to make the spicey cornbread recipe tomorrow night. Will let you know. Also, have been eating pierogis from our chinese buffet for years but didn't know that's what they are called!

marius

Just know I'm gonna forget to comment on something said to me ... forgive, you all did too much talking to catch up today. (tee hee) Anyway Dragon ... the bayleaf adds a wonderful flavor to artichoke and you are right ... there in nothing that tastes remotely like them. I also find the canned or jarred ones to be way different in flavor from freshly cooked.

marius

Robin, glad you enjoyed the cryptogram. It was fun to do, even if there were letters swimming everywhere. You DID notice your name in there?? (Couldn't use matthew or those things that go on feet, thongs, so you were it.)

Baldur - figured you'd have a good artichoke recipe. Thanks! (Also want to try it with mushrooms. Adore mushrooms cooked as side dish.) Know what you mean about butter - I use lemon butter, almost half of each ingredient. Yes, kind of strong that way, but love lemon and it cuts down on the butter. : )

Maddyjean, that recipe sounds yummy. Please post temperature and time. Also you are funny - use hair dryer to melt butter! : )

Baldur

Because of the wet weather yesterday Baldur did spend a good deal of time beading, making 4 full length strands for the windows.
This morning while sitting here at the computer I started a 5th one.
But now what a calamity has befallen (+3) me.
While sifting through the bead bowl it appeared that I have only a single solitary example of my favorite bead of all left to use.
This is absolutely horrible!
This particular bead is a puffed glass disc approximately the size of a dime.
It's an odd yellowish green and has been molded with a piece of silvery foil inside of it. More than anything it resembles a piece of hard candy.
There are no more. sigh.
Baldur found these particular beads more than a year ago after they'd gone on clearance. They were on assorted strands (maybe 10" long) with other attractive green glass beads, These however were the highlight.
I rummaged through the entire display rack and found every last one, then I even went to 2 other stores but there were none at all there.
Anyway out of all that effort there were only 12 of these to find.
And now there is one.

marius

my guitar gently weeps .... fabio

matthew

Snickers @ Marius' comment...

Dragon

This has nothing to do with anything being dicussed lately but I just had to comment. Next to my work is a bar that has Wing Wednesdays. This has not been a problem (despite the fact that their patrons fill up our parking lot) but lately it seems they are neglecting to close the lid on their dumpster after chucking the chicken bones in at night. The crows and seagulls (or S**thawks as we call them around here) have a party every Thursday morning and they use our parking lot and front yard area. Every Thursday we have a ridiculous number of chicken bones strewn about our property. Now since we are a vet clinic and have dogs coming in and out all day long this can be a problem. 1 of our tech's was walking a surgery dog last week and he grabbed one of these bones, she had to pry it out of his mouth. It's very frustrating. Aaah, thank you for allowing me to vent, I feel much better now.