Artichokes Stuffed With Herbed Cream Cheese and Bay Shrimp |
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Prep Time: 25 Minutes Cook Time: 30 Minutes |
Ready In: 55 Minutes Servings: 4 |
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Ray's Boathouse, Seattle, Washington. Chef Charles Ramseyer uses a pastry bag to pipe the herbed cream cheese into the steamed artichokes, which you can do as well if you want a fancier finish to the filling, though a plain old spoon works well too. The artichokes can be stuffed up to 2 hours in advance and refrigerated until ready to serve. To eat, use the leaves to scoop up some of the cream cheese filling, scraping the tender flesh from the base of the leaf as you draw it between your teeth. From The Best Northwest Places Cookbook (Volume 2) by Cynthia Nims. Ingredients:
4 artichokes |
2 lemons, cut in half |
4 ounces cooked bay shrimp |
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature |
3/4 cup mayonnaise, preferably homemade (good quality) |
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese |
1 shallot, minced |
1/4 cup minced celery leaves |
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice |
1 tablespoon minced tarragon |
2 teaspoons minced basil |
1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce |
1 teaspoon celery salt |
Directions:
1. FOR THE HERBED CREAM CHEESE, beat the cream cheese with a mixer at medium speed until soft.
2. Add the mayonnaise, Parmesan, shallot, celery leaves, lemon juice, tarragon, basil, Worcestershire sauce, and celery salt.
3. Continue blending until the mixture is smooth and evenly mixed; refrigerate until ready to serve.
4. CUT THE TOP INCH FROM THE ARTICHOKES and use kitchen shears to cut off the sharp tips from the leaves.
5. Cut off the stem where it meets the bottom of the artichoke and score an X on the bottom of each artichoke.
6. Rub all cut surfaces with one of the lemon halves.
7. Put the artichokes in a large pot of cold water and squeeze in the juice from the remaining 3 lemon halves, dropping the lemons in as well.
8. Set a heatproof plate on top of the artichokes to keep them thoroughly submerged in the water.
9. Bring the water just to a boil over medium-high heat, then lower the heat to medium and simmer until the bottoms of the artichokes are tender and the outer leaves pull off easily, about 30 minutes.
10. Drain the artichokes and set them upside down on paper towels to drain and cool.
11. WHEN THE ARTICHOKES ARE COOL, lift out the small center leaves and scoop out the fuzzy choke with a small spoon, being careful to leave the tender artichoke bottom intact.
12. Spoon the herbed cream cheese into the artichokes, smoothing the top.
13. Top each artichoke with some of the shrimp and serve right away.
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