Flattery

They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. If that's true, then Peter from Cookblog must be feeling pretty darn flattered right now. I stole -oops, I mean imitated! - his idea.

I already had a dab of beans in the fridge from a previous meal and, when I saw that he put a sizzled artichoke on top of his beans, I realized that I could do the very same thing with mine, although my beans were very different - his bacony to my lamby.

I had never fixed an artichoke this way before, snapping off each leaf while leaving the meaty part at the base of each attached, trimming the smaller inside leaves, scooping out the choke with a spoon once I got down to the bottom and simmering the artichoke in a mixture of water and olive oil until it sizzles and caramelizes. A whole new artichoke experience for one who thought she'd pretty much been there, done that, and bought the t-shirt.

I was uncertain about whether or not I had enough to make a meal, so I served the beans-and-choke alongside half a pork chop that My Beloved and I shared. I needn't have worried, the veggies alone would have been plenty filling. In fact, Cora got the last of my pork chop.

You oughta try "borrowing" your next meal from Peter, too. He has all kinds of cool ideas and techniques with a sophisticated palate and an artist's eye for beauty. Every now and then he has one that's simple enough for a copycat like me to try.