Plse Share Your Thoughts on This Recipe Idea

My own particular favorite hors d'oeuvre spread came to me in the last 20 years of my catering business, from a friend, from a magazine...... It was artichoke hearts, with lemon juice, heavy on the raw garlic, mayo, and parm, all pureed and baked 20 minutes and served with fresh sourdough . Sighhhhh.
I am obsessed by that particular combination (But Santa, I've been a GOOD girl; I haven't made it in sooo many years!) and I have tried a few times to come up with a deconstructed or 'other-constructed' version of it, but haven't mentally succeeded. Now, however, there is a very inspiring recipe on 52 that I'm wondering about. In hers, cucinadimammina puts defrosted artichoke hearts in a milk/eggs mix, then a coating of romano, seasoning, bread crumbs; onto a sheetpan, drizzle w/ EVOO; roast. Sounds pretty darn delicious, right!?
https://food52.com/recipes...

So, I'm thinking......what about heavily coating my hearts with a mayo+ raw garlic mix , then into the parm breadcrumbs OR the garlic mayo mix, then into the egg/milk mix and then the parm breadcrumbs. On to the sheetpan, maybe no need for the EVOO drizzle given the heavy mayo? I don't know; I'm trying to envision this, and I'm wondering if I would just end up with a big pool of smoking oil. (hmmm, that doesn't sound dangerous or anything....) Or maybe the egg coating would mitigate the oiliness? but would the eggs STICK to the mayo coating?

And if you say "Horrors!" to the whole mayo idea, do you think alot of minced garlic (instead of the garlic powder)in the bread crumb or egg mix- would work? BTW, if you told me you had a recipe that included alot of processor-pureed garlic, I would tell you that you would end up with very unpleasant acrid garlic, but for some reason, the acrid doesn't happen...Maybe it doesn't stand a chance up against all that other stuff ! Thx much for your feedback on this.

LeBec Fin
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9 Comments

Leith D. December 29, 2015
Love me some mayo! I'd do the mayo/egg mix, then go right into the breadcrumbs/parm....not too heavy on the mayo though. Maybe thin it with with some milk. I'd consider using powdered garlic instead of fresh depending on the cook time. Burnt garlic is baaaaddd. Sounds like a great fish coating too :)
 
ChefJune December 29, 2015
Mindy, there's a farmer at our Greenmarket here - Salento Farms from CT - that makes a REAL garlic powder. Wish I could spirit some to you. It gives new meaning to the seasoning.
 
Susan W. December 26, 2015
I make homemade mayo and rush to use it while the raw eggs are super fresh. I use it to coat chicken, fish, lamb chops..using it to coat artichoke hearts sounds genius. I'd skip the olive oil...maybe. You could drizzle half the pan and not drizzle the other half.
 
Nancy December 26, 2015
The flavors in your proposed recipe sound great.
But/and I wonder if the double coatings (wet mayonnaise-garlic, dryish Parmesan -breadcrumbs, wet egg-milk, dryish parm-breadcrumbs) might slip off.
What texture do you want in the final dish?
If moist, continue as planned, but maybe bake in small dishes for individual servings.
If crunchy, perhaps combine the mayo, garlic, parmesan, breadcrumbs and one of the egg or milk (limited amount) to make a single paste, coat the artichoke hearts in that, chill briefly to set, bake or roast a few minutes.
 
LeBec F. December 27, 2015
nancy, I KNEW someone would come through with an idea that would help me resolve this. If I took the recipe and deconstructed it, I would puree the mayo, parm, garlic, lemon juice; coat the hearts with that and it's the identical ingredients, deconstructed! then the bread crumbs for crunch. So i'll try that for a few hearts and do the rest per her original recipe, linked in my original post. That way, if my deconstructed way is oily messy, I can just add hearts to the remaining mayo mix and I'll have my old spread! thx to you and all who also gave me excellent feedback!
 
702551 December 26, 2015
Raw garlic is frequently overused in dishes (particularly in this country) to the point where there is no balance. I would personally favor roasted garlic puree over raw garlic for this dish.

I avoid using mayo in hot dishes. There's a more appropriate sauce for this: hollandaise.

Reheat precooked artichoke hearts (steam, microwave, reheated in oven covered). At this point, you could either add a garlic hollandaise, or spread a thin layer of garlic puree in the bottom of each artichoke heart (thus being able to keep a few aside for anyone who avoids garlic). Top with parmesan breadcrumbs mixed with some chopped parsley and a little olive oil to hold together, then gratinate.

Heavy raw garlic and hot mayo = not for me.

Anyhow, good luck.
 
LeBec F. December 26, 2015
funny, cv, i grew up eating artichoke with my mom's 'mock hollandaise', a riff on which- is a staple for me- mine is basically mustard mayo, plus soy sauce and lemon juice.
 
702551 December 26, 2015
I like mayo and mayo-based sauces (in moderation), but I don't think they maintain their best characteristics very well at warmer temperatures.

Hollandaise is a similar preparation, but the egg yolk is stabilized by cooking.

If you think your mayo-based sauce is as good or superior to something based on hollandaise, well go for it.

I still disagree with the heavy use of raw garlic, but that's just me...
 
amysarah December 26, 2015
That recipe looks great - thanks for the link! Big fan of fried or crispy artichokes of all varieties (Carciofi alla Giudia is probably one of my last meal dishes!) But I like that these are baked.

To your question - I've added mayo to the egg wash in the usual flour-egg-crumb method for chicken/fish and it worked well, baked and fried. I also frequently include grated parm in the seasoned crumb mixture, and don't see why you couldn't add a good dollop of minced garlic - I'd mix it into the mayo mixture - as well. Then serve with lemon wedges to squeeze on top at table. Actually, that sounds pretty delicious. (I wouldn't worry about acrid garlic here either - especially mixed into the mayo and cloaked by the crumb coat...but I love a good garlic hit. Maybe not for highly garlic-adverse or vampire guests.)
 
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