Creamed Artichoke and Potato Ragout

I originally got this recipe from Food o’ del Mundo.This is one of those recipes, where I have to say before hand that my end result does not reflect on the original recipe. I took a lot of liberties with the dish and it turned out delicious. However, the artichokes melted away into a creamy nothing… which was not the intention… although the end result was delicious. It was more like an artichoke cream and potato ragout. Just sayin’.

My original intention was to create this dish, set aside, and eat it at room temperature, like a vegetable potato salad. However, the dish is wetter than I anticipated. Also, I took some liberties with the liquid measurements. Please follow with discretion.

Instead of Yukon potatoes, I used regular small red potatoes (around 4). Perhaps yukons cook faster than regular potatoes? I also used marinated artichokes, rather than peel and cut them myself. However, I think, that was why it couldn’t stand up to being cooked for as long as the potatoes needed to be cooked. I should have added them much later. For the liquid, I used:

• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon coriander powder
• A dusting of crushed peppercorns from the grinder
• 1/3 cup white wine
• 1/3 cup mirin
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1/3 cup of water
• 7 oz of marinated artichokes with the liquid
• 4 small red potatoes diced

I cooked the potatoes for a pretty long time, perhaps this is because I didn’t add enough water to evaporate. In the future, I would put at least a cup of water and boiled the potatoes first. Before the potatoes are tender, I would add the rest of the wet ingredients. This time, though, I added everything in and let it boil then simmer until the potatoes were soft enough.

It took forever for the potatoes to soften. By then, the artichokes were wilted and further mixing made them into a creamy stew-like texture. Not to be deterred after so much time I invested, I added sun-dried tomatoes (I could have added this from the beginning, I see now) and a mixture of pitted olives. I also added a sprig of thyme, a sprig of rosemary chopped finely, and fresh oregano leaves. I let it simmer for an additional 5-10 minutes.

It tasted pretty darn good, even if it wasn’t what I originally intended it to be. I served it piping hot, like an artichoke stew with potatoes. It was very savory and got Ryan’s approval. He said, “I hit it out of the ballpark.” I’ll just leave it like that… so as not to disturb that image. I would definitely make this again… actually… and let the artichokes cream into nothingness. In fact, I mean, it’s a ragout!