Lemon Braised Artichokes and Turkey Sausage

I know it is a zillion degrees outside, but I think my internal clock knows what time it is. I'm starting to get more into the mood for "autumn-y" recipes: that warm, spiced stuff that makes you just feel cozy.



I made this recipe for Cat Cora's Lemon Braised Artichokes, but of course, I changed it just a little bit. I can't find it up on the FoodTV.com site any more, so here it is reprinted, with my changes in italics:

6 artichoke hearts, cleaned and quartered I used the whole quarter with the leaves on, and just cleaned out the needles with a spoon
1 package Italian turkey sausage
1 cup lemon juice (use the fresh stuff!)
2 Tblesp. kosher salt
1 Tblesp. freshly ground black pepper
1 bay leaf
2 Tblesp. finely chopped thyme (I just used 1 tsp. Nonno's seasoning instead, which doesn't actually contain thyme, but what the hell)
1 Tblesp. minced garlic (yes, I added more, even though I used Nonno's)
4 ounces white wine
2 cups extra-virgin olive oil (now, come on, you know I didn't use that much. I drizzled on maybe a half-cup).
I added enough chicken broth to cover everything -- 2-3 cups
chopped parsely, for garnish (skipped it)

You basically bring the mixture up to a boil on the stovetop, and then cook it at 350 degrees covered with foil for an hour. I don't have a Dutch oven, so I brought it to a boil and then transferred it to a large stoneware pan for the oven.

We weren't really sure how to eat what resulted... Was it a soup? A side? An appetizer? I dunno. But we ended up cooking up some small pasta, chopping the sausage, dusting on a lot of Parmesan cheese and eating it as a soup. We just picked out the leaves of the artichokes by hand, scraped those on our bottom teeth, discarded them, and then ate the hearts in with the rest of the soup.

Initial awkwardness aside, I cannot tell you how heavenly this was. To quote a line from my beloved BBC show Chef!, "I have never had a liquid as good as that in my life." I wanted to swim around in a vat of it, drinking it through a snorkel. The original seems like it might have been a a bit oily (and I mean even without me swimming around in it), but the reduction of the oil, and the addition of the chicken broth and the sausage is a change I'm definitely keeping. It keeps for a very long time in the fridge (Cora says up to 3 weeks), and really, you have to try this one out.