Doc V's Healthy Kitchen

Today is Iris’ birthday. No surprise party, no fancy restaurant, normal working day and docv will take care of an intimate dinner.Raw artichokes in cups of filo pastry is an easy and delicious starter. Clean and chop 4 super fresh baby artichokes. Mix with the juice of 1 lemon, lemon zeste, pepper, salt, fresh basil and olive oil.

Prepare the cups in a muffin tray. Use 1 sheet for each sheet. Brush olive oil in between the layers. Bake the cups in the oven at 200° for 10-15mins, until golden crispy.

Fill the cups with the artichokes. Serve.

Thanks to the ‘Union Oyster House’ cookbook (from America’s oldest restaurant in Boston) I’m inspired to prepare a real clam chowder.Clean 750 grams of real vongole and some other shells (vongole verace and fasolaro).

Heat a pan with a drizzle of olive oil. Pour the shells in the pan. Add 125 ml of white wine and allow to evaporate. Cover the pan and stir regularly. Once all the shells are open, stop the fire. Drain and keep the stock. Remove the shells and store in the fridge. Chop and fry 1 onion and 4 garlic cloves. Heat a pan and melt 2 teaspoons of butter. Add the onion, garlic and 1 table spoon of dried thyme. Bake and stir. Add the clam stock. Add 2 diced potatoes. Allow to simmer for 10-15 minutes, until the potatoes are almost ready. Add 200 ml of cream ( it’s a birthday dinner 😉) and the seafood. Heat the chowder. Taste and finish with Worcestershire and fresh parsley. As a little extra, I baked 2 (halved) scallops in a little drizzle of olive oil to put in the middle of a dish.

Thanks, Michel and Gerda, for the lovely cookbook and for your awesome daughter-birthday girl. ❣