Parmesan Artichoke Bottoms

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                            FOOD FUNNY
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Thanks to Rosemary Zwick for this one:

An old man goes to a diner every day for lunch. He always orders the
soup du jour. One day the manager asks him how he liked his meal. The
old man replies, "It was good, but you could give a little more bread."
So the next day the manager tells the waitress to give him four slices
of bread. "How was your meal, sir?" the manager asks. "It was good, but
you could give a little more bread," comes the reply. So the next day
the manager tells the waitress to give him eight slices of bread. "How
was your meal today, sir?" the manager asks. "Good, but you could give a
little more bread," comes the reply. So the next day the manager tells
the waitress to give him a whole loaf of bread with his soup! "How was
your meal, sir?" the manager asks, when he comes to pay. "It was good,
but you could give just a little more bread," comes the reply once
again. The manager is now obsessed with seeing this customer say that he
is satisfied with his meal, so he goes to the bakery and orders a
six-foot-long loaf of bread. When the man comes in as usual the next
day, the waitress and the manager cut the loaf in half, butter the
entire length of each half, and lay it out along the counter, right next
to his bowl of soup. The old man sits down and devours both his bowl of
soup, and both halves of the six-foot-long loaf of bread. The manager
now thinks he will get the answer he is looking for, and when the old
man comes up to pay for his meal, the manager asks in the usual way:
"How was your meal TODAY, sir?" The old man replies: "It was good as
usual, but I see you are back to giving only two slices of bread!"

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                            TODAY'S RECIPE
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One of the secrets to preparing meals on the run is to maintain a well
stocked pantry. Having a few canned items on hand, such as the artichoke
bottoms in this dish, will fuel your creativity even when time is short.

Parmesan Artichoke Bottoms

2 14-ounce (390 g) cans artichoke bottoms, rinsed, drained, and patted dry
1 1/2 cups (375 ml) grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup (125 ml) mayonnaise
2-4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 Tbs (15 ml) fresh lemon juice
1 tsp (5 ml) grated lemon peel
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1/4 cup (60 ml) pine nuts (pignoli)

Place the artichoke bottoms round side down in a lightly greased baking
dish. Combine the remaining ingredients except the pine nuts in a small
bowl and stir to combine. Mound the Parmesan mixture on the artichoke
bottoms and sprinkle with the pine nuts. Bake in a preheated 350F (180C)
oven until heated through, about 5 minutes.
Serves 4 to 6.
Received on Mon Feb 1 18:42:07 2010