Marinated BBQ Artichokes and Lancashire Hot Pot

 I feel like I've had an exhausting week in the kitchen...I haven't. But it sure feels that way. 

Hopefully this is a super short post.

Starting with artichokes. I've had spinach and artichoke dip. But nothing else with artichoke. This particular recipe took forever and I could not figure out what the instructions were telling me to do because I'm just not familiar with artichoke. And the vids didn't help. It take forever to boil the chokes, then it takes more time to make the marinade and dressing. And I didn't even use the dressing. Because i figured the whole thing was a bit pointless. I think I threw away the heart- which is supposed to be the best part. And I really don't know what part of the leaves you are supposed to eat. So I quite after marinading it and at as is. The marinade was bomb though.And the dressing was good even though I really freestyle most of it. I didn't grill it- I just figured I would quit while I was ahead. So I ate it with marinade on it. Feels like I wasted a lot of time and energy for very little result. So I probably won't be making anymore artichoke anytime soon or in the next few years.

This was it...I just made rice and quick BBQ chicken to go with.  

Then I grabbed my Unofficial Harry Potter book...I'm heavy into the hearty recipes. This is a Lancashire Hot Pot. Seemingly more well known than the previous Hot Pot I made. I almost used Chuck but decided to just go traditional and use lamb. I've made quite a few lamb dishes this year. This one was OK. I wanted the potatoes to be crispy but it won't be with the way the recipe was written. It wasn't bad. Very filling. I think there are better Lancashire Hot Pot recipes out there though...my favorite way to eat lamb is just seared chops. Wouldn't make it again---- but as always it was nice to try something new.

Doesn't look that great- but it is what it is! 

Pretty unexciting week for me. Maybe next week will be a bit more exciting....