Artichokes Dunbar
I’ve been meaning to post this recipe for a while. When the NY Times printed the original recipe, I figured it was as good a time as any. Oysters Dunbar is a classic Creole dish, created by a restauranteur by the name of Corine Dunbar. This kosherized version doesn’t attempt to replace the oysters - the artichokes alone make for a tasty casserole.
Artichokes Dunbar
Courtesy of the Levin Family1/4 stick margarine
2 large onions, chopped
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 large can of sliced mushrooms (16 oz)
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried parsley
2 cans artichoke hearts, drained & quartered
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 lemon, sliced into thin circles
bread crumbs to garnishMelt the margarine and saute the onion until transparent. Preheat oven to 350F.
Add the flour to the onions and stir until you have a smooth paste.
Drain the mushrooms, saving the liquid. Add enough water to mushrom liquid to make one cup total. Add the liquid to the pan.
Add the spices and mix well.
Add the mushrooms and quartered artichoke hearts. Mix and turn flame to low. Allow mixture to thicken.
Transfer to a lightly greased, 8″x8″ square casserole. Sprinkle bread crumbs to cover and lay lemon slices on top. (We place the lemons in a 3×3 matrix as a serving guide.)
Bake for about 40 minutes or until top is lightly browned.
Is this dry enough to be placed on a plata or blech for Shabbat lunch? It looks like it doesn’t have a lot of liquid left after cooking. (My criteria for placing something on the plata is whether liquid comes out of the pan when it’s tipped sideways — it’s OK if the food is moist.)
Absolutely no problem. It has a soft, but kugel-like consistency. Similar to a squash kugel. No liquid would come out. Let us know how it turned out.
I tried it and it was great, but it had a LOT of liquid. I had to serve it at room temperature (which was fine). I don’t know what I did wrong. I did use fresh mushrooms rather than canned, but I cooked them down before I added them.
I’m glad you liked it. I can’t say why you had so much liquid - I’ve never had a problem. Any recipe with a 1:2 ratio of flour-to-liquid shouldn’t be too ‘drippy’, unless one of the other ingredients added water. Perhaps the mushrooms weren’t cooked down enough?
I get lots of guff (you know who you are), for using canned mushrooms in this recipe, but I stand by it. As much as I appreciate fresh ingredients, sometimes putting a recipe together from what you have in the pantry is the best you can do. (Did I mention that we have 5 kids?) If you’re already using canned-artichokes, would a can of mushrooms be that bad?
Yes.
But thanks for the recipe. I’ll try it again.