Florentine Almond Artichoke Mounds Food

FLORENTINE ALMOND ARTICHOKE MOUNDS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°. Rinse artichoke bottoms; pat dry with paper towels. Combine spinach with cream, Swiss cheese and 1/2 cup almonds; mix in garlic, horseradish, salt and pepper. Place artichoke bottoms on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Mound spinach mixture on artichokes; sprinkle with remaining almonds., Bake until almonds turn golden brown, 20-25 minutes. Serve hot or at room temperature.

FLORENTINES (ITALY)

Steps:

• Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
• Pulse the almonds in a food processor until finely chopped, but not pasty. Stir together the nuts, flour, zest and salt in a large bowl.
• Put the sugar, cream, corn syrup and butter in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until mixture comes to a rolling boil and sugar is completely dissolved. Continue to boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla, then pour mixture into almond mixture and stir just to combine. Set aside until cool enough to handle, 30 minutes.
• Scoop rounded teaspoons (for 3-inch cookies) or rounded tablespoons (for 6-inch cookies) of batter and roll into balls. Place on prepared baking sheet, leaving about 3 to 4 inches between each cookie since they spread.
• Bake 1 pan at a time, until the cookies are thin and an even golden brown color throughout, rotating pans halfway through baking time, about 10 to 11 minutes. Cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to racks to cool. Repeat with remaining batter. Serve.
• Optional chocolate topping: Put the chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl. Bring a saucepan filled with 1 inch or so of water to a very low simmer; set the bowl over, but not touching, the water. Stir the chocolate occasionally until melted and smooth. (Alternatively, put the chocolate in a medium microwave-safe bowl. Melt at 50 percent power in the microwave until soft, about 1 minute. Stir, and continue heat until completely melted, about 1 to 2 minutes more.)
• For sandwiches: Drop about 1/2 teaspoon chocolate onto on the flat side of half of the cookies and press together with remaining halves. Return to rack and let chocolate set.
• For chocolate decor: Drizzle melted chocolate over Florentines as desired. Set aside at room temperature until chocolate is set.

FLORENTINE SQUARES

Steps:

• Adjust rack to lower third of oven and preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a 12-x-15 1/2-x-1/2-inch baking sheet with aluminum foil, leaving a 2-inch overhang at each short end.
• Batter: Pour the cream, corn syrup, and sugar into a 1 1/2-quart heavy-bottomed saucepan. Stir to combine, then add the butter. Stir over medium-low heat until the butter melts. Then raise the heat to medium, and stir constantly with a wooden spoon--especially toward the end of cooking--to prevent scorching. Cook until the mixture reaches 238 degrees F, the soft-ball stage, on a candy thermometer, about 10 minutes; the mixture will appear between ivory- and straw-colored. Remove from heat, and stir in almonds.
• Pour the mixture onto the center of the foil-lined baking sheet, and spread it in as thin a layer as possible. A pool about 8 inches in diameter is fine. Bake for 3 minutes; then spread the more liquid mixture evenly over the baking sheet. If the mixture still does not completely cover the baking sheet, bake another minute, then tilt the baking sheet to allow the mixture to spread evenly. Bake for about 5 to 6 minutes total, or until golden but not dark brown. Though the mixture bubbles while baking, the bubbles form more slowly toward the end of baking time than at the beginning.
• Place the baking sheet on a wire rack and cool for 2 to 3 minutes. While the mixture is still warm but no longer liquid, cut 1 1/2-inch squares using a ruler and a pastry wheel. If the mixture is too warm, it will not cut cleanly. If it is too cool, it will splinter or not cut; in that case return it to the oven for a few seconds to soften it a bit.
• Decoration: When the squares are completely cool, place the chocolate in a bowl over water at about 120 degrees F. When about two-thirds of the chocolate has melted, remove the bowl from the water. With a dry rubber spatula, stir until the liquid chocolate melts the soft or unmelted chocolate that remains. Fill a small handmade paper cone with the chocolate and snip off the tip. Pipe thin lines of chocolate back and forth over the squares' surface. Refrigerate the squares briefly, just to set the chocolate. Remove from the refrigerator and set aside in a cool, dry place.
• To store, remove squares from the foil and place them in layers, separated by strips of aluminum, in an airtight metal or plastic container in a cool place up to 1 week.

FLORENTINE ARTICHOKE DIP

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease a 7x11 inch baking dish.
• In a medium bowl, mix together the cream cheese and mayonnaise until smooth. Mix in the artichoke hearts, spinach and Parmesan cheese. Season with garlic and lemon juice. Spread evenly into the prepared baking dish.
• Bake covered for 20 minutes. Remove the cover, and let the dish bake uncovered for 5 more minutes, or until the surface is lightly browned.

FLORENTINE ARTICHOKE DIP

Steps:

• Thaw and drain spinach; press between layers of paper towels.
• Drain and chop artichoke hearts.
• Combine spinach, artichoke hearts, garlic, and next 4 ingredients, stirring well.
• Spoon into a lightly greased 11 x 7" baking dish; sprinkle with breadcrumbs.
• Bake at 375 for 25 minutes, and serve with crackers or breadsticks.

ALMOND FLORENTINES

Steps:

• Lightly grease a cookie sheet.
• Arrange graham crackers to fill sheet.
• Melt butter in saucepan and heat it with brown sugar over medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. DO NOT BOIL.
• Spoon mixture over graham crackers.
• Sprinkle with almonds.
• Bake in preheated oven at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 7 minutes.
• Open door and turn off oven; cool in oven for one hour.
• Cut while still warm, otherwise they will stick to pan.