Local Ingredient Cooking Ideas from Robert Irvine

Last week when we as he prepared to revitalize we thought we'd pick his brain on a creative way to use ingredients that are grown here in Santa Cruz County.

An enormous amount of the state's strawberries come from Watsonville, artichokes are grown year-round on the central coast, salmon spawn naturally in Scott Creek, and a large number of Santa Cruz Mountains wineries are producing well-reviewed Pinot noir. 

So we wanted to know what Irvine would do given those four ingredients, all in one dish. If you've seen "Chopped," on Food Network, the premise should sound familiar. 

Irvine's answer as seen in the video above: Artichoke and strawberry crusted salmon, artichoke and asparagus ratatouille and a light Pinot broth.

Not exactly conventional, but it could be pretty good, right? We scoured the Internet for some recipes that somewhat resembled Irvine's idea, if you want to give them a try. 

• Tina's Artichoke Crusted Salmon, from TasteBook.com

• Artichoke Ratatouille, from Food Network's Sandra Lee

• Pinot Noir Sauce, from Chicago Sun Times

If you missed them the first time, we've also got a few of our own articles on great ways to use artichokes and strawberries courtesy of "From the Fields" Columnist Maria Grusauskas.

And if you want to learn more about local Pinot makers, see this edition of Wine Wednesday from last year.

What do you think of Chef Irvine's ideas for local ingredients? How do you use artichokes, strawerries, Pinot and salmon? Tell us in the comments!