Artichoke (globe) - experiences and suggestions
 

Artichokes are a spring time treat for me. Slim, tender buds, trimmed, sliced, brushed with lemon juice, a touch of garlic and tossed brifly into a hot pan with olive oil and salt and I'm in heaven. Spanish (and Italian) artichokes are my very favourite vegetable.

Plump globe artichokes, with their tough outer leaves and hairy chokes, are another story, and one that I am profoundly unfamilar with.

Two globe artichokes (picked yesterday) were delivered to me today and they are currently bobbing face down in a bowl of salted cold water (to flush out dirt and insects). My husband is arriving back in about 6/7 hours, we don't have an oven, any ideas on how to get the best ot of these beauties?

I like them steamed. Trim the tips and cut the stem flat. Cook them stem down in an inch or two of water. Add a touch of olive oil and wine vinegar and some seasonings (garlic cloves, bay, peppercorns, for example). Then I dip them into a simple mix of melted butter and lemon juice.

You can cut them in half, drizzle with oil and seasonings and bake them, also.

Here's a basic recipe from Moosewood Restaurant.

http://www.recipesource.com/fgv/vege...0/rec0036.html

Sorry, I just noticed you said you have no oven, so baking is out, I guess. :)

This is how I prepare them, FWIW:

With kitchen shears, remove the "thorns" from each leaf, cutting a line across the leaf. You might want to wear kitchen gloves to keep from being jabbed by the thorns. Continue to the thorns at the heart of the artichoke.

Rinse artichokes under running water. I suppose some people will take the time to soak them in salted water, but I don't. In my experience, any insects inside the leaves will stay there regardless of how you try to find them. But it's not that big a deal.

Some people recommend removing the choke before boiling, but it's unnecessary bother.

Place artichokes in a large saucepan and cover with water. Boil until the outer leaves come off easily when tugged on. My guess is forty minutes or so? But I don't know. It depends.

Drain. They can be served hot, with a dipping sauce made of equal parts butter and lemon juice. Only the inside base of each large or medium leaf is edible. When you get to the very small inside leaves, more of the leaf is edible. Then when you get to the choke, scrape it off. What is left is the artichoke base, the very best part. Some of us would call it sublime. :)

(Supply a small plate for the discarded leaves--informal--I hope we are not talking formal here, are we?)

(There is probably a way to cook them so as to preserve the entire artichoke heart, but I've never figured out how to get the heart as tender as those in the cans.)

Artichokes are also good cold. Some people like a dipping sauce of mayo. I personally like them cold and without any dipping sauce, just plain.

I tried them for the first time last week. I put them in a covered pyrex casserole with a couple tablespoons of water and nuked until tender. I think somewhere between 10-20 minutes, I forget.

I melted butter and ate the inside leaf tips and the heart. I could not believe how full I felt after just one.

SceptiCallie has the right idea, clipping off the thorns. They are quite sharp, as I discoved the hard way.

The season finale of 'Lovely Betty' is just about to start so this will be quick.

I liked the idea of steaming these - I'm hoping that the base will cook more quickly than the leaves as they'll be nearer the water.

Even though they are large, the artichokes seem very tender. I've sliced off the very top and smeared it with lemon juice and stripped away some of the outer leaves. They are in a pan now with an inch of water, some vinegar, salt, garlic and a little oil and there they'll stay for the next half hour.

I'll report again later. Thanks! I learnt a lot from both your suggestions^

I wish you'd started this thread before I cooked mine. I did not know that the outer leaves would be bitter. By trial and error, I got to the good stuff.

I steam them
 

However, I use the microwave. It saves a lot of time. Simply wrap them in a soaked paper towel and nuke for about 5 min.

Let sit 2-3 min to cool.

Start peeling. Eat only the "white/yellow" portion. The dark green portion is bitter.

I just use some light Mayo as dipping sauce. Quite good actually.

I'm delighted to report that the artichokes were so good even the dark green parts (which I scraped into with my teeth) were delicious - no bitterness at all. They just got better and better as we progressed.

The steaming method (the water bubbled around the stalks and the artichoke bulb sat entirely above the water line) meant that the base was perfectly cooked. We left the choke in and scraped it away once we finished the leaves - seemed straightforward enough. Thanks also for that tip!

I love the way artichoke leaves make your saliva taste change, 'sweetens' it in a similar way to how licorice does.

We ate them with a home-made hollandais sauce (flavoured with a little lemon).

I just prepared kohlrabi for the first time too...

Artichokes are naturally bitter, Bamavol; they're the base of the Italian aperitif Cynar, which makes anything you eat after it taste sweet. You probably just got used to the taste after eating the outer leaves. I don't think wine is recommended to accompany artichokes.

If you want to get a little fancy, cut off the stem at the base of the choke so it can sit flat, pull off the grungier bottom leaves, saw off the top of the choke (and trim off those nasty thorns if you want to). Soak the artichokes in lemon juice or vinegar water to prevent discoloration (I've never heard of the salt water treatment). When ready to cook, make a hole the middle of the choke, by gently working your fingers among the leaves. Pour a couple of tablespoons of Italian/herb salad dressing (preferably homemade) into the center of the choke, nudge the leaves closed around the choke, and steam the artichoke, leaves up, until tender, about 20-35 minutes. The dressing will leak into the water but will leave its flavor. Serve hot, lukewarm, or cold, with or without dipping sauce. Dijon mustard whisked into mayo is a nice easy dip with cool/cold artichokes.

Trim leaves and steam then steam using the microwave method.
Slice in 1/2 and remove the fuzzy choke. Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with your favorite seasonings. Grill on each side until very light charred.

I think red wines can be pretty tricky with artichokes, but some whites are nice.

Here's a good article on artichoke-wine pairing from The Wine News. They basically recommend a dry white with high acid like Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Gris or Pinot Blanc, depending on how the artichoke is cooked or the type of sauce being served with it.

Sometimes, I have a steamed artichoke for dinner along with a bit of lemon-butter dip, and I often have a glass of white wine with it.

I cut off the bottoms (okay, I leave an inch), bung them in a pan with three inches of water, some salt with herbes de provence) and cook the hell out of them. No, maybe until the leaves come out easily.

TH likes them with mayo, I like them with salt and lemon juice.

We have about four plants right now, but it doesn't look good for artichokes this year. Usually we get a bumper crop.

We eat six a week, easy.

lala

Glad to hear your 'chokes turned out fabulously, LapLap.

I agree with most suggestions, except microwaving. (I just plain don't use microwaves.) YMWV.

To speed up cooking, I cut them down the center and arrange them flat-side, stem-side down in the steamer basket. Halved that way, they also look nicer on a dinner plate.

Right now we are getting HUGE globe artichokes-with the delicious long stem attached.
I rinse them very well under cold running water,trim the leaves(cutting of teh tips.slice off the very crown end,and trim the base-leaving a good 3 inches of stem.Rub all cut surfaces very generously with a fresh cut lemon-I even squeze a half lemon into the crown end.
Make sure you have a good deep steamer that will hold a lot of water.The ones I cooked last week took a full half hour to steam.
I place the lemon bits left over in the staemer basket with the artichokes-and a good amount of sea salt into the water.
Steam till you can easily pierce the base with a pot fork.
I prefer artichokes cool/room temp with good mayo.The base and stem end can be peeled and reserved for use in a cassarole(I layer them with freh crab meat and cheese)or a delicious omelet filling.

By the way, artichokes have been unusually expensive in the markets this spring (East Coast). What's up with that?