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HOOSING AN ARTICHOKE:
The fresher the artichoke, the tighter the leaves will be to the body, so choose carefully when shopping. They should feel firm to the touch and they sort of squeak when you squeeze them. Lots of dark marks = not a good thing. Baby ones are sometimes available and are especially good and tender for stuffing.
RIMMING THE ARTICHOKE:
Cut off 1" across top and cut stem close to bottom, until they can sit flat in pan.
With scissors, cut off sharp tip of each leaf so people don't get injured while eating.
OOKING ARTICHOKES:
In a deep saucepan, combine 2-3 cups water, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 Tablespoon lemon juice. Bring it to a boil, then stand artichokes in pan, cover and cook for 45 minutes for immediate eating, or only 25-35 if there is additional cooking to be done with them. Drain your pan IMMEDIATELY or it will be stained forever. Alternately, you can steam artichokes, but they do take longer that way.
ATING AN ARTICHOKE:
Eating artichokes is fun and can keep a child busy for a long time. It is interesting how much conversation it evokes and encourages because people must work between bites to get another succulent taste of the meat of the vegetable. To eat a steamed artichoke, just peel off the leaves, one at a time, from the outside of the artichoke...see the little bit of meat that clings to and is part of the lower half of the leaf? Place the inner side of that against the edge of your lower teeth, close your teeth on it to hold it and scrape the meat against your teeth to detach from the leaf. MMMMMMMMMMM! If you use a dipping sauce, dip before scraping. After the majority of leaves are eaten, and the remainder are too tender to scrape without breaking, you should pull those off to reveal the choke (the fuzzy part)...onto a SEPARATE plate, remove all of the hairy fibers and don't eat those or let them mix with the rest. A spoon can be helpful here. the remaining part is called the artichoke "bottom" and is the most delicious part of this vegetable. Simply cut into bite size pieces and dip to eat. Heaven, isn't it?
AUCES:
The sauce you serve with artichokes usually affects the enthusiasm of the eaters. We usually prefer melted butter or a mixture of cold mayonnaise and Dijon mustard, but sometimes it is neat with just a sweet and sassy mustard. The ultimate perfect sauce to me is Bernaise sauce. There are two ways to make Bernaise...one mega easy (from the Knoor package of powdered Bernaise sauce mix), and one not too hard either:
BERNAISE SAUCE:
Boil 1/4 cup good vinegar, 1/4 cut dry white wine, 1 Tablespoon mined shallots or scallions, 1/2 teaspoons dried tarragon or 1 Tablespoon fresh chopped, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/8 teaspoon pepper, rather slowly until liquid is reduced to around 2 Tablespoons (this part may be done way in advance, kept in refrigerator, then micro-reheated). Whiz 3 egg yolks in blender on high speed, Add dribbles of wine mixture-blend for several seconds. Next pour 1-1/2 sticks bubbling hot butter (micro-melted) in a little bit at a time...it will thicken and probably clog your blender so it is best to use one of those hand held blenders. Finally stir in 2 Tablespoons herbs (fresh tarragon and parsley mix is good). Serve warm.
OTTOMS:
The very best part of the artichoke is the bottom! To get a raw artichoke bottom you: Remove stem; starting at bottom snap off each leaf (it leaves a little meat still attached); Keep going until you hit light green core; cut off core above that. Scoop (with knife or spoon) the choke remnants and trim outside of curve to remove the bits of dark green left from leaves. Rub with lemon all over or drop into a bowl of lemon water to prevent discoloration. Cook bottoms by either the cooking method above, or slice and sauté' them. Use these sliced in Pasta ala Misia (see my pasta page ) or for the best bottom recipe around make: Fonds D'Artichauts Farcis (below)
OTTOMS FOR BREAKFAST:
Bernaise Fonds D'Artichauts Farcis Bernaise: Take raw bottom, stand it in a casserole dish and steam (or may do that part in advance then micro-reheat). Fill hollow with mushroom duxelles (available under duxelle chicken in chicken, chicken, chicken recipe at my poultry page ). Make a trough in top of the mushroom duxelle. Cover casserole dish, bake 'til heated through in 300 degree over. Then place a poached egg in each trough. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and fresh parsley. Place each on top of trimmed toast and top each with 2-3 Tablespoons Bernaise Sauce (recipe above under Sauces).
TUFFING:
Artichokes are great "stuffed" which is especially yummy done with tender young baby artichokes. Here is a recipe using full size ones from Palma Maria in Orlando, Florida:
4 large artichokes, boiled then cooped out the chokes, filled with:
1/2 cup fresh pulled white bread crumbs
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh parley
1-2 cloves minced garlic
2 Tablespoons liquid from cooking artichokes
3/4 cup parmesan cheese
1 cup fresh mushrooms, chopped fine
2 chopped hard boiled eggs (optional)
Mix ingredients together with just enough olive oil to moisten and hold ingredients together. Spread artichoke leaves and place 1/4 of filling down into each, filling center cavity. Put the artichokes in a baking pan with 1/2 inch water in bottom. Sprinkle a little olive oil on each. Cover pan with lid or foil. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Drizzle with a little melted butter before serving.
ASSEROLE SIDE DISH:
My Aunt Eleanor makes this quick and easy casserole that is pretty darn good when you need a quickie side dish. In a baking dish, just toss frozen artichoke hearts (micro-defrosted), sliced mushrooms, chopped onion, pressed garlic, tossed with equal parts of butter, olive oil. Then sprinkle liberally with good vinegar and top with either parmesan/breadcrumb mixture or just generous amounts of parmesan. I didn't indicate amounts because the proportions are strictly according to your taste. Also, I usually cut those frozen heart halves in half to facilitate eating bite size chunks.
RITTERS:
This recipe is a little labor-intensive, but well worth it. The recipe is for 6 artichokes. Trim (as for bottoms above) and remove choke from raw artichokes. Cut each into 8 wedges. Fill large pot with water then add:
48 artichoke wedges
1 lemon (squeeze the juice in first, then toss in the rind)
1 Tablespoon Flour
1 Tablespoon white pepper
1 Tablespoon salt
2 fresh sprigs of thyme
1 bay leaf
THE WEDGES: Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until artichokes are just tender, about 10 minutes. Drain and pat dry (this part can be done the day ahead then kept refrigerated and covered like in Tupperware).
THE BATTER: Comine in large bowl: 1 cup flour, 2 egg yolks, 3 Tablespoons olive oil, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper. Gradually whisk in 1 cup flat beer (room temperature). Refrigerate at LEAST 1 hour. Beat 2 egg whites until stiff; fold into batter.
THE FRYING: Dip artichokes into batter in batches; add to oil (peanut: 365-370 degrees in deep fryer) and cook until golden brown (about 7 minutes). Don't crowd. Keep warm in oven (set it at 150 degrees) on baking sheets lined with paper towels. Salt.
THE SERVING: Serve with dipping sauces or tarragon mayonnaise.
