Diving Into the Artichoke, That Delicious Mess

[elleng]

'There is something extravagant about trimming an artichoke heart. The vegetable matter is peeled, plucked and trimmed into a messy heap that is larger than the center bit we manage to save.

To an artichoke novice, it can seem absurdly wasteful. And to all cooks, it’s a time-consuming process.

But all that trimming is necessary, and the payoff is big. Biting into a well-trimmed artichoke, without any fibrous distractions, is one of the best things about springtime eating — the joys of asparagus, peas and ramps included.

And I promise, the more practice you get, the easier it is. Pull off any leaf (also colloquially called a petal) that feels thicker than a sheet of newspaper. If you can’t easily bend it with your fingers, it will be too tough to chew, even after cooking.'>>>

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/04/dining/artichoke-recipes.html?

[mchill]

1. Artichokes are one of the many blessings of Spring

And being a lifelong California, they have always been in my world.

[fierywoman]

2. The article didn't mention preparing artichoke

like my very poor neighbor in Venice did: Cook artichoke by steaming. When cool enough to handle, scrape the meat from the leaves with the side of a spoon. Sauté oil and chopped garlic and add the artichoke meat -- serve over pasta (some parsley is nice at the end.) Yum! (This mixture can be frozen.)

[Nitram]

11. Thanks, fiery, we'll try that!

[Nitram]

3. My family has been eating artichokes since we lived in Cyprus in the 1950s.

You don't throw away the leaves on the way in. You scrape off the tender, tasty part at the bottom of each leaf with your front teeth, after dipping it in melted butter. The heart is the desert at the center, which we cut up and drop into what's left of the melted butter.

[Mosby]

4. that's always the way my family ate them

I thought everyone did.

[Nitram]

5. Most people have never eaten a fresh artichoke.

If you don't know how, they look a bit daunting in the supermarket.

[Voltaire2]

8. A shame as they are so easy to prepare whole.

[csziggy]

6. Our family ate them the same way but with mock Hollandaise sauce

Mock Hollandaise sauce

Mix lemon juice with mayonnaise and add Lawry seasoned salt to taste.

[Voltaire2]

7. That's how my parents taught me and how I taught

my kids. Discarding the leaves and serving only the heart is restaurant food or for snobs. Peasants eat the whole thing, dipped out in your favorite sauce and getting all over your hands and face. Plus the occasional nettle needle surprise. It is the vegetarian equivalent of ribs.

[TreasonousBastard]

9. That's pretty much how the Italian branch of my family did it...

although not so much butter.

Artichokes are worth the work.

[fierywoman]

12. And you probably already know that the stems are delish -- just peel them -- and cook

with the rest of the artichoke -- tastes like the dessert part (love the way you put it!).

[northoftheborder]

10. Since I've never eaten an artichoke in my life....

....guess I'd better put that on my bucket list.

[fierywoman]

13. For your first, get a fresh one, not canned.

[catbyte]

14. I grew up in northern lower Michigan, my mom was unique. She had me trying

such exotic fare as artichokes, lobster, and other delicacies in my high chair. My favorites were artichokes. They were a rare find in northern Michigan stores in the 1960's, but mom always found them. This was her way of preparing them and still my favorite:

Steam them so they don't become waterlogged, then serve with browned butter. The nuttiness of the browned butter accentuates the artichoke flavor 10 fold. There may or may not have been a squeeze of fresh lemon, depending on whether we had one on hand or not. Then she always made extra so we could have one cold the next day, the leaves dipped in good mayonnaise. Yum. Oh, and we always drank milk with the artichokes because the artichokes somehow made the milk taste sweet.

Wonderful memories. I miss you, mom.

[Retrograde]

15. The local farmers' market started today

and I was able to get some tiny artichoke buds for deep-fried artichokes - it helps that the main artichoke growing region of the US is just over the hills. These are the immature blossom, and have no choke in the center, and don't need much in the way of trimming.

I associate artichokes with winter, since that's when the frost-touched ones show up in local stores: because they're ugly and somewhat discolored they're cheap. - IMHO sweeter than the pretty ones. As for cooking, I just put them in a pot with about an inch of water and steam them until I can pull off a leaf. Then I just serve them as is , with a big bowl on the table for all the discards. All the leaves usually have a small bit of edible material at the bottom: it may not make for elegant eating, but it's good.