Artichokes?

eveled

eveled

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I just re discovered artichokes. Turns out they are loaded with nutrients and considered a superfood.

Being a diabetic carbs are a problem. Artichokes take so long to eat they fill the void the potato chips and other snacks left in my life.

Anybody else like them? How do you prepare them? I’d love some recipes, especially ones without breadcrumbs.

Every recipe starts with cut the tops off trim the points off the leaves. Now you can boil, steam, grill, or bake.

The ones I did today were pretty good. I opened them a little. Lemon juice olive oil garlic and Parmesan. Wrapped in foil baked at 400 for 1 hour.

Next time I may steam them then cut them in half scoop out the choke, then stuff and bake them.
 
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I rarely get fresh artichokes but when I do I’ll give them a quick boil in saltwater then split and clean them. I’ll make a compound butter with 1 stick of softened real butter, 1oz of Ms Dash garlic and herb, 1oz of Spice World roasted garlic, 1-2 oz of shredded Parmesan cheese and spread it liberally and convection bake at 425*F.

I do the same with sliced squash and zucchini baking for 20-25 minutes.
 
Trim them. Steam them. Then serve. Pluck each petal and eat the base of it Some folks dip the petals into mayo. My parents used to dip the petals into melted butter. I prefer them plain.
Once the petals are gone, remove the choke and eat the heart. Both my wife and my mother were San Franciscans. Artichokes have always been a staple for me.
 
I’ve never bought raw artichokes and prepared them myself. I’d have no idea what to do. I do eat already prepared ones pretty often though. They go great on a salad.

I make a killer dip with them using mayo, sour cream, chopped bacon, and a few other things.
 
Thanks for the tips guys. I’ll definitely be eating them more often. So it helps to know how others cook them.

My mother always stuffed and baked them. They were a novelty for us as kids. But I think I just ate the stuffing off the leaves and likely never made it to the center.

Eating the hearts on a salad made me want to try a whole artichoke again. So I baked them. Definitely going to try them steamed next.

Seems really strange to be excited about a vegetable. The further you get from eating junk food the more you appreciate subtle flavors.
 
I’m afraid of pressure cookers. I’ve seen kitchens after they have exploded.

My grandmother loves hers and I know how great they are.
 
I’m afraid of pressure cookers. I’ve seen kitchens after they have exploded.

My grandmother loves hers and I know how great they are.
 
I steam them and dip the leaves and heart in a mayo, mustard, and lemon juice mixture. I started adding a dash of worcestershire and or hot sauce to the dip.

Do you want to eat a quarter cup of mayo? Don't be disgusting
Here is an an artichoke
I might need more mayo...
 
Pressure cooking sounds like overkill for an artichoke. It doesn't take long to steam, and butter, olive oil and lemon juice are good dressings if you want a dressing.

Cynar is an artichoke flavored bitter liqueur manufactured by the Campari Group. Even if you love artichokes, taste it before investing in a bottle. It is not for everyone.

 
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Piso Mojado said:
Cynar is an artichoke flavored bitter liqueur manufactured by the Campari Group. Even if you love artichokes, taste it before investing in a bottle. It is not for everyone.
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Think I'll pass on that one.
 
One thing I noticed. When you pull the choke off, The flesh at the base of the hairs is the most delicious part of the artichoke. But the hairs make it hard to eat.

If you buy really small artichokes you can eat the whole choke. The hairs are soft.

D De Plano That dressing sound good. I like to use Mayo to dip into when eating cold artichokes but not hot ones.

Piso Mojado Piso Mojado that commercial is a riot. I don’t think I even want to try it let alone buy a bottle.
 
eveled said:
that commercial is a riot. I don’t think I even want to try it let alone buy a bottle.
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The Campari Group is a big'un that buys other bitters distillers well known in the EU or at least in Italy. They bought Cynar in 1995 and Cynar TV commercials can be pretty funny, although not quite on the elevated crazy level of old Woodpecker Cider commercials.


Campari is great stuff with lots of fans; it lasts for quite a while opened, and its only drawback is high cost with no cheaper substitutes. I've found other Italian bitters an acquired taste I did not wish to acquire. Aperol is another old-time bitter owned by the Campari Group. I found it on sale marked way down, bought a liter, tasted, and poured it all down the drain.
 
eveled said:
One thing I noticed. When you pull the choke off, The flesh at the base of the hairs is the most delicious part of the artichoke. But the hairs make it hard to eat.
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That's the "heart".
Once you get to the base of the petals, you can use a knife or a spoon and scrape the hairs off. They form a discrete layer. It is not hard to remove them.
 
I know about the heart. I meant the flesh that pulls away with the hairs. I guess it’s just the top layer of the heart.

If you pull the hairs off in clumps you can suck the base of the hairs.
 
Piso Mojado said:
The Campari Group is a big'un that buys other bitters distillers well known in the EU or at least in Italy. They bought Cynar in 1995 and Cynar TV commercials can be pretty funny, although not quite on the elevated crazy level of old Woodpecker Cider commercials.


Campari is great stuff with lots of fans; it lasts for quite a while opened, and its only drawback is high cost with no cheaper substitutes. I've found other Italian bitters an acquired taste I did not wish to acquire. Aperol is another old-time bitter owned by the Campari Group. I found it on sale marked way down, bought a liter, tasted, and poured it all down the drain.
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My girlfriend puts aperol in champagne I think. It is one to add to stuff not to guzzle on its own.
Creme de cassis is great in an el diablo, unless you add a tad too much. I mean a tad, it can ruin a drink right quick, but it also sort of makes the drink also
 
Love artichokes. A quick steam and then split in two, scrape out the choke with a spoon and then onto a hot grill to char up a bit.
 
knarfeng said:
That's the "heart".
Once you get to the base of the petals, you can use a knife or a spoon and scrape the hairs off. They form a discrete layer. It is not hard to remove them.
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Thanks for the tip. Scraping worked better than the pulling technique I was using. I was pulling part of the heart out with the leaves.
 
De Plano said:
My girlfriend puts aperol in champagne I think. It is one to add to stuff not to guzzle on its own.
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Her drink is called an Aperol Spritz: 1 to 1 or 2 to 3 Aperol and Prosecco, Cava, Champagne, any drinkable sparkling white wine in your spritzer budget (around here it's usually Cava) and a splash of seltzer. My wife doesn't drink, so I never open sparkling wine unless we have company. I substituted Aperol for Campari in a Negroni and an Americano, and it was too sweet. Next time it's on sale, I'll try Aperol again (but not a liter).
 
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