Came home with some lovely, heavy, large artichokes - first I have purchased this year.
I think I’ll make and serve them as we had them growing up: simply steamed in plain water and then a curry mayo (just mayonnaise with curry powder stirred in) for dipping.
I know people do more fancy things with artichokes, both in the cooking and the accompaniments - how do you prep and serve them?
Simple is best with subtle flavored vegetables. We typically clean, steam and drizzle a light olive oil, some fresh lemon juice, s&p, and serve with jarred roasted peppers and a mix of flavored olives as part of a very casual cheese plate.
I’m too lazy to prep them, but when I do I steam. Like to eat them with this sauce: olive oil, pounded anchovies, garlic, capers. Pound the solid ingredients and add OO. Dip the each section (?) in the sauce.
I like artichokes every which way: stuffed, braised in white wine, mandoline-d raw with lemon and shaved parm, steamed with curry mayonnaise. And I recently came across this excellent recipe for monkfish piccata with artichokes (I substituted broccoli rabe for the kale).
It’s interesting, when I talk to people who grew up eating artichokes (I’ve found many haven’t) there are two camps that seem to be regionally driven - with mayo or with butter.
We were a butter dipping family (WI).
Because SOMEBODY has to post this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNSzZvEkoDE
“It might choke Artie, but it ain’t gonna choke Stymie!” Pete the dog’s dubious expression is almost funnier than Spanky’s and Stymie’s.
Quarter (or in your case since yours are larger, 1/8?), sautee with garlic and salt, then finish with a little water in the pan to steam until texture is just right.
Take minute to snip off thorns by trimming a half inch from each leaf. Spread leaves from middle to expose choke. Use teaspoon to scrape out choke/flower and expose heart to opening created by spreading leaves. Invert in pot with no more than inch of water – steam until done. This method makes for more even cooking of all the tasty bits. We like it chilled with mayos of whatever flavors someone devises – (of course we like choosing from all the mayos at frites stands in Belgium).
I grew up eating them! About a half hour drive from Watsonville, aka “the artichoke capitol of the world” hahaha, that town is a blink and you miss it kind of place.
We would flop them whole (no trimming, no fussing) into the steamer. Then served room temp with mayo (best foods) and the salt shaker nearby.
Baby artichokes were always the preference since they steamed faster and had a fairly large edible heart/steam without having to scrape out the fuzz.
I don’t understand stuffed artichokes with stuffing between the leaves (so weird and fussy to make) but i do like jarred marinated artichoke hearts, and have had some wonderful grilled artichoke hearts and long stems at a fancy italian restaurant that were simply dressed with an obscene amount of olive oil and some lemon.
Wait, what? I thought that was Castroville! I have a shirt and everything.
You obviously did not spend any quality time in your youth at the Feast of San Gennaro. Fussy, yes. Weird, no.
Ah yes ,Castroville . I like mine simple like you. Steamed, some mayo good to go. I do want to try Presuntos anchovies, garlic , caper dressing. I have a nice globe I am cooking up tonight.
The best I ever have were served to me in Rome . Carciofi alla giudia . Fried to perfection . I did make these at home . Beautiful artichokes from Castroville. Some nice olive oil. Some recipe where I searched deep on the internet.
Wow…I’ve got to be honest I would probably get those tested, I think those artichokes have been doping with some Russian Olympians.
Snip leaves, boil in lemon water. Spread leaves, stuff with seasoned breadcrumb garlic and parmesan cheese, garlic and did I mention garlic? Lastly I place a piece /chunk of a sharp provolone in the heart and drizzle a little olive oil over them. Place in a pan with chicken stock, bake 20-30 mins…(the breadcrumbs will dictate time) plate and serve with said chicken stock in bowl and a little drizzled across the artichoke.
(I was recently introduced to a method where you use almost equal parts breadcrumbs with a shredded cheese mix, rather than grated parm which I use. This produces a much more chewy / cheesy stuffing which I have really enjoyed)
@sck very interesting I have never seen that preparation before. Interesting…do you eat the entire thing then or still just pick the leaves?
@ratgirlagogo you beat me to it!!
Did I mention I use garlic in my recipe?
DH likes a similar prep … I toast breadcrumbs in butter and olive oil, add cheese, finely chopped shallot, garlic and prosciutto, season, stuff and steam in chicken stock, wine, lemon, garlic
into a hot oven for a few minutes before serving to crisp … these are labor intensive and I try to keep DH out of the supermarket when they are in season … these particular artichokes were the size of a baby’s head
old pics
Raw sliced artichoke salad is great. Never seen offered outside restaurants in Nice, will replicate at home some day.
The raw tender inner leaves and heart of an artichoke is sliced with a mandolin. Simply served on top of arugula, topped with shaved Parmesan and drizzled with evo.
Eating artichokes raw may not be ordinary, but so very delicious.
A picture off Google, with mint:
I’m gonna be honest- never in my life have I seen artichokes that big and beautiful!
I’ve never learned how to cook fresh artichokes because what we get here are really small and not worth the effort.
Oh good lord, yes castroville…!
Ha!! Yup that’s the silly famous restaurant… they used to have a big chest freezer right inside the front door where they sold bags of the famous fried artichoke hearts frozen, you just bake them at home. They stopped doing that a long time ago now, but for years we would make a point of getting some for christmas day appetizers
This looks wonderful! I’ve had the heart in a raw salad, but didn’t know that the leaves could be prepped that way too.
Similar to the salad, I like to slice the heart thin with a mandolin and lightly sautée it in olive oil, and serve it with a shaved cheese like parmesan.
