Artichoke Basics

Ah, the artichoke, an early sign of summer, and a vegetarian splendor. 

Baby artichokes from the Mar Vista Farmer's Market

     The artichoke has been a staple dish in my family since I can remember. My mom always prepared them in a pressure cooker, and served them with melted butter for dipping; A simple preparation that highlights the great natural flavors of the artichoke, it really needs nothing more.

     However, in recent years, I've noticed roasted or grilled artichokes showing up on appetizer menus, usually served with a wedge of lemon and garlic ailoi sauce for dipping.  Lemon, garlic, and butter, are an artichokes best friends. I find that grilling the artichoke brings in the flavors of the grill, which are nice, but take away from some of the natural sweetness of the vegetable. Besides, steaming and roasting allow the artichoke to keep a lot of it's nutrients.

     Artichokes are so lovely and ornate, they're even used for bouquets and floral design.  But did you know that the globe artichoke is one of the highest fiber vegetables, proving close to 25% of our daily intake? They're also high in that 'brain food,' folate, and have been found to lowers cholesterol, and support the liver & circulatory system.

     I can sometimes make a whole meal out of just one big globe artichoke, which is why I've decided to showcase the most basic preparation, that I make most often. But, should you decide you'd like to get fancy, I tried my hand at homemade aioli, and I have to say, it's to die for! I offer a quick mayo-based version, as well as a from-scratch-impress-your-guests version at the end of this recipe.


Get ready to fall in love...

Simple Steamed Artichoke

Ingredients: 

• 1 or more medium to large globe artichokes
• 1-2 lemons
• water
• butter or soy-free vegan butter (I like Earth Balance)

Equipment:

• stainless steel vegetable steamer
• large saucepan, dutch oven, or pressure cooker

step 1.
     place your vegetable steamer inside your saucepan or pressure cooker. Add enough cold water so that you can just see the water level peeking through the holes in the steamer. It should only be a few inches in the pot.

My mom grew this beautiful produce

step 2.
     Trim your artichoke. First, pull off the first layer or two of the smallest leaves around the stem. Slice off the stem as close to the base of the artichoke as you like. This part is edible, but it's stringy. I usually leave about 1cm of stem so the artichoke can easily stand upright. Slice a lemon in half, and immediately rub the juice side on fresh cut. Otherwise your artichoke will begin to brown quite rapidly. Next, with a serrated knife, cut off the top third of the artichoke; enough to get rid of any sharp tips, and expose some of the center. The picture above should give you a pretty good idea. Now, rub the lemon all over the top of the artichoke, because again, we don't want any browning.

step 3.
     Slice your lemon up and add it to the water in your sauce pan. This infuses a hint of lemon flavor during the cooking process, and again, keeps the artichokes nice and green. Place your artichokes upright in your vegetable steamer, cover and boil at med-high to high heat for approx. 40 min- 1 hr depending on how large your artichokes are, and how many you've placed in the steamer. My steamer usually fits 3-4 artichokes at a time. You know it's done, when the outermost leaves pull off without any effort.

Step 4.
    Remove from heat. You may need to use a pair of tongs to turn your artichoke upside down before plating.; Sometimes a little water can settle inside.  Warm a small bowl of 1-2 Tbsp. of butter, and dip your leaves in, and enjoy! You'll need a bowl for discarding leaves, because if you didn't know, you only eat the tender base of each leaf by scraping it with your teeth.

uncooked artichoke with the hairy choke exposed

     When you get to the pokey leaves, and the hairy middle, called the"choke," prepare to dig for treasure! For beneath those pokey leaves (which you shouldn't eat), lies the delicious prize, the "heart," of the artichoke. A spoon should easily separate the choke from the heart, although a little scraping may be necessary. I like to put the heart into my bowl of butter, and slice it in to triangles like a pie. Have fun. I guarantee, this is the best part!

Melted butter, globe artichoke, and pimenton aioli

Quick Aioli

(This is Gwyneth Paltrow's recipe verbatim)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup mayonnaise or your favorite vegan mayo

1 small clove garlic, finely minced or grated

1/4 tsp. paprika

1/2 tsp. fresh lemon juice

salt & pepper

the only step. 

     Whisk everything together, adding more of any ingredient to suit your taste. 

Gwyneth is so simple. Dip your artichoke in that or....

Aioli de Luxe

(Adapted from Daniel Boulud's recipe, as heard on The Splendid Table)

Ingredients:

• 4 large cloves garlic, peeled
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 3 tablespoons water
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups canola oil
• 1 tsp hungarian paprika or pimenton (spanish paprika)

Equipment:

• Blender, food processor, or immersion blender

step 1.

     you're going to double blanch 3 cloves of garlic. First, cut each clove in half lengthwise. The green germ should be visible. Daniel Boulud is a famous French chef, and he says the garlic germ is bitter, and I believe him. Pull the germ out, and discard.

     Put the 6 halves of garlic with a few inches of cold water, in a small saucepan, and bring to a boil. As soon as the water is boiling, discard the water, and put fresh cold water back in with the garlic. Bring to a boil again, and then discard the water. Set aside.

step 2. 

     Poach one egg. Bring a few inches of water to boil in a small saucepan, along with vinegar and a pinch of salt. Break an egg into a cup or a small bowl. Once the water is boiling, slowly slide the egg into the water and simmer for 2 minutes. Use a spooon to fish out the egg, and set it on a towel to dry. The yolk should be runny, but the white should be cooked.

Did you know the word yoga comes from the sanskrit word for yolk?
The eggs from my mom's chickens have such beautiful orange yolks.

step 3.

     I didn't have a food processor or blender available, so I used my immersion blender for the next step, but a blender is really best. Combine, your blanched and fresh garlic, poached egg, water, salt, and mustard and blend until smooth. The next step is REALLY important!

step 4.

     Slowly, while the blender is on, add the olive oil in a steady, slow sltream. The slower the better. Did you get that? Add the oil slowly. The liquid in the blender should begin to thicken. Keep that blender going. Next, add the canola oil at the same slow pace, and pretty soon, your sauce should develope into a mayonaise like texture. Last, blend in your spice. Pimentón is just Spanish paprika. The guy at Sprouts recommended Hungarian paprika for me.

     I could not keep my artichoke leaves away from this sauce. Crazy good! And now I have a whole jar to play with. I think I'm going to try it on a sandwich, or maybe an eggs benedict, especially since my egg poaching skills are now so steller.  



Yum, yum, yum!

Hope you had a great time learning about artichokes. Please "Like" my facebook page, or become a subscriber to this blog to show your support! I love you, my foodie friends!
Thanks for reading.