Hi everyone! I love my garden. The new crop of beans is doing great, and I’ve added new lettuce to the lettuce pot. I’m getting excited to harvest them!
But I do want to confess that I am not a vegetable person. I understand the need to eat them, and the dire consequences of avoiding them, but in general, they are not my cup of tea. I could say that I am more of a meat and potato person, but that isn’t really accurate either. I could live on potato chips and dip, nachos, or even just a bag of Doritos.
I will admit that there are a few exceptions, and close to the top of the exception list is artichokes. I absolutely love the taste of a steamed artichoke. We make them quite often, as the grocery stores put them on sale frequently. One single steamed artichoke is enough of a meal for me. A steamed artichoke is slightly sweet and mild, yet rich a satisfying. And eating the choke is an incomparable experience!
If you’ve never eaten a steamed artichoke, they can look a bit intimidating. All you do is pick a leaf off the artichoke. Put the light side (the part that was attached to the plant) into your mouth, pulpy side down, and scrape the soft, pulpy part against your teeth. Just throw out the remaining part of the leaf (you need to have a large bowl for used leaves on the table). Continue until the leaves are pretty much gone. Now you are getting to the choke (the fuzzy part) and the heart (the really delicious part). With a knife or spoon, scrape off the fuzzy part covering the heart. Then you can cut the heart into bit-size pieces and enjoy!
I am a purist when it comes to steamed artichokes. Many people serve the artichoke with a dip, like a vinaigrette, a mayo-based dip, or simply melted butter, but I really like these plain. I don’t like anything taking away the flavor of the artichoke itself, but if I serve them to a group, I would include at least the butter.
Many people also put a mixture of olive oil, parmesan and garlic under each leaf before steaming it. Every time we mention to my Mother-in-Law that we ate steamed artichokes, she asks me if I prepared it the way her mother did, with the oil, parmesan and garlic, and I say ‘No’, and she gives me that look that I’m just not doing it right.
So, this time I did try stuffing the leaves. It did add a really nice Italian flavor, but it also adds cost, prep time and a bit of mess (that might have just been me). It also distracted from the pure artichoke flavor, so I think I will just continue on steaming them in their unadulterated state. Here is my recipe for basic steamed artichokes:
Ingredients
2 fresh artichokes
Juice of ½ lemon
2 cloves of garlic, cut in half
1 slice of onion
2 bay leaves
Instructions
Cut the stem off, leaving about an inch. Slice off ½ to 1 inch off the top of the artichoke. With the kitchen shears, cut off the tips of the leaves. The tips of the leaves are sharp, and they don’t add anything to the dish. Pull off the small leaves at the bottom of the artichokes. Rinse the artichokes under running water, opening up the leaves so the water washes into them.
Put a couple of inches of water into a large pot. Add the lemon juice, cut cloves of garlic, onion slice and bey leaves into the water. Put a steamer basket over the water and place the artichokes on the basket. Turn the burner on high and bring the water to a boil. Cover the pot, turn the heat down to medium, and steam the artichokes for about 45 minutes. Allow them to cool enough to be handled and serve.
If you do want to stuff the artichokes, after preparing the artichokes and getting the pot ready, mix the following:
½ cup grated parmesan cheese
2 tbsp olive oil (add a bit more if it isn’t liquid enough)
2 cloves minced garlic
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
Put a small amount of the mixture in each leaf, and steam as above.
