Give me your fresh artichoke recipes!

June 1, 2013 9:57 PM

I just discovered that you can buy and eat artichokes that are fresh and not canned! We had them steamed tonight, but what are some other options?
posted by HMSSM to Food & Drink (18 answers total)

Artichokes are meant to be stuffed.
posted by katemonster at 10:11 PM on June 1, 2013

Steam them and eat them.

Adding stuff, adding sauces (good grief, mayo), garlic (horrors), oil: all completely unnecessary.
posted by rr at 10:28 PM on June 1, 2013

Best answer: - Cut out the outer tough leaves, boil the tender center.

- In a separate pan, gently fry some bacon in virgin olive oil (don't let the oil overheat), and finally add a teaspoon of flour, stir it in, then add some of the water from boiling the artichokes, and simmer it until the sauce is reduced.

- Put in the artichokes and simmer 5 or 10 more minutes.

Yum.
posted by kandinski at 10:28 PM on June 1, 2013

Best answer: I make a dipping sauce out of mayonnaise, capers, lemon juice, and horseradish. The next day, I mix the leftover sauce with bay shrimp and stuff a leftover artichoke with that mixture for lunch.

BTW, you can them in a pressure cooker to reduce cooking time to 10 or 15 minutes. Put some lemon juice in the cooking water to keep them from turning color.
posted by ottereroticist at 10:37 PM on June 1, 2013 [1 favorite]

After you steam them, we make a dipping sauce with melted butter and parmesan cheese.
posted by CathyG at 10:46 PM on June 1, 2013

With hollandaise sauce.

Lemony, lemony hollandaise sauce.
posted by bilabial at 11:42 PM on June 1, 2013 [1 favorite]

Broil them! (video here)

And, since a broiler is just a grill upside-down, you can grill them too, but the fact that the recipe calls for lowest rack under a broiler, that means lower heat, if you grill them, use the top rack, or build an off-center fire and grill away from the coals. Gas grill, you just fire up only one or the elements, and use the grate away from the flame.

The key skill with bare (outer leaves trimmed) is using acidulated water (water plus lemon juice, but vinegar should work as well for the acid). Artichoke flesh will brown very quickly so you need acidulated water handy to stop the chemical process that browns them. The browning is unattractive, but harmless, as far as I know.
posted by Sunburnt at 11:42 PM on June 1, 2013

Boil them until just about done, cut in half, scoop out choke, brush with oil, grill for 5 min/side. This way, you can use regular grill temps, since theyre already pretty much cooked, and you're just adding grill flavor.
posted by Fig at 2:45 AM on June 2, 2013

Roman style is the best style! (Though I tend to cook them the other way up in a pot just barely big enough for the artichokes to fit. Also I find a spoon works better for removing the choke.)

Or if you are feeling low effort but don't want to do the steaming thing AGAIN try braising them.
posted by aspo at 3:39 AM on June 2, 2013

Roman style IS the best style, but I like the variant with mint, like this one.
posted by jetlagaddict at 6:47 AM on June 2, 2013

... And how could I forgot that other bastion of delicious Roman artichokes, carciofi alla giudia?

I have no artichokes and that is really sad right now!
posted by jetlagaddict at 6:50 AM on June 2, 2013

If you can find some very small artichokes (or even better, some choke-less artichokes) you can eat the whole thing, which really opens up the possibilities.
posted by 445supermag at 7:44 AM on June 2, 2013

Our family's recipe is steamed with a lemon curry mayo. But grilled are also delicious.

Thanks for posting--I can't wait to try out these new options!
posted by emkelley at 7:50 AM on June 2, 2013

Best answer: Our Italian family steams them and then stuffs them with a ground beef mixture like you would use for meatballs or meatloaf. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs and Parmisian cheese. Bake until meat mixture is done. Pull each leaf off with its little meatball thingy and scrape it all off with your teeth. Yum.
posted by tamitang at 8:19 AM on June 2, 2013

Best answer: If you can get the tiny baby ones (golf ball size or smaller), they're very nice fried. Trim the very end of the stems if they're discolored and snap off the toughest of the outer leaves (at this size, it shouldn't be necessary to trim any spines), then cut in quarters vertically, through the stem. Toss well in lightly seasoned flour (a bit of salt and a pinch of cayenne), then shake lightly to remove loose flour. Cook over medium-low, maybe medium heat in a large skillet in half an inch of oil (I use grapeseed oil, but I remember Mario Batali on one of his shows talking about how his grandmother used extra-virgin olive oil for everything including frying, so he does too), until the artichokes are golden, tender, and beginning to get a bit brown and crisp at the edges. Nice plain, or with a squeeze of lemon juice or dipped in your favorite sauce.

emkelley: "Our family's recipe is steamed with a lemon curry mayo. But grilled are also delicious." Recipe/technique for the mayo, please? It sounds very tasty.
posted by Lexica at 10:32 AM on June 2, 2013

Young artichokes are good raw. Try a salad with celery, lemon juice and and parmesan. Fairly sure this is an Italian recipe, and indeed the River Café has a video showing how to do it.
posted by howfar at 11:14 AM on June 2, 2013

Best answer: Steam mostly done, scoop out the choke as above, but then make up a dressing of balsamic vinegar, oil, garlic, herbs, baste them and broil them. It will caramelize and be delightful. It should look and taste like this artichoke from McPhee's Grill. Mine don't yet - I'm going to try marinating them for a while next time.
posted by troyer at 11:42 AM on June 2, 2013

Best answer: Steam them, peel and cut the choke off and make a medallion of the heart and part of the stem.

dip them in a little bit of eggwhite, roll the medallions in fine crushed breadcrumbs and fry them in butter, flip once. they are ready when golden brown and a bit crispy on the outside

you can drizzle them with an aged balsamic or make a dipping aioli... but they are pretty damn good with nothing else on them.
posted by bobdow at 2:16 PM on June 2, 2013