While perusing the fresh produce at Pusateri’s the other day, this humungous perfect purple long stemmed thistle spoke to me, a globe artichoke. It said take me home and eat me. I took it home, but it wasn’t for about a week that I had the time to give it some attention. Artichokes are in the slow food category. They take a bit of time to prepare. So one Saturday night while I came down from the high of delivering one of my cooking classes, I took that baby out to eat.
It’s not a complicated situation.
Just cut off the top about an inch.
Quickly cut the tips off all the top heartier leaves.
Peel the stem.
Rub the cut portions with lemon.
Place the artichoke(s) in a big pot of water to fit.
Throw in some garlic cloves, a cut lemon, and a couple of tablespoons of good quality olive oil.
Bring to a boil and then simmer for about 20 to 30 minutes until tender.
Skim the bottom of each leaf with your teeth, one by one, until the scratchy choke part is reached.
Remove the choke part, scraping with a spoon.
Devour heart.
Done, done, and done.
Napkin please.
Artichokes hardly need any condiment to make them taste better. That night, craving lemon, I decided to combine:
Sun Dried Tomato Aioli (multiply for the number of people)
1/4 cup low fat mayonnaise
a couple of squeezes of lemon
microplaned lemon rind
1 teaspoon chopped sun dried tomato in oil
And, low and behold this dip was out of this world with the perfect purple thistle leaves, heart, stem and all.