How to cook and eat an artichoke
Don’t be intimidated by an artichoke. They are easy to prepare and easy to eat. Our family has been eating them since I was a little girl, we loved them as kids and still adore them as an adults. I can’t wait until they come in season, which is March through May. My brother Chuck always picked his birthday dinner of steak and artichokes. The next generation, my nieces, love them too. So, give them a try.
Pick artichokes heavy for their size and with nice tight leaves. I give them a squeeze, it will give a lot if they are not dense, pick one that doesn’t give. Be careful the tips of the leaves have thorns. Pull off the little leaves and toss them in the compost.
Using kitchen shears trim off the thorny tips of the leaves along the sides. Next take a knife and cut off the top with all the thorns and finally trim off a bit of the stem. Now they are ready to cook.
Rinse artichokes thoroughly and place upside down in a large pot; fill the pot about half way up the sides of the artichokes. Cover with a lid; bring to a boil and then turn down heat to simmer. Artichokes take anywhere from 45 minutes to a bit over an hour to cook. To check when they are done; pierce with a fork between the stem and the leaves. If the fork goes in with ease it is done, this is to see if the heart is tender.
How to eat an artichoke: the first picture the artichoke is cooked and sitting there so upright and perfect. In picture 2 I pull off a leave, see the succulent meat at the bottom of the leaf? Eat plain or dip in some lemon butter by putting the leaf your teeth and scrape off the tender meat with your teeth. Picture three is an eaten leaf. Maybe this is why little kids love them so much, you get to eat them with your hands and dip them in butter or a sauce. How fun is that?
As you are enjoying each leaf, you will notice they will become smaller and thinner as you get closer to the heart. In the first picture, I have a few leaves and I just bite them off, see picture two. Just eat the tender part of the leaves. Picture three; I am to the choke, the fuzz in the artichoke heart. It reminds me of a babies brush, you don’t eat this.
To remove the choke simply use your fingers and pull out the choke or use a spoon and scrape it out. This artichoke had very little choke while others will resemble the baby brush I mentioned. Now we are to the best part, the succulent heart of it all. We have been teased with the bits of meat on each leaf and now my mouth is watering!
Eat this and enjoy it your way. The stem is edible too. I eat the stem first and then I saver each bite of the heart. It is so good.
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4 Responses to “How to cook and eat an artichoke”
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Haylow Cathy,
I LOVE Artichokes! I even tried growing them in Ohio. You start them one year and winter them over and pick ‘chokes the next year. They started well, but didn’t winter over. I haven’t tried growing them in KY, might be worth a shot. Still probably easier to buy them, even here, where I have to go to the “big city”(Ashland or Morehead). I have to go there to buy beer anyway, (thanks to the bible thumpers!)
I saw artichokes being grilled at an artichoke festival on TV. They just threw them on the grill whole. That might be fun to try! Yers Trooly, Farmer John
Hello Farmer John!
I’m buying more artichokes today, my niece is coming for dinner and that is her veggie pick of the day. Hmmm….to grill artichokes? I think you would have to pre steam them first. They take a long time to cook and I think on the grill they would dry out or get burned.
If you try it let me know 🙂
CATHY
Finally remembered my password—–I must be lazy, I didn’t bother to trim off the thorns before boiling. This year I tried cooking it in the microwave, it took less time than boiling on top the stove.
Did it stay moist and tender? Did you put it in a covered dish with water?