I have never myspaced, friendstered, twittered, or facebooked. And I have certainly never blogged before. Usually my role in Sunday Night Dinner is twofold; I eat and I clean. But this week, we made a spontaneous stop at a farmers market in West LA that we had never visited before and we came across one of my favorite summer treats-- the artichoke.
I love artichokes! And I like them prepared any which way. I like them grilled, gratineed, stuffed, steamed, and fried. I'll take them fresh, frozen or canned. Fresh is best thought they are a PAIN IN THE ASS to prepare. But it's always worth it and this night was no different.
We only got one artichoke knowing that the pot pie would be plentiful. There are many ways to clean or "turn" an artichoke. I'm going to try and explain but google it if you need pictures.
Fill a medium to large bowl with water and squeeze the shit out of a couple of lemons into the water. Grate the zest into the water and add the lemon husks.
Take a sharp paring knife and trim the stem down to a couple of inches (if you have a long stem artichoke, save the stem and steam it with the rest of the artichokes for a marrow-like treat). Remove any small leaves near the step with the paring knife.
The next step is to take your chef's knife or scalloped-edge knife (bread knife) and cut the top of the artichoke so that you remove most of the sharp tips. With your kitchen shears, snip off the remaining thorny-tips.
Now cut the artichoke in half from top to stem. If you'd like (as we did) you can cut them again into quarters. You'll notice that there are fuzzy fibers and small pink leaves that are very sharp at the points. You want to remove all of this. I take the paring knife to cut out what I can, then use a spoon to scrape out the rest. Give the artichoke a rinse under the faucet and drop the artichokes into the lemon water so they don't turn brown. I kept them in this bath, turning occasionally, for about 30 minutes before moving on.
In a large pot, heat some olive oil over medium then add a handful of chopped fresh parsley, a few sprigs ofthyme, one crushed bay leaf, four cloves of smashed garlic and a pinch of red pepper flake. You can really use any fresh herbs you'd like. add the entire bowl-- artichokes, water, lemon and all in with the herbs. Add more water if necessary to cover the artichokes. You can weigh them down by using a lid that's smaller than the lid for the pot you are using. Bring the water to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for about 20 minutes. Strain the artichokes and allow them to cool.
You're just a few minutes away from the well-deserved reward now! Heat some olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the artichokes cut side down and drizzle a good amount of balsamic vinegar over it all. Let them cook for a few minute then move them around, get the backside. You can also do this on a grill for excellent results. It may look like you've burned the artichokes... but you haven't! That's the caramelized balsamic. Transfer to a platter and enjoy. Juicy isn't a word normally used to describe artichokes, but these were the juiciest, best artichokes I've ever had!
All the best,
Adam
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