Artichokes. I Love Them.

Last week dh came home with three magnificent artichokes. Ninety-nine cents each, which is a great deal.

I have loved artichokes since I was a young girl and my mom and I used to share them. Sometimes I would come home for lunch, since we lived right next door, and we'd have something special, like artichokes. I don't think any of my other six siblings got to come home for lunch.

A couple of months ago, while at the grocery store, a lady passed by with eight artichokes in her basket. They looked like the one in the photo below.


Kind of fat and rounded looking. She said these were the best kind to get and she doesn't see them often, so that's why she was buying so many.

The other thing you want to look for it a thick stem. When the stem is thicker, you end up with more heart, which is the best part of all.


It's very easy to make artichokes. Rinse them in cool water, I like to open the leaves at the outer edges a little bit and rinse inside, to remove any sand. Trim the end of the stem, leaving one inch.

Place a steamer into a pan and add about one inch of water. Bring to a boil and simmer until done. This takes 30 to 40 minutes. You can tell when the artichokes are done by sticking a fork into the bottom of the artichoke. Right above the stem, but below the leaves. Also, when you push against a leaf with a fork and it separates from the artichoke easily, it is done. If it doesn't pull away easily, it's not done yet.

Allow the artichokes to cool for about 10 minutes before eating. Pull off a leaf and dip it into butter, or dip of your choice (I have heard of other people using mayonnaise). Rake the tender bottom of the leaf across your bottom teeth. Continue pulling off leaves until you get down to the very thin and pointy leaves which cover the heart. Pull those little leaves off and discard. Remove the choke by scraping with a spoon carefully until the heart is revealed. The most delicious part of the artichoke. After the choke is removed, slather with butter and salt.

Mmmmmmm....

Until next time.