Artichoke fail

[Tengu]

I am not a big fan of veg (except roots) but one I do enjoy is the Globe Artichoke, said by many to be the queen of veg.

So, I boil it until a leaf pulls free

And I douse in butter.

And I chew

And chew

And chew.

And after all that I have a lot of fibre...the artichoke is too tough and I have only chewed off a little.

I picked a budded artichoke, not one on the plant that is busy being a thistle flower!

Wrong cooking or wrong artichoke?

 

[Janne]

mmmmmmmmmmmmm

 

[Robson Valley]

Yup. Just the fleshy leaf bases in my house dipped in melted butter + lemon juice. Then trim and dice the flower base > lemon butter.
I like to use artichokes to slow down a meal, especially with the kids. Some meal times were like piharana with blood in the water.
Sure leaves piles of shrapnel for the compost heap.

 

[starsailor]

When cooked, pull the leafy parts off one by one - dip in butter etc if you like, at this stage - then suck out the flesh on the thicker end (where it joins the stem) by pulling it through your teeth - discard the fibrous leaf bits afterwards. The heart is eaten separately. HTH

 

[Janne]

Mmmmmmmmmmmmm

 

[hughlle1]

I just buy it in oil from the deli counter lovely stuff

 

[Toddy]

The microwave does a good job of them.
Wash the globe again (you want them damp going into the micro so they kind of steam) Trim off the stem (if it's juicy inside you can cook it too for the innard is a bit like the 'heart', if it's woody, or dark, best just discard it)
Put the head into a pyrex dish with a lid and give it a six or seven minutes on full power. Try peeling off a petal and seeing if the flesh will sort of scrape off easily with your teeth. It's best left alone in the lidded dish for another few minutes in any case.
Then melt a tiny wee bowl of butter, peel off the petals and just swipe the edible end in the butter.
I know they can be done with lemon juice and a little oil when nuked too, supposedly that removes any bitterness and lowers the calories since you can avoid adding butter.

Lot of scrap for the compost heap from an artichoke globe though.
M

 

[JamPan]

I really like the tinned or jarred artichokes in oil, but preparing them from fresh just looks like even more work than foraging for forest berries!

 

[Nice65]

I love them, we use a 4 Seasons dressing that we get in the US. Boil the globes for a good 10 mins, drain and start peeling leaves away, dipping the soft bases and scraping away the soft flesh at the base with your teeth. When you get to the hairy choke, pull it away and don't eat it. Exposed is the heart. This is the prize for your effort, dip it in the dressing and enjoy.

Lemon zest, salt, pepper, and butter makes an ok dressing if we don't have the 4 Seasons.

 

[Robson Valley]

You eat only the fleshy leaf bases. Dip that in lemon butter or garlic butter or curry butter or seasoned mayonnaise, etc
Scrape that off with your teeth. Discard the wood. Near the middle, you pinch off groups of young bracts and eat the bases.
Carve off the hairy flower parts and discard, that's gross. Dice the fleshy base and eat.
Yes there's a lot of rubbish. No, you shouldn't care.

Look at the artichoke centers packed in olive oil. There's the lesson on what's edible.

 

[Janne]

Mmmmmmmmmmmm

 

[Robson Valley]

There's a hot seasoned condiment called "Artickoke Dip" which would never be my first choice
but it does use up the oil-marinated artichokes in the 'fridge.
Otherwise, gimme a very big pot, 2" water and I'll cook/steam the fresh ones.

I've learned this spring that steamed grape vine branch tips are very good to eat.

 

[Janne]

mmmmmmmmmmm

 

[Robson Valley]

Otherwise known as Dolmades. I have a Greek seasoning with mint and cinnamon.
My grape leaves and local ground lamb.

 

[Tonyuk]

All this talk of dipping in butter is making my arteries harden.

Tonyuk

 

[Toddy]

I tried them in different sauces and vinaigrets, but it's not butter

M

 

[Keith_Beef]

And young Vine leaves are excellent to stuff with a spiced rice/meat !

Young vine leaves are too small. I use fully grown leaves that I parboil in salted water for five minutes before filling them and then pan frying them to make Tpov Tolma.

We have a couple of red table grape vines in the garden; previous owners of the house allowed a shoot to come off the rootstock, so the leaves on that shoot are wild vine.
These are not any tougher in texture than the cultivar, but are less denticulate so easier to fill and roll, and they have a slightly more acidic flavour.