How do you prepare and cook an artichoke?

[nicolaschneiderman]

Artichokes are one of my favorite foods but I have only eaten them in restaurants because when I attempt to cook them at home- it's always a disaster!
Two of my children have decided to become vegetarians and Artichokes is the one vegetable that I really do not know how to cook and my children are really becoming bored of my repertoire.
The one thing i do know about the preparation of artichokes is that the vegetable should be trimmed as they have spikes on their leaves, but after that, I have no idea.
What I realise now is that they can be steamed and then served with a sauce. Which sauce compliments artichokes?
Please can someone who has cooked artichokes explain to me how you do it! Any help out there??

 

[CarolPa]

I don't do artichokes, but I googled "how to prepare and cook artichokes" and came up with a long list of sites you can check out...some with pictures showing procedures. Here is one of the sites I thought looked good.

How to Cook and Eat an Artichoke | Simply Recipes

It's wonderful that your kids like vegetables and you should continue to encourage them to do this.

 

[Dawgluver]

Try nuking them with a bit of water. When you can easily pull a leaf off, they're ready, about 12-14 minutes, turn after half time.

Hollandaise or a mayo based sauce, maybe with some lemon juice, is nice for dipping.

 

[CarolPa]

The only time I ate artichokes was when a friend's mother made stuffed artichokes. They were good, but I never got interested in learning how to do it myself.

 

[salt and pepper]

Cut the stem & the top of the choke, then trim all the leaves. Add choped garlic & olive oil to the tops (sometimes I add bread crumbs & graded cheese). I like to cook them in a pressure cooker for about 30 minutes. You can also steam them in a covered pot with 2 or 3 inches of water for 45-50 minutes.

 

[Steve Kroll]

We eat them often. It's my daughter's favorite vegetable. Rather than repeat information that can be found all over the internet, my suggestion is to go to Google and search on "how to prepare an artichoke." You'll probably get a thousand hits.

As for what to dip them in, this is far and away my favorite. Plus you can easily adjust the recipe to make other variations.

California Artichoke Advisory Board » Casanova’s Appassionata Dip

 

[Mad Cook]

Artichokes are one of my favorite foods but I have only eaten them in restaurants because when I attempt to cook them at home- it's always a disaster!
Two of my children have decided to become vegetarians and Artichokes is the one vegetable that I really do not know how to cook and my children are really becoming bored of my repertoire.
The one thing i do know about the preparation of artichokes is that the vegetable should be trimmed as they have spikes on their leaves, but after that, I have no idea.
What I realise now is that they can be steamed and then served with a sauce. Which sauce compliments artichokes?
Please can someone who has cooked artichokes explain to me how you do it! Any help out there??

I googled "sauces for artichokes" and got Martha Stewart's 3 dipping sauces - lemon thyme butter, easy hollandaise and garlic mayonnaise all of which would be delicious.

I must say that when cooking them at home I don't bother to cut off the points as they aren't that sharp and no-one (I hope) at my table is going to do themselves a mischief with them. I think it's just a tidying up exercise for hotels and restaurants.

As you prepare them drop them straight into water with lemon juice in it to prevent the artichokes discolouring.

I just boil them for 35-40 minutes depending on size (if you pull a petal it should come away easily if they are cooked) and if the people I'm are cooking for understand artichokes I don't remove the chokes but if they are artichoke virgins remove the choke before serving. Some recipes tell you to take out the choke before cooking but it's easier to do it after cooking.

There are numerous recipes for stuffed artichokes. Try googling for them

 

[Mad Cook]

We eat them often. It's my daughter's favorite vegetable. Rather than repeat information that can be found all over the internet, my suggestion is to go to Google and search on "how to prepare an artichoke." You'll probably get a thousand hits.

As for what to dip them in, this is far and away my favorite. Plus you can easily adjust the recipe to make other variations.

California Artichoke Advisory Board » Casanova’s Appassionata Dip

Sounds good, Steve. I'll try that next time I can get hold of some artichokes.