Artichoke question

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Okay, I did one tonight, dh spit his out immediately LOL. I liked it, but, there isn't enough meat. Are they better at certain season's? I really didn't like the fuzzy center. Maybe I didn't cook it right. It was tough.
 
The fuzzy center is the choke. It is called that because you will choke if you eat it. That part should be cut out with a knife or scooped out with a spoon.
 
GB said:
The fuzzy center is the choke. It is called that because you will choke if you eat it. That part should be cut out with a knife or scooped out with a spoon.
:sick: :ROFLMAO: :LOL: That figures!! Well, I had to learn.

Then what is the center part that everyone is talking about that is the heart in the center after you finish the leaves?
 
That is the part just below the choke. If you look at the heart/choke from the side you will see a dark green line. Cut just below that and throw out the top. The bottom that remains is the delicious heart.
 
It sure is a learning experience. Artichokes are one of the most complicated foods out there as far as I am concerned.
 
I got some artichokes to cook for tonight. This is my first time cooking them so I have a few questions. I'm guessing the artichokes I got are the baby ones, but am not positive. The artichoke not including the stem is about 4-5 inches. So what I was going to do was trim the outter leaves and stem, cut a little of the top off and then put it into water with a little lemon and salt. I would add some white wine, but I don't have any on hand. Also, I'm not sure of the cooking time. Then I was going to either serve it whole or cut it in half and serve with garlic butter to dip in.

Does anybody have any better suggestion or other ideas that would be better?
 
abjcooking said:
I got some artichokes to cook for tonight. This is my first time cooking them so I have a few questions. I'm guessing the artichokes I got are the baby ones, but am not positive. The artichoke not including the stem is about 4-5 inches. So what I was going to do was trim the outter leaves and stem, cut a little of the top off and then put it into water with a little lemon and salt. I would add some white wine, but I don't have any on hand. Also, I'm not sure of the cooking time. Then I was going to either serve it whole or cut it in half and serve with garlic butter to dip in.

Does anybody have any better suggestion or other ideas that would be better?

ABJ, cut off the outside diagonally all the way around, in order to get rid of as much tough tips of each petals as possible, then cut off the top horizontally.
To cook with add some evoo, garlic cloves and flat leaved parsley.
Do you have a pressure cooker? I always use that for cooking artichokes, takes about 40 minutes.
 
Yes, it takes a little patience... just check time to time near the root of the outside petals, if they become tender they should be ready... but don't expect the whole thing to get tender enough to eat... what you are going to do is scrape off the inside of each petals and eat them, and leave the outside. Then for the last treat is the heart, the bottom end!! (and also don't eat the fuzzy part -choke- right on top of the heart either... that part is not a pleasant thing either... ) a bit complicated until you get used to it... but you will love the wonderful flavour of artichokes!!
 
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