Let's talk artichokes..

[Kayelle]

Yep, great minds, Kayelle! I almost always have fresh spinach and use it in so many things. Even if I had fresh basil, I don't think I would have used it, it just didn't seem right in this dish.

Your post really gave me food for thought. I almost always have to squeeze some water out of the artichokes, even after draining, no matter if they are cooked upside down or right side up. I looked back on my dad's method of making artichokes when I was a child and I don't recall them being watery at all. He didn't trim them, or open them up to rinse them first, like I do. But I didn't watch every step he made, I just ate them and loved them. I remember being horrified when he first served them, I couldn't believe I was expected to eat something with thorns that looked like they did.

I get pretty good results with my steamer basket, it keeps them up and out of the water. The only thing with that, is my steamer basket will barely hold two artichokes without trimming them down quite a bit. I think I'll use the steamer basket method again next time, and not open them up as much to clean them.

I'm on a mission now to make unwatery artichokes and think I'll try them different ways until I find the perfect way. If that's possible.

One way that looks sooo good to me, is steaming them about halfway, then cutting them in half vertically and grilling them the rest of the way.

Ahhh Haaa....you use a steamer basket instead of putting them upside down in about 3" of water like I always do stem down. Like your Dad, I don't open them up to wash them either, I guess I figure there's no bugs in there. Actually, I've never noticed an excessive amount of water in the chokes when cooked stem down. I'm going on a hunt for the perfect pan to cook three large chokes as we eat two with dinner and split the third for lunch.

I purchased four small artichokes. The leaves didn't have to be trimmed at all. But I did rinse them and trimmed the stem and about a half inch off the top. Put them into water with lemon juice. Instead of draining off the water, I steamed them right in the lemon water. They were really tender although with a lot of liquid in them. I just put them upside down to drain a bit. The Pirate couldn't wait. He melted some butter with a smashed garlic clove and dug into the first one while the others were draining. He could taste the lemon and liked it. Will do that again the next time. Two of them had no chokes. The other two had very small ones. Easy to remove with a grapefruit spoon. A bonus!

All four of these artichokes were just the right size. And steaming them in the lemon water give them added cooked in flavor that wasn't expected.

I always cook them in salted lemon water with the squeezed lemon halves thrown in for the rind flavor. Glad you enjoyed them Addie.

 

[Addie]

My daughter uses her Dutch Oven to steam her artichokes. It holds four very nicely and they don't tip over. If she is cooking more, she uses her stock pot.

 

[Kayelle]

My daughter uses her Dutch Oven to steam her artichokes. It holds four very nicely and they don't tip over. If she is cooking more, she uses her stock pot.

Yep, right now I'm using my dutch oven to cook three large ones and I use a Pyrex custard cup to take up some space so they don't fall over.

 

[msmofet]

I hope you don't mind my take on stuffed artichokes.


Ms. Mofet's Stuffed Artichokes


Nice large firm artichokes
Romano cheese - block - cut or shaved into small, thin slivers
Parmesan cheese - block - cut or shaved into small, thin slivers
Fresh garlic - slivered or shaved into thin slices
Mozzarella - block - cut into small slices
Water
Lemon juice
Salt
Olive oil

In a bowl mix the following to taste:

Plain bread crumbs (depends on how much bread crumb stuffing you want in your artichokes)
Grated Romano & Parmesan cheese
Dry herbs and spices - to personal taste

Dry Herbs

Thyme
Rosemary
Oregano
Basil
Parsley

Spices

Granulated Garlic powder
Onion powder
Goya Adobo seasoning
Accent (or MSG) - optional
Ground sea salt
Ground peppercorn blend
Cayenne
Paprika (hot and sweet Hungarian)
Ground red pepper flakes (I put mine in a grinder)


Clean artichokes by cutting off stems and sharp tips off the leaves. Boil in salted water with lemon (to prevent discoloration). And cook till you can just pull a center leaf out easily with a tug. Remove from pot and run under cold water to cool and stop cooking. After cooled remove as much of the fuzzy stuff (the deadman or choke, I also use a serrated edge grapefruit spoon to do this ) as you can from the centers and rinse.

(TIP: For microwave steaming of artichokes that I got from a microwave cookbook by author Barbara Kafka.
Clean and trim artichokes. Place in a microwave safe container that they will fit in one layer bottoms down. Place water and lemon juice in container (then dip the cut surfaces in the juice water to prevent discoloration and replace bottom down). Place foil ONLY over the TOP of chokes (so long as there is MORE food exposed than is covered by foil it will be safe. I have been doing this for 25 years so it IS TNT)

Place a sliver of garlic and a sliver of each cheeses between each leaf of choke. In bowl mix crumbs, grated cheeses, herbs and spices to taste. After chokes are stuffed with cheese and garlic they will be "open" enough to just sprinkle crumb mixture over the top of chokes and it will fill in the leaves. Any extra crumb mixture can be used to fill in the center of artichoke. Place in a deep pan or pot with small amount of the salted water/lemon juice cooking liquid. Drizzle chokes with olive oil. Baste the top of each with the salted water/lemon juice from the pot. Cover and steam till leaves pull out easily and cheese is melted. (OR Microwave covered (microwave safe cover or plastic wrap) for about 5 - 7 minutes on medium power or until cheese is melted and leaves pull out easily.)

(Pictures below are from microwaved artichokes)

Before

After

 

[Kayelle]

Good golly MSM they look and sound just terrific and I can't wait to try them!
By the way, you're one of my very favorite cooks here and I'm so happy to see you posting again. I've missed you!

 

[msmofet]

Good golly MSM they look and sound just terrific and I can't wait to try them!
By the way, you're one of my very favorite cooks here and I'm so happy to see you posting again. I've missed you!

Thank you Kay. I look in but typing isn't much fun lately.

 

[GotGarlic]

Thank you Kay. I look in but typing isn't much fun lately.

I just wanted to say I've missed seeing your posts, too. Sorry about the pain in your hands.

 

[Somebunny]

Those chokes sound delish! I want to say how much I have missed you too MSM!

 

[msmofet]

I just wanted to say I've missed seeing your posts, too. Sorry about the pain in your hands.

Those chokes sound delish! I want to say how much I have missed you too MSM!

Thank you so much. I don't know how I missed these posts. Sorry for the much delayed TY.