Sauteed Baby Artichokes

I had a craving for artichokes and we stopped at Wegmans on the way home from my in-laws this weekend.  We were wandering around the store looking at the Asian Wockery when, what to my wondering eyes should appear, but a gorgeous 2 lb. box of baby artichokes!  I had to have them.  They were only $4.00 so I figured it wasn't a big deal.  I had no idea what to do with these babies so I did some research on google.  I found a recipe on simplyrecipes.com.  It looked great and gave me a chance to remove all the leaves and gunk because when I opened the plastic box I found out that some of the baby artichokes were moldy and black.  The recipe calls for Herbes de Provence.  I have heard of Herbes de Provence but I have never used them nor have I tried to find them in my local grocery store.  Naturally, the grocery stores in my podunk little town do not carry Herbes de Provence even though it says online that Herbes de Provence are "widely available."   I found a recipe to make your own Herbes de Provence but even that proved to be impossible.  I couldn't find a few of the ingredients.  I just made my own combination of the herbs that I had in my cabinet. Good luck finding it or lavender, chervil and powdered bay leaves in your grocery store.  Anyway, the artichokes turned out great.  I will try a little harder next time to find all the ingredients even if I have to drive all the way to the closest Wegmans in Timonium.


Sauteed Baby Artichokes Recipe


INGREDIENTS

2 pounds baby artichokes

Bowl of water with 3 cups of water and juice from 2 fresh lemons (about 3 Tbsp) or equivalent amount of vinegar

1 cup of water

1/2 cup olive oil

1 medium yellow onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 Tbsp lemon juice or balsamic vinegar

1 pinch of Herbes de Provence

1/2 teaspoon salt

Dash pepper

Freshly grated Parmesan cheese (1/4 to 1/2 cup to taste)

1. Rinse the baby artichokes. Set out a bowl with 3 cups of ice-cold water; add the fresh squeezed juice from 2 lemons (about 3 Tbsp of lemon juice) or vinegar. Working on the artichokes one by one, cut off the stem to 1/4-inch from the base; peel back and remove the petals until only the top third of the cone tip is pale green green. Cut off the pale green tips. Trim off any remaining green from base of artichoke. Halve or quarter the artichokes, depending on their size and drop in the bowl of acidified water (to prevent discoloration).

2. Drain artichokes. In a large skillet, heat the artichokes and 1 cup of water to boiling. Cover and simmer 3-5 minutes , depending on the size of the artichokes. Drain well.

3. Using the same skillet, heat to medium high and add the olive oil. Add the artichokes, onions, garlic, and Herbes de Provence. Cook for five minutes, stirring occasionally. Sprinkle on 1 Tbsp lemon juice or vinegar, salt and pepper. Put in serving bowl, sprinkle freshly grated Parmesan cheese on top.

Serves 4

Herbes de Provence

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp dried thyme

• 1 tsp ground rosemary

• 1 tsp summer savory

• 1/2 tsp lavender (optional but traditional)

• 1 tsp marjoram

• 1 tsp dried basil

• 1/2 tsp dried sage

• 1/2 tsp dried oregano

Preparation:

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Crush slightly with a pestle or the back of a spoon. Store in an airtight container. Rub into meat,chicken or fish for a dry rub or combine with olive oil for a marinade.


Enjoy!

The Creative Cook

Artichokes

I love artichokes. They are so wonderful and healthy for you. Last Saturday, my mom and I went to the grand opening of a local supermarket. Everything was so clean and neat and beautifully displayed. All the fruits and veggies were lined up perfectly. I was completely bowled over by the beautiful artichoke display! They were probably Globe Artichokes but the supermarkets in my area don't say what type of artichokes they are. I'm just happy to see lovely artichokes in the markets at this time of year. I had always eaten artichokes at Thanksgiving. My mom is a pro at cooking them. I have made them a few times myself. The boys don't or won't eat them. I hadn't thought much about them since last Thanksgiving. I bought just two because I knew I would be the only one eating them. I hopped over to one of my favorite food blogs by Susan of Food Blogga. She gave a completely perfect explanation of how to clean, cook and eat artichokes back in April. Susan also has a recipe for stuffed artichokes and baby artichokes on her blog. She lives in Southern California where most of the artichokes we all eat are grown. She is very lucky!

I used her method to clean the artichokes. It wasn't as easy as it seemed that it would be. I probably don't have the best knives in the world but I found that cutting the outer leaves was fairly impossible for me. I just left them "as is". I will be careful when I am eating the "chokes" so I don't pinch myself. When I was a kid, my mom made the artichokes steamed in oil, water and with garlic cloves pushed in between the leaves. She didn't clean them out or trim them. I am pretty used to avoiding the pinchies. Artichokes were one of the few vegetables I would eat as a kid. I am not sure why but they are so good when they are cooked right. Don't try eating them raw or semi-cooked. They are terrible that way. I used Susan's method to cook them. I rubbed them with a lemon and squeezed some of the lemon juice all over them. Then I put them into a pot. They were so huge that they just about fit into my pot. I put about a cup of water on the bottom and drizzled them with olive oil. I also stuck a few garlic cloves into the leaves and into the center just for good measure. If you cook them for about 45 minutes on the stove top at medium your artichokes should come out perfectly. Remember that the leaves themselves aren't edible. Just pull off a leaf (it should come out easily if the "choke" is cooked properly) and scrape it against your upper teeth. The flavor is amazing. The "heart" of the artichoke is, of course, edible and delicious. I just put a little salt on it but you can eat them plain (as long as you have taken off the "fuzzy" stuff) or even use them to make a dip.

Please don't just pass by the fresh artichokes next time you're in a grocery store. Grab a few and plan to clean and steam them for dinner. You won't be disappointed!

The Creative Cook