Artichokes

Well, after living in California for 20+ years, I decided to cook and eat one.  I’ve only had them in dips, or just the hearts in salads.  I followed this recipe.

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How to Cook an Artichoke:​

1. If the artichokes have little thorns on the end of the leaves, take a pair of kitchen scissors and cut off the thorned tips of all of the leaves. This step is mostly for aesthetics as the thorns soften with cooking and pose no threat to the person eating the artichoke.
2. Slice about 3/4 inch to an inch off the tip of the artichoke.
   
3. Pull off any smaller leaves towards the base and on the stem.
   
4. Cut excess stem, leaving up to an inch on the artichoke. The stems tend to be more bitter than the rest of the artichoke, but some people like to eat them. Alternatively you can leave the whole long stem on the artichoke, just cut off the very end of the stem, and peel the tough outside layer off the stem with a vegetable peeler.
   
5. Rinse the artichokes in running cold water. While you rinse them, open up the petals a little so that the water gets inside more easily.
   
6. In a large pot, put a couple inches of water, a clove of garlic, a slice of lemon, and a bay leaf (this adds wonderful flavor to the artichokes). Insert a steaming basket. Add the artichokes. Cover. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to simmer. Cook for 25 to 45 minutes or until the outer leaves can easily be pulled off.

Note: artichokes can also be cooked in a pressure cooker (about 15-20 minutes cooking time). Cooking time depends on how large the artichoke is, the larger, the longer it takes to cook.

How to Eat an Artichoke:
Artichokes may be eaten cold or hot, but I think they are much better hot. They are served with a dip, either melted butter or mayonnaise. 

1. Pull off outer petals, one at a time. Dip white fleshy end in melted butter or sauce.
   
2. Tightly grip the other end of the petal. Place in mouth, dip side down, and pull through teeth to remove soft, pulpy, delicious portion of the petal. Discard remaining petal. Continue until all of the petals are removed.
   
3. With a knife or spoon, scrape out and discard the inedible fuzzy part (called the "choke") covering the artichoke heart. The remaining bottom of the artichoke is the heart. Cut into pieces and dip into sauce to eat. My favorite artichoke dipping sauce? Some mayonnaise with a little balsamic vinegar stirred in. Others like dipping artichoke leaves and heart into melted butter. 

Which cave man figured out how to eat artichokes? How hungry was he, that he kept experimenting until he found the miniscule amount of goo on the underside of each leaf, only obtainable by scraping individual leaves between his teeth?  Kudos to you, Gorg.

I tried this recipe, skipping step 1 under How to Cook an Artichoke. Also, I had no garlic, so I used powdered garlic in step 6. Best part? In the How to Eat an Artichoke section, step 3 gives a suggestion for dip---mayonnaise and balsamic vinegar.  Holy cow, this is the best stuff I ever ate!  I used Miracle Whip (real mayonnaise might be classier, but I stand by my choice), and smashed it up with balsamic vinegar until it looked like chocolate moose.  I completed steps 1 and 2 as an excuse to eat the dip.  I skipped step 3 because I lost interest.

My verdict:
Artichokes? I can take them or leave them.
Miracle Whip and balsamic vinegar? I ate it so long I got little bumps on my tongue.

How about you? Any positive artichoke experiences?

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