Artichokes

The artichokes are really producing this year. I had never even heard of this vegetable until I met my husband and one night he asked for artichokes for dinner.  I looked up how to cook these interesting thorny globes and boiled one in water and olive oil and served with Miracle Whip (at his request).!?  "What is this?",  I said in amazement as he dipped each leaf into the MW.  I tried it eventually, and found I actually liked it!

The artichoke frame

I love these veggies now.

However, growing this prickly menace was a totally different thing. I kept trying, but they grew so tall, tipped over and never produced at the same time.  But this year, my best friend and husband built a frame around my six plants that helped them stand upright against the weight of all those thorny little fruits.




And once I got up the nerve, I moved straight-away to tackle the pulpy leaves and sharp thorns. It was so easy, I'm sorry I didn't try to cook these baby artichoke hearts sooner.

The one thing I did was to place them in a bowl of 50-50 water/lemon juice after peeling and cutting in half. They stayed looking beautiful while I finished the rest and, after cooking, they retained just a whisper of lemon. Yummy.

I now love these little guys and it seems serendipitous that my existing plants need to be divided. Oh what new recipes I will have by next years harvest.

2012 Artichoke Meals:

1. Roasted Artichoke Salad 
2. Donna Giblin's Artichoke Chicken 
3. Steamed Baby Artichoke Hearts served with salmon and a mustard/dill Aioli for dipping
4. 2 ea. 8 ounce bags of frozen hearts for future use on chicken pizza

Hope you try these fascinating vegetables.