Now there is a thought...I have eaten them steamed before...no telling what some good ole spicy crawfish boil can do to an artichoke?? Goes with my problem of not having crawfish readily available here to throw them into the pot with.
Ok, here goes... The most conventional ways to cook an artichoke is to boil or steam them. With the smaller ones you can eat the entire choke, but with the medium to bigger ones you must peel away the leaves and scrape the bottom of them off with your teeth. You will then have the heart left, with the flower (thistle) left. This is the "choke" part, becasue it is a fibrous material that will choke you. DO NOT EAT IT. Scrape away the choke part and then you are left with the best part, the heart. Many folks either dip the bottom of the leaves or heart itself into either butter or mayonnaise as a sauce before eating. I prefer mine steamed and plain. The bigger the 'choke the happier I am. Not only is it the most healthy way to eat 'em, but you really get the taste of it. Really good 'chokes have a nutty flavor. The stand that I'm at in the vid has been a favorite of mine for years. Prior to last year I could only go there on the weekends for fresh 'chokes and brussels sprouts (oh yeah), the fields around there are full of both. Now that is in my sales territory I go there about 2 to 3 times a month. It is Pezzini Farms in Castroville, about 15 miles north of Monterey. http://www.pezzinifarms.com/ The annual artichoke festival is held there annually. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castroville_Artichoke_Festival Trivia: The first artichoke festival queen in 1948 was Norma Jean Baker.
Dad once told me that when God originally made everybody, he named them ALL Smith. When you made a mistake, you had to change your name. :hihi:
Well I wish the artichokes were fresh here. Albertson's didn't have any at all, the vegie stands looked HORRIBLE, and Publixs were pretty small and dry and brittle. I got the Publix ones anyway!!! And I am cooking them the unhealthy way. My parents used to put artichokes in thier crawfish boils and it was WONDERFUL!!
The coast here is the perfect place to grow artichokes and brussels sprouts. Cool overcast mornings with mild afternoon sun. One of my favorite things about living here is all of the fresh fruit & veggies. My wife and I go to at least one farmer's market out here a week. There are literally dozens of them, from fancy (think $) to low budget. All have things in them that you can't get elsewhere. For example, at the Berkeley Farmers Market (all organic) I get baby collard greens, habanero pasta, and pretzel crossaints.
I had never eaten one steamed until just recently when my room mate who is from San Diego did it here at the house. I was shocked at how good it was. I think the only other time I would eat them was when the restaurant my mom managed would make seafood and artichoke lasagna at Festivals Acadian...and that was an awsome dish.
Sounds delicious. My wife found out about two years ago that she is allergic to seafood. How ironic that her father owns a seafood processing plant. We rarely eat it anymore. I will usually boil crawfish a couple times during season, she used to cook all the other seafood dishes. I'm just about ready to trade her in !
