So, all those cheap artichokes you have hanging around...
Another recipe, naturally. My corner store has been selling high-quality artichokes for $1 each, and slightly imperfect ones for fifty cents. So I started playing around with roasting/braising/gratineeing them. Tonight was simple, with thyme from the garden and lemons from the corner store.
Take 6 or so artichokes and 2 lemons. Prepare the artichokes to the artichoke bottom stage: Cut off the top half of the artichoke and throw it out. Break off the outer leaves all round the outside, until you reach the pale green part and the leaves start looking more meaty and less stringy. Cut the artichoke in half vertically and scoop out the choke and the thorny leaves just over the choke. Rub the artichoke half with a cut lemon so it doesn't go brown and nasty looking. If the stem is meaty, trim the green parts. If it's like mine, just cut the stem off. Put the artichoke half, cut half down, into a glass baking pan or casserole. Repeat for the rest of this artichoke and the other 6. You want to crowd the pan to keep evaporation down. Squeeze the rest of the lemons over the artichokes, then put the spent lemon halves into the pan too. Sprinkle the whole business with a generous amount of salt (a tablespoon would probably do), and sprinkle on a tablespoon of dried thyme or so. Drizzle the whole business with a bunch of olive oil. Now cover the pan with foil and bake it in a 375F oven for 20 minutes with the foil on. Remove the foil and give it another 20-30 minutes in the oven to finish. Discard the lemon halves and serve the artichokes with the thyme-lemon-artichoke juice pan sauce.
If you let it cook too long uncovered, the outsides will be dried and tough, and the middles will be a bit soft. If that happens, remove the outer leaves before serving them. The flavor will still be good even so. I expect they'll also be fine at room temperature, if you have leftovers.
Take 6 or so artichokes and 2 lemons. Prepare the artichokes to the artichoke bottom stage: Cut off the top half of the artichoke and throw it out. Break off the outer leaves all round the outside, until you reach the pale green part and the leaves start looking more meaty and less stringy. Cut the artichoke in half vertically and scoop out the choke and the thorny leaves just over the choke. Rub the artichoke half with a cut lemon so it doesn't go brown and nasty looking. If the stem is meaty, trim the green parts. If it's like mine, just cut the stem off. Put the artichoke half, cut half down, into a glass baking pan or casserole. Repeat for the rest of this artichoke and the other 6. You want to crowd the pan to keep evaporation down. Squeeze the rest of the lemons over the artichokes, then put the spent lemon halves into the pan too. Sprinkle the whole business with a generous amount of salt (a tablespoon would probably do), and sprinkle on a tablespoon of dried thyme or so. Drizzle the whole business with a bunch of olive oil. Now cover the pan with foil and bake it in a 375F oven for 20 minutes with the foil on. Remove the foil and give it another 20-30 minutes in the oven to finish. Discard the lemon halves and serve the artichokes with the thyme-lemon-artichoke juice pan sauce.
If you let it cook too long uncovered, the outsides will be dried and tough, and the middles will be a bit soft. If that happens, remove the outer leaves before serving them. The flavor will still be good even so. I expect they'll also be fine at room temperature, if you have leftovers.