So, all those cheap artichokes you have hanging around...

[victorthecook]

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.

Comments

[madfilkentist]

That reminds me of the old joke with the punchline, "Artie chokes two for a dollar!"

[victorthecook]

oooof. My career as unintentional straight man continues unabated.

[batyatoon]

I have never been able to bring myself to try any recipe that begins with "cut off the top half of the artichoke and throw it out." I love whole artichokes too much. *sheepish*

[victorthecook]

I completely understand -- I wasn't prepared to do anything of the sort until I had an excess of artichokes. When they were fifty cents each, I bought quite a few all of them... which gave us 6 or 7 artichokes per person. After two days in a row of whole artichokes, I felt I could branch out a bit for day 3.

The other thing is, there's not much if any edible artichoke in the top half. You're cutting above the choke, and the part of the leaves that's up there isn't anything you'll get edible material out of. The choke is inedible, of course, and when you snap the outer leaves off, the meaty part stays behind. You may lose a bite of the tiny thorny leaves above the choke, but that's all.

That being said, you could also serve whole steamed/boiled/roasted artichokes with a vinaigrette made with lemon juice and thyme-infused olive oil.

[batyatoon]

My usual dipping sauce for steamed artichokes is made with melted butter (or margarine), lemon juice, garlic, and a few herbs including thyme. I've tried an olive-oil variant for room temperature, but it never seems to work as well.

An excess of artichokes sounds like a fabulous dilemma to have. :D

Somewhere around I have a recipe for cream of artichoke soup; would you be interested?

[victorthecook]

Sure! Our weather has been in the high 50's and foggy; a cream soup would ward off the chill.

[victorthecook]

As an update to this recipe -- the artichokes are indeed fine at room temperature as appetizers. I wonder if my landlord would notice if I snuck some artichoke plants into the back of the yard...