I have only tried artichokes once, mainly because I have no idea how to
prepare them. Do you need to do anything other than wash them to get them
ready for cooking? The time I had them was at a friends. She said to eat
them by pulling off those pointed bits one at a time and suck the flesh out.
There has to be more than that to the artichoke or they would never get
hearts into a can! :-) Someone please give me a step to step approach to
preparing these things. I would like to give them a good honest try.

Debbie

"Debbie" > wrote in message
...
>I have only tried artichokes once, mainly because I have no idea how to
> prepare them. Do you need to do anything other than wash them to get them
> ready for cooking? The time I had them was at a friends. She said to eat
> them by pulling off those pointed bits one at a time and suck the flesh
> out.
> There has to be more than that to the artichoke or they would never get
> hearts into a can! :-) Someone please give me a step to step approach to
> preparing these things. I would like to give them a good honest try.
>
> Debbie
>
A very simple way to do it is to cut the tops off - straight across with a
knife (no pointed bits), spread them out a little (pull apart a little) and
sprinkle a little water down into the leaves, put them in a ceramic pan with
about 1/4 cup of water on the bottom of the pan. Pop them into the microwave
for about 5 minutes. Pull off the leaves one at a time, sucking the flesh
off. The best is yet to come; the heart! Scrape out the little nettles (all
of them), dip it in a little melted butter or mayo and enjoy.

When I was in Spain in the mid-1970's, an order of 12 freshly cooked
artichoke hearts with dip was only $2. I will NEVER forget that! They were
probably boiled -- what a hot kitchen that would make.
Dee

Debbie wrote:
> I have only tried artichokes once, mainly because I have no idea how to
> prepare them. Do you need to do anything other than wash them to get them
> ready for cooking? The time I had them was at a friends. She said to eat
> them by pulling off those pointed bits one at a time and suck the flesh out.
> There has to be more than that to the artichoke or they would never get
> hearts into a can! :-) Someone please give me a step to step approach to
> preparing these things. I would like to give them a good honest try.
>
> Debbie
Simplest prep:
1. Cut off about 1" topside, and be sure to have a flat-cut stem so
the choke can sit upright when steamed.
2. Snip the points off each outer leaf.
3. Spread the choke open so as to rinse well under cold water.
4. Shake out excess water and place choke upright on steamer
tray/panel/basket with enough water to last at a simmer for about an
hour, though keeping water below leaves.
5. Season with salt and vinegar or lemon juice.
6. Steam for about an hour, on until lower leaves are easily pulled
off and the meat is not mushy.
7. Plain ole mayo makes a good "dip" and melted butter is common.
8. Eat by scraping sauce-dipped inner leaf across bottom teeth.
9. Eat from outer leaves into the purple, meatless ones, then pull out
all the purples and scrape the "hairs" off the heart before eating it
whole as well.

There are various seasonings and dips that an be used, though my
offering is simple and quite okay for a begin. Take it easy with the
vinegar to merely enrich the chokes natural good flavor, not to
actually add an acidic vinegar taste.

Picky ~JA~

Dee Randall wrote:
>> "Debbie" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>> I have only tried artichokes once, mainly because I have no idea
>>> how to prepare them. >>>

>> A very simple way to do it is to cut the tops off - straight across
>> with a knife (no pointed bits), spread them out a little (pull
>> apart a little) and sprinkle a little water down into the leaves,
>> put them in a ceramic pan with about 1/4 cup of water on the bottom
>> of the pan. Pop them into the microwave for about 5 minutes. Pull
>> off the leaves one at a time, sucking the flesh off. The best is
>> yet to come; the heart! Scrape out the little nettles (all of them),
>> dip it in a little melted butter or mayo and enjoy.
>>

Thank you Dee.

Debbie

JeanineAlyse wrote:
>> Debbie wrote:
>>> I have only tried artichokes once, mainly because I have no idea
>>> how to prepare them.

>> Simplest prep:
>> 1. Cut off about 1" topside, and be sure to have a flat-cut stem so
>> the choke can sit upright when steamed.
>> 2. Snip the points off each outer leaf.
>> 3. Spread the choke open so as to rinse well under cold water.
>> 4. Shake out excess water and place choke upright on steamer
>> tray/panel/basket with enough water to last at a simmer for about an
>> hour, though keeping water below leaves.
>> 5. Season with salt and vinegar or lemon juice.
>> 6. Steam for about an hour, on until lower leaves are easily pulled
>> off and the meat is not mushy.
>> 7. Plain ole mayo makes a good "dip" and melted butter is common.
>> 8. Eat by scraping sauce-dipped inner leaf across bottom teeth.
>> 9. Eat from outer leaves into the purple, meatless ones, then pull
>> out all the purples and scrape the "hairs" off the heart before
>> eating it whole as well.
>>
>> There are various seasonings and dips that an be used, though my
>> offering is simple and quite okay for a begin. Take it easy with the
>> vinegar to merely enrich the chokes natural good flavor, not to
>> actually add an acidic vinegar taste.
>>
Thank you Jeanine.

Debbie

Debbie wrote:
> I have only tried artichokes once, mainly because I have no idea how to
> prepare them. Do you need to do anything other than wash them to get them
> ready for cooking? The time I had them was at a friends. She said to eat
> them b y pulling off those pointed bits one at a time and suck the flesh out.
> There has to be more than that to the artichoke or they would never get
> hearts into a can! :-) Someone please give me a step to step approach to
> preparing these things. I wo uld like to give them a good honest try.
>
> Debbie
=====================
Debbie,
Several years ago in a previous life ;-) I used to write a food colum
for our daily paper. This is a column I did on artichokes - the recipe
attached uses canned but the method is pretty clear if I do say so
myself. Damsel Carol) asked for the salad recipe a few weeks ago but I
emailed it so I'm still including it in the post.
Lynn from Fargo

Welcome to the Wonderful World of Artichokes.
Here, in one column is everything you always wanted to know about
artichokes but were afraid to ask.

An artichoke is basically a big thistle, sharp points and all. If you
buy whole raw artichokes look for ones that are uniformly colored and
tightly closed.

You prepare them by cutting off the stem thing on the bottom so that
the artichoke will sit flat. Pull off a few leaves around the very
bottom. Take your (very sharp) knife and slice of about the top 1/4 to
1/3 of the vegetable. This should expose the inner leaves which may be
sort of red or purplish and really weird looking. This is normal.

Now get a scissors and clip the sharp needley thing off the end of each
leaf. (Start on the bottom and work your way up.) When you are done,
throw the artichokes into a big pan of boiling water with a tablespoon
of lemon juice or vinegar in it. They will float. Cover the pan and
cook at least 25 minutes. They are done when you can pierce the bottom
easily with a sharp knife and pull out a leaf from toward the top with
little resistance. Drain the artichokes in a colander. (Put them upside
down so more water will drain out.)

Leave them alone if you will be serving them hot or warm (You can stuff
them with bread crumbs or shrimp or whatever but that is really
complicated!) They are best served with garlic butter or hollandaise
sauce. You eat them by pulling out the leaves, dipping the soft end in
the sauce and pulling the leaf between your teeth. Like lobster, you
will discard more than you actually get to eat. When you get to the
fuzzy "choke", scrape it out with your spoon. The solid bottom part
above the stem is considered the best part.

If you want to serve them cold or marinate them, you will need to
remove the chokes. With your fingers, open up the inside leaves until
you can see a bed of fuzzy hairs; this is the choke. With a sharp
teaspoon (a grapefruit spoon is good) scrape out all the fuzzy stuff.
Rinse the artichoke if you need to to get those little fuzzy things off
the leaves. Serve room temperature or cold with a dipping sauce or
place in a zip-lock bag with a cup of Italian or other vinaigrette
dressing and marinate overnight.

If you buy canned artichoke hearts or marinated artichoke hearts in a
jar, someone will have done all this stuff for you. The following
recipe is the best one I have for artichokes. It makes a ton of salad
and uses marinated artichoke hearts. You can substitute plain canned
artichoke hearts but you will have to add a cup or so of bottled
Italian dressing.

Curried Artichoke/Rice Salad
adapted from a recipe by Valerie Bernstein

2 cups long grain white rice, cooked
(you will have 6 cups of cooked rice)
3 jars marinated artichoke hearts , drained (save liquid)or
2 cans artichoke hearts, drained (toss liquid)
3 stalks very thinly sliced celery
1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced including tops
1cup sliced green or black olives (optional)
2 cups (more or less ) mayonnaise
1 to 2 teaspoons (or more) curry powder
Marinade from artichokes or Italian salad dressing

Chop artichokes into about 1/2 inch pieces (not too fine!) Mix rice and
vegetables. Stir marinade or dressing into mayonnaise until it's the
consistency of thick cream, add curry powder to taste. Stir into rice
mixture. Chill.

I have not tried this with brown rice or a mixture of wild rice but I
can't see why it wouldn't work. Also, if you added a couple of cups
of diced cooked chicken it would be a main dish! The first time I ate
it I thought there was French's mustard in it. There is not.G

"Lynn from Fargo" > said:

> Curried Artichoke/Rice Salad
> adapted from a recipe by Valerie Bernstein
>
> 2 cups long grain white rice, cooked
> (you will have 6 cups of cooked rice)
> 3 jars marinated artichoke hearts , drained (save liquid)or
> 2 cans artichoke hearts, drained (toss liquid)
> 3 stalks very thinly sliced celery
> 1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced including tops
> 1cup sliced green or black olives (optional)
> 2 cups (more or less ) mayonnaise
> 1 to 2 teaspoons (or more) curry powder
> Marinade from artichokes or Italian salad dressing
>
> Chop artichokes into about 1/2 inch pieces (not too fine!) Mix rice and
> vegetables. Stir marinade or dressing into mayonnaise until it's the
> consistency of thick cream, add curry powder to taste. Stir into rice
> mixture. Chill.

This stuff is GOOOOD, you guys! When Lynn made it for a Twin Cities
cook-in, she added chicken. I was fortunate enough to get an enormous
Baggie full of leftover salad. I happily chomped away on it until it was
gone.

Lynn, did you have grapes in the stuff you brought? I love grapes in
chicken salad, but I'm not sure if they were in yours or not.

Carol

--
Coming at you live, from beautiful Lake Woebegon

"Debbie" > wrote in message
...
> I have only tried artichokes once, mainly because I have no idea how to
> prepare them. Do you need to do anything other than wash them to get them
> ready for cooking?

It's a good idea to remove the smaller outside leaves as they are pretty
useless. You can remove up to 1/4 of the outside leaves to get to the nice
inside ones. I usually am a little more conservative because I like to gnaw
off whatever I can. But really .... do cut off the top of the artichoke to
get the thorns off. They are totally unpleasant to encounter when you're
eating the artichoke, even if they look pretty.

have fun!!!

I love em chilled with oil and vinegar.

I can't believe Whole Foods charges $4.00 for ONE ARTICHOKE not 20 miles
from where they are grown. Robbers.

"Debbie" > wrote in message
...

>I have only tried artichokes once


They might choke Artie... but they won't choke me...


--
I made magic once. Now, the sofa is gone...
http://www.dwacon.com




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Debbie wrote:
> I have only tried artichokes once, mainly because I have no idea how
> to prepare them. Do you need to do anything other than wash them to
> get them ready for cooking? The time I had them was at a friends.
> She said to eat them by pulling off those pointed bits one at a time
> and suck the flesh out. There has to be more than that to the
> artichoke or they would never get hearts into a can! :-) Someone
> please give me a step to step approach to preparing these things. I
> would like to give them a good honest try.
>

As others have stated, cut the top portion off with a sharp knife and also
trim off the sharp points on the larger leaves. I'm in the minority here
but I also spread open the inner-most leaves and with a spoon scrape the
fuzzy "choke" off the heart of the artichoke. Just makes things easier
later on Slice the stem so the artichoke will sit flat in a steamer
basket or a pot of boiling water. Add a little lemon juice to the water.
Steam the artichokes until done, about 45 minutes (depends on the size - you
should be able to easily poke a fork in the bottom).

You do, indeed, eat this by peeling off the outer leaves and scraping the
"meat" off the leaf with your teeth. I like to dip them in butter with a
little garlic and pepper. Work your way towards the inside. When you get
to the innermost (probably purple) leaves... some people eat them, I don't
find much appeal in that. Pull them off and ah! There's the heart of the
artichoke. Remember when I said I scrape the "choke" out before I cook
them? This is where that step saves you time. All that is required now is
you cut up the lovely heart and dip and eat

Jill

"Dee Randall" > wrote in
:

> When I was in Spain in the mid-1970's, an order of 12 freshly cooked
> artichoke hearts with dip was only $2. I will NEVER forget that!
> They were probably boiled -- what a hot kitchen that would make.
> Dee


What a deal!!!

I'd be a contender in an artichoke eating contest!


--
Andy
http://tinyurl.com/bczgr

"Debbie" > wrote in message
...
>I have only tried artichokes once, mainly because I have no idea how to
> prepare them. Do you need to do anything other than wash them to get them
> ready for cooking? The time I had them was at a friends. She said to eat
> them by pulling off those pointed bits one at a time and suck the flesh out.
> There has to be more than that to the artichoke or they would never get
> hearts into a can! :-) Someone please give me a step to step approach to
> preparing these things. I would like to give them a good honest try.
>
> Debbie

1. If you like trim the tops of the leaves with a pair of scissors and pull
off the baby outer leaves.
2. Cut the base so the choke will stand on its own, rub that area with a cut
lemon to prevent discoloration.
3. Fill a Dutch oven 1/4 full of water.
4. Place a colander on the top and put in the choke(s) and put the top of the
Dutch oven on the top of the choke(s)
5. Steam for 45 minutes to an hour - check every so often to make sure there
is water in the pan or but a dime in with the water, if you hear the dime
clinking there's water.
6. The chokes will be done when a middle leaf pulls right out with little or
no resistance.
7. Prepare a mixture of 1 stick (1/4 pound) of butter melted slowly with the
juice of 1 lemon. Just before serving add bread crumbs or cracker crumbs (
optional, and some parsley and/or garlic) to the mixture.
8. To eat pull off a leaf and dip in the butter/lemon/crumb mixture and
gently scrape the flesh from the leaf with your teeth.

Dimitri

Lynn from Fargo wrote:
>> Debbie wrote:
>>> I have only tried artichokes once, mainly because I have no idea
>>> how to prepare them. Do you need to do anything other than wash
>>> them to get them ready for cooking? The time I had them was at a
>>> friends. She said to eat them b y pulling off those pointed bits
>>> one at a time and suck the flesh out. There has to be more than
>>> that to the artichoke or they would never get hearts into a can!
>>> :-) Someone please give me a step to step approach to preparing
>>> these things. I wo uld like to give them a good honest try.
>>>
>>> Debbie
>> =====================
>> Debbie,
>> Several years ago in a previous life ;-) I used to write a food colum
>> for our daily paper. This is a column I did on artichokes - the
>> recipe attached uses canned but the method is pretty clear if I do
>> say so myself. Damsel Carol) asked for the salad recipe a few weeks
>> ago but I emailed it so I'm still including it in the post.
>> Lynn from Fargo
>>
>> Welcome to the Wonderful World of Artichokes.
>> Here, in one column is everything you always wanted to know about
>> artichokes but were afraid to ask.
>>
>> An artichoke is basically a big thistle, sharp points and all. If you
>> buy whole raw artichokes look for ones that are uniformly colored and
>> tightly closed.
>>
>> You prepare them by cutting off the stem thing on the bottom so that
>> the artichoke will sit flat. Pull off a few leaves around the very
>> bottom. Take your (very sharp) knife and slice of about the top 1/4
>> to 1/3 of the vegetable. This should expose the inner leaves which
>> may be sort of red or purplish and really weird looking. This is
>> normal.
>>
>> Now get a scissors and clip the sharp needley thing off the end of
>> each leaf. (Start on the bottom and work your way up.) When you are
>> done, throw the artichokes into a big pan of boiling water with a
>> tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar in it. They will float. Cover
>> the pan and cook at least 25 minutes. They are done when you can
>> pierce the bottom easily with a sharp knife and pull out a leaf from
>> toward the top with little resistance. Drain the artichokes in a
>> colander. (Put them upside down so more water will drain out.)
>>
>> Leave them alone if you will be serving them hot or warm (You can
>> stuff them with bread crumbs or shrimp or whatever but that is really
>> complicated!) They are best served with garlic butter or hollandaise
>> sauce. You eat them by pulling out the leaves, dipping the soft end
>> in the sauce and pulling the leaf between your teeth. Like lobster,
>> you will discard more than you actually get to eat. When you get to
>> the fuzzy "choke", scrape it out with your spoon. The solid bottom
>> part above the stem is considered the best part.
>>
>> If you want to serve them cold or marinate them, you will need to
>> remove the chokes. With your fingers, open up the inside leaves until
>> you can see a bed of fuzzy hairs; this is the choke. With a sharp
>> teaspoon (a grapefruit spoon is good) scrape out all the fuzzy stuff.
>> Rinse the artichoke if you need to to get those little fuzzy things
>> off the leaves. Serve room temperature or cold with a dipping sauce
>> or place in a zip-lock bag with a cup of Italian or other vinaigrette
>> dressing and marinate overnight.
>>
>> If you buy canned artichoke hearts or marinated artichoke hearts in a
>> jar, someone will have done all this stuff for you. The following
>> recipe is the best one I have for artichokes. It makes a ton of salad
>> and uses marinated artichoke hearts. You can substitute plain canned
>> artichoke hearts but you will have to add a cup or so of bottled
>> Italian dressing.
>>
>> Curried Artichoke/Rice Salad
>> adapted from a recipe by Valerie Bernstein
>>
>> 2 cups long grain white rice, cooked
>> (you will have 6 cups of cooked rice)
>> 3 jars marinated artichoke hearts , drained (save liquid)or
>> 2 cans artichoke hearts, drained (toss liquid)
>> 3 stalks very thinly sliced celery
>> 1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced including tops
>> 1cup sliced green or black olives (optional)
>> 2 cups (more or less ) mayonnaise
>> 1 to 2 teaspoons (or more) curry powder
>> Marinade from artichokes or Italian salad dressing
>>
>> Chop artichokes into about 1/2 inch pieces (not too fine!) Mix rice
>> and vegetables. Stir marinade or dressing into mayonnaise until it's
>> the consistency of thick cream, add curry powder to taste. Stir into
>> rice mixture. Chill.
>>
>> I have not tried this with brown rice or a mixture of wild rice but I
>> can't see why it wouldn't work. Also, if you added a couple of cups
>> of diced cooked chicken it would be a main dish! The first time I ate
>> it I thought there was French's mustard in it. There is not.G

Thank you Lynn. With this and all the other replies, I now have a better
idea what to do with these things. It is obvious that my friend missed out
on a large part of the artichoke. Will give them a try soon.. I even have a
potluck looming in my future and will consider this salad to take.

Debbie

Damsel wrote:

> Lynn, did you have grapes in the stuff you brought? I love grapes in
> chicken salad, but I'm not sure if they were in yours or not.
>
> Carol
>
> --
> Coming a t you live, from beautiful Lake Woebegon
============================
Carol
I may have put grapes in but I don't remember. My current grape use is
in BrocoGrape Salad
Made it at work for the softball team and 2 members came back the next
day to say they'd dreamed about that salad that night!
BROCOLLI & GRAPE SALAD
1/2 cup mayo
3 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons vinegar
shot of tabasco
2 slices cooked crumbled bacon
1/3 cup sunflower seeds
3 cups chopped raw broccoli
1 cup seedless red grapes, halved
1 cup chopped cooked chicken or turkey
Stir together mayo, sugar, vinegar and tabasco. Add broccoli and grapes
& chicken. Cover and chill up to 24 hours. Before serving, stir in
bacon and seeds. You can also add whatever other veggies you like" bell
peppers, carrots, celery, peapods . . .
Lynn from Fargo
X