In the past couple of weeks we've offered a few ideas for eating artichokes while they're in season. Faith showed us how to cook them in the slow cooker, and we gave you three ways to stuff them, which is one of our favorite vegetarian meals. Grilling them (which we briefly talked about here) is incredibly easy, and it may make the big, unwieldy artichoke more approachable to a novice.
The first time we had a grilled artichoke, it was at a restaurant, and it was one of those, "Why have we never done this?" moments. The inside of the artichoke takes on a whole new smoky flavor, and the heart gets seasoned (because you cut the artichoke in half before grilling). It's delicious.
Here's how to do it:
-Trim the artichoke as you would for any recipe, removing the toughest, outermost leaves, trimming the top, and snipping off the spiky ends of each leaf.
-Steam or boil the artichokes until tender. Again, follow any recipe for cooking artichokes that we mentioned above.
-Drain the artichokes and cut them in half, lengthwise.
-Scoop out the choke, which will be exposed and visible once you slice open the artichoke.
-Brush the cut surface with olive oil and grill it (a grill pan will work fine, too) just until you get some char marks.
-Drizzle with a vinaigrette or herbed, melted butter.
The recipes pictured above are both great places to start:
• Grilled Artichokes with Olive Oil, Lemon, and Mint, from Bon Appétit
• Grilled Artichokes with Raw Tomato Compote, from Martha Stewart
Related: Grill Tonight: Baby Artichokes with Caper-Mint Sauce
(Images: Mark Thomas for Bon Appétit; MarthaStewart.com)
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If you could, what does artichoke taste like? I mean, obviously it tastes like artichoke, but any other hints?
Thanks!
Laura
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Laura- It is hard to describe without saying "it just tastes like an artichoke." But a fresh one has a mild flavor- a very "green" taste with a hint of sweetness. Maybe a cross between an asparagus (but not as strong) and a soft, steamed carrot? Hard to do!
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Hm.. Guess I'll just have to pick some up and try a recipe! The one from Bon Appetit sounds yummy. :)
Laura
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I'll never forget the first time we tried to grill an artichoke at home. As novice cooks, we just cleaned them and threw them on the grill-not having steamed them ahead of time. They took FOREVER and if my memory serves me correctly, became far too charred on the outside for them to be edible by the time they did soften up enough. After reading or being told by someone that we needed to steam them first, it was like one of those DUH! moments. Grilling is now the only way we prepare them. (Although I do intend to try the slow cooker version posted last week.)
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