Artichokes

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Artichokes

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chez

Joined: 13 Aug 2006
Posts: 35931
Location: The Hive of the Uberbee, Quantock Hills, Somerset

Posted: Mon Sep 22, 14 1:19 pm Post subject: Artichokes
I have grown artichokes, in a fit of ill-placed enthusiasm. How do I harvest and cook them and are they perennial?

Bungo

Joined: 21 Dec 2011
Posts: 354
Location: Wye Valley

Posted: Mon Sep 22, 14 1:23 pm Post subject:
You mean Jerusalem ? Unless you harvest scrupulously they will defo come back . I cannot eat them myself , as they give me an upset stomach to put it mildly . I believe rostis are nice , and you can plain boil , I am sure google will give you a squillion recipes

chez

Joined: 13 Aug 2006
Posts: 35931
Location: The Hive of the Uberbee, Quantock Hills, Somerset

Posted: Mon Sep 22, 14 1:29 pm Post subject:
Jerusalem are the tubers, aren't they? These are globe ones, with a sticky-up head thing. Mental note to self; look for information on things before you plant them ...

Bungo

Joined: 21 Dec 2011
Posts: 354
Location: Wye Valley

Posted: Mon Sep 22, 14 1:39 pm Post subject:
OK ,the globe ones are perennial, cut back in autumn , and you can divide when new shoots come up , , think you might of missed the boat for cooking , ours finished couple of months ago , food wise they have to be up there as most amount of work for least amount of food !

chez

Joined: 13 Aug 2006
Posts: 35931
Location: The Hive of the Uberbee, Quantock Hills, Somerset

Posted: Mon Sep 22, 14 1:44 pm Post subject:
I was starting to think that . Thank you. I won't pull them up, then, at least

Nell Merionwen

Joined: 02 Jun 2008
Posts: 16300
Location: Beautiful Derbyshire

Posted: Mon Sep 22, 14 1:46 pm Post subject:

To cook them I basically steam them. Snip off the pointy bits on the petals and the tougher lower petals. Stam and then you eat the petals by pulling them off and scraping the flesh from the petals with your teeth. Then you will be left with the heart. Scrape the fuzzy bit off and discard it. Then slice up the heart and dip it in something yummy to eat.
It is a huge amount of faff to eat. I can't be ar$ed with them. The others don't really like them so we never bother.
You can prepare the hearts and slice them then blanch them and freeze them though. Still can't be ar$ed

Shan

Joined: 13 Jan 2009
Posts: 8924
Location: South Wales

Posted: Mon Sep 22, 14 2:20 pm Post subject:
I pick them when they are really small, before the choke has had a chance to go spiny. I then boil in water for about 5 minutes (you don't want them soggy) with a good amount of lemon juice. Peel off the outer leaves. Trim across the pointy top and then cut in half and grill on the BBQ.

Spruengli

Joined: 12 Jul 2006
Posts: 537
Location: Dorking(ish)

Posted: Tue Sep 23, 14 7:20 am Post subject:
Large ones can be microwaved - takes far less time than steaming (about 10 minutes). Yes, they are a faff to eat but the base of the leaves and core are food from heaven

Mustang

Joined: 15 Jul 2005
Posts: 768
Location: Sunny Suffolk

Posted: Tue Sep 23, 14 8:25 pm Post subject:

I love globe artichokes. I grow them, and also buy them whenever I see them at a reasonable price.

Steam in pressure cooker or in a pan. They are ready when you can easily pull off a leaf.

Make up some mayo. Remove each leaf, dip end in a bit of mayo, scrape the base of the leaf with your bottom front teeth. Repeat for each leaf.

When you get to the middle, just carefully pull off the hairy choke. Then cut the heart into 4, dip in the mayo and eat.

It take time to eat, so put a good film on, get a nice bottle of wine, and take your time eating the artichoke. It is definitely not a fast food.

yummersetter

Joined: 26 Jan 2008
Posts: 3241
Location: Somerset

Posted: Tue Sep 23, 14 8:48 pm Post subject:

Love them, we came back from Brittany last week with half a dozen enormous artichokes. Ones the size of your head take half an hour to cook in a pressure cooker and really are a meal for one, with butter, garlic and lemon as a dipping sauce. Loads of discarded leaves for the compost heap at the end.

Just be careful if you cut the stem that you either use loppers or wash a kitchen knife carefully after slicing as the sap in the raw stem is really bitter.

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