ARTICHOKES, SIMPLIFIED

Two tall artichoke plants in my garden are sending up buds. The buds are the edible artichokes. My local market has bins brimming with this very special thistle. 

The artichoke is the edible bud of a kind of thistle.

I love artichokes! Fresh ones have a sweet, earthy flavor and a meaty texture, somewhere between a firm mushroom and a boiled potato, that seem to be lost when artichokes are frozen or packed in jars. So I go a little crazy during artichoke season.

But, artichokes really are a pain to prep—stripping away outer leaves, trimming the bottoms, cutting off the tops, scooping out the fuzzy chokes. Artichokes thus stripped of their prickly exteriors need to be bathed in lemon juice to prevent their turning dark.

Rather than forego artichoke pleasure, my solution is SIMPLIFY! Cook the whole artichokes without all that prepping (no lemon juice needed) and let the people at the table do it themselves. Kids love dismantling whole artichokes, dipping the leaves in mayo and scraping the fleshy leaves between their teeth.

All the prepping necessary: cut off the stem, snap off a few outer leaves. No lemon juice needed, because inner leaves are not exposed. Drop the whole artichokes into salted boiling water.

After cooking, open up the leaves of the artichoke, exposing the tip of the choke in the center.

Use a spoon to scrape out the fuzzy choke--or let each person do it for herself.

Fill the center with a blob of mayonnaise (homemade or straight from the jar) or just drizzle with olive oil and lemon juice.

To eat: pull off a leaf, dip it in mayo and pull the leaf through the teeth to extract the fleshy bit. Discard the leaf. (Yes, you'll need a plate for the leaf debris.)

The heart of the matter: when all the leaves are stripped away, sprinkle the heart (also called the artichoke "bottom") with a little salt and eat it all.

Even when I'm cooking artichokes with other ingredients, such as in this cazuela of rice with fish, I do a minimum of prepping—snap off a few outer leaves, cut the artichokes in quarters and add them right to the oil in the cazuela. Then, it’s hands on. You pick up the artichoke by the inedible leaf tips and bite off the tender heart, discarding the leafy “handle.”  Accompany with paper towels for finger wiping.

Rice with Fish and Artichokes in Cazuela
Cazuela de Arroz con Pescado y Alcachofas

Savory rice cooks with artichokes and other vegetables and fish. Shrimp garnish the finished dish.

Pick up the cut artichokes by the tips and bite off the tender heart. Provide paper towels for hand wiping!

Cut immediately before cooking.

Prepare the artichokes immediately before adding them to the pan. Cut off stems, snap off a few outer leaves and cut them in quarters. You can also nip out the chokes with the tip of a knife. Drop the artichokes, cut sides down, into the hot oil.

Sauté the cut artichokes in oil with the beans.

Monkfish is a meaty fish that won’t disintegrate with cooking. Sautéeing the shrimp in the oil at the start flavors the oil. In the spirit of “simplify,” chicken broth stands in for fish stock. You can easily turn this into a vegetarian dish by omitting the fish and shrimp and using water instead of chicken broth. Feel free to add other vegetables.

As for paella, use medium-short-grained Spanish rice or substitute Arborio rice. The cooked rice should be meloso, a little juicy, not dry like paella.

Serves 4

Ingredients for rice with fish and artichokes.

3 tablespoons olive oil
8 large shrimp, not peeled (about 4 ounces)
¼ cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 medium artichokes, quartered
1 cup sliced green beans
1 pound monkfish fillets, cut in bite-size pieces
2 teaspoons pimentón (paprika)
½ teaspoon smoked pimentón
½ cup grated tomato pulp
1 ½ cups medium-grain rice
4 cups hot chicken broth
Salt
¼ cup cooked peas
Strips of red pimiento

Heat the oil in a cazuela or deep skillet. Add the unpeeled shrimp and cook them on medium heat, turning once, until they are cooked. Remove the shrimp and reserve them.

Add the onion and garlic to the oil in the pan. Add the artichokes and beans. Sauté until artichokes begin to brown. Add the pieces of fish and the two kinds of pimentón. Immediately add the tomato pulp. Fry for 2 minutes. Stir in the rice.

Add the broth. Bring the liquid to a boil and reduce heat so it bubbles gently. Taste and add salt if necessary. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 8 minutes. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook until rice is al dente and artichokes are cooked, 10 to 12 minutes more. Remove from heat.

Place the reserved shrimp on top. Sprinkle with peas and add strips of red pimiento. Allow the rice to set for 5 minutes before serving. 

More recipes with artichokes:

Artichokes with Ham and Córdoba Wine.

Artichoke and Orange Salad.

Artichoke Salad with Romesco Sauce.

Artichokes with Shrimp and Clams.

Menestra of Spring Vegetables.

Artichoke and Mushroom Pizza.

FRESH FROM THE GARDEN

The garden is in transition stage right now—kale and chard are long gone, peas and favas have finished and tomatoes, peppers and green beans are still many weeks away.

But, I’ve got a basketful of sweet onions and some green garlic, lots of lettuce, some fugitive arugula and a few artichokes. Sounds like salad to me, fresh from the garden. 

Ingredients from the garden for a spring salad.

Salad fits right in with the healthful Mediterranean Diet (this is International  Mediterranean Diet Month), which places fruits, vegetables, grains, olive oil and nuts at the very base of the pyramid, the starting point for healthy eating.

Pull up the lettuces before hot weather causes them to bolt.

Arugula escapes from captivity! Planted once, now it comes up from seed, like a weed. I love it.

Today in the garden--green garlic, artichokes, arugula and romaine.

A spring salad of fresh artichokes and celery with a romesco dressing.

I’m making a Tarragona style artichoke salad. The name, “Tarragona style” has nothing to do with the herb tarragon. Rather, Tarragona is a city in Catalonia that is famous for its exceptional romesco sauce, made with dried sweet peppers and nuts. The romesco is the dressing for the artichokes and salad greens.

This is actually a quickie romesco—made with pimentón (paprika) instead of the classic ñora peppers. Use ordinary sweet pimentón, not smoked, plus a little hot pimentón or cayenne. You can marinate the vegetables in the romesco or spoon the sauce over the salad at serving time. 

Dried red peppers, ground almonds, garlic, parsley and olive oil make the romesco sauce. Use it as a marinade for the vegetables or a dressing, spooned over right before serving.

If time is short or fresh artichokes are not available, canned artichoke hearts or canned cardoons, cardos, another vegetable in the thistle family, can be used instead. Cardoons look like celery and taste like artichokes, which explains why I’ve used celery in this salad. The sauce is brilliant with all vegetables—green beans, cooked cabbage, potatoes—so make your own variations on Tarragona style. In fact, a little tarragon might be very nice!

Artichoke Salad, Tarragona Style
Ensalada Tarragonense

Serves 6 as a starter.

Snap leaves off at base.

6-8 small artichokes or 4 large ones
Lemon
3 stalks celery, cut diagonally into 2-inch pieces
2 teaspoons sweet pimentón
½ teaspoon hot pimentón
2 dozen skinned almonds
¼ cup olive oil
¼  cup chopped parsley
3 cloves garlic
½  teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons wine vinegar
3 cups torn romaine or escarole
1 hard-boiled egg
1 teaspoon chopped fresh mint leaves or tarragon
1 tablespoon chopped scallions or green garlic

Use a serrated knife to slice.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Meanwhile, snap off the outer leaves of the artichokes.  Then cut them crosswise just above the heart, discarding upper leaves. (A serrated bread knife works well to cut through the artichokes.) Cut the artichokes in half, if small, or quarters, if large.

Remove fuzzy choke.

Use the tip of a knife to nip out the fuzzy choke in the center. Rub artichoke pieces with a cut lemon. Add the pieces to the boiling water and cook until the artichoke pieces are just tender, about 10 minutes. (The artichokes are done when an outer leaf pulls off easily.) Drain. 

Blanch the pieces of celery in boiling salted water for 6 minutes. Drain and refresh under cold water. (Use a vegetable peeler to strip off the strings from the celery before blanching.)

Combine the two kinds of pimentón in a small bowl and mix with ¼ cup of water until smooth.

In a small pan toast the almonds in 2 teaspoons of the oil until golden. Remove from heat. (If you like, save a few almonds to garnish the finished salad.)

Sauce is easy in processor.

In a blender or food processor, chop the parsley, then add the garlic and process until finely chopped. Add the toasted almonds and process until fine. Add the salt, vinegar and ½ cup of water and continue to process until the mixture is quite smooth. Then add the pimentón paste and the remaining oil. This makes 1 cup of dressing.  (The dressing can be served with other vegetables and salads.)

Place the artichokes and celery pieces in a bowl and pour over the dressing. Allow to marinate for one hour at room temperature.

On a large platter prepare a bed of romaine or escarole. Arrange the artichokes and celery on top. Garnish with sliced egg, chopped mint and chopped onion. 

Serve the salad as a starter.

Artichokes marinate in romesco dressing.