Reply #2: Same for the DH & I-- except in our case... [View All]

[TygrBright]

...I dip 'em in Wishbone Italian Dressing, and he swabs 'em in mayo.

We mince up a little garlic, and put it in the water along with a drollop of vinegar or a little lemon juice, a bayleaf, and some fresh ground pepper. Then stand them on their bottoms and let them steam/simmer gently for an hour or so.

This past winter I discovered another way to do them: Get a bowl of lemon juice & water ready, and quarter the artichokes; that is, cut them in half lengthwise, then cut each half lengthwise again. Drop the ones you're not working on in the lemon-infused water, and dip the one you are working on; it keeps 'em from going all brown (though going brown has no impact on how they taste). Trim each by removing choke, peeling the outer side of the stems (stems should be 2-3 in. long) and (optional) trimming off the sticker ends of the big leaves. Leave them soaking in the juice & water while preparing (in a slow cooker or dutch oven that can be used on the stovetop):

About a half-cup of chopped tomato
A good splash of white wine
A couple of cloves of garlic, minced
A medium shallot, minced
Half a cup or so of chicken broth
Fresh ground pepper, lots-- about a quarter tsp

Then go and cook two slices of bacon to medium consistency, and leave the drippings in the pan while they're draining. Crumble them and add them to the stuff in the cooker/dutch oven, and set it all to warming on low heat.

Turn the heat up under the drippings in the bacon pan, and thoroughly blot dry the quartered artichokes. Sear them briefly in the hot bacon fat, turning with tongs, so that each cut side gets a few browny bits, and then chuck the whole boiling, drippings and artichokes, into the dutch oven or slow cooker. Let it all do its thing on low heat for a couple of hours, and sprinkle with a good shake of kosher salt the last few minutes before serving.

These can be eaten right from the pot with the goop spooned over them and no other dressing/sauce, etc. The stems are tender and yummy and can be cut with knife & fork into sections and eaten, just slightly less creamy-yummy than the bottom. Of course you do have to do the peel-the-yummy-stuff-off-the-leaves-with-your-front-teeth thing.

Dang, I better go see if the macaroni hotdish is done...

hungrily,
Bright