Artichokes

[Digeroo]

I have in the past left my artichokes to go to flower, since I love watching the bees swimming in them.  But I have loads of them.

So my question is what do I do with them.  When are they ready.  What is the best way to cook them.
Had some fried in Rome once and they were rather nice.

Found this recipe but no idea what acidulated water is, presume I just add lemon juice.

http://blog.williams-sonoma.com/roman-fried-artichokes/

[Digeroo]

[antipodes]

I am afraid that I only know the French way which is to boil them (in pressure cooker is easiest, when done you can pull off a leaf easily), let them cool and then eat them by removing leaf by leaf and dipping the fleshy part in a strong mustard vinaigrette and pulling them through your teeth to remove the pulpy flesh. When you have eaten all the main leaves, pull off the remaining very tender ones, scoop out the hairy inside and then eat the heart.
For the sauce:
2 teaspoons of FRENCH dijon mustard (use english and you will blow your head off), pinch salt, pepper, a little chopped parsley if you like that, and 2 tablespoons of wine or cider vinegar. Stir well, then add about 4 to 5 tablespoons of a mix of olive and sunflower oil (just sunflower is ok but tends to be thin, just olive is a bit overwhelming). Stir until it makes a thick emulsion.

I believe you can eat them stuffed but I have never done that myself. In France they call them the "poor man's dish" as once you have pulled them apart to eat them, there seems to be more than when you first started!!! I got about 10 this year and was well chuffed.

[pigeonseed]

I would do the above - I simmer in a pan with a lid on for about 15-20 mins. I don't add mustard though - just oil and vinegar. But sounds nice. I might try that.

I think of them as so hard and spiky anyway, I can't imagine frying them!

[artichoke]

To cries of horror from a Paris friend, I cooked some and offered them to her hot, with melted butter. And I find you have to boil big ones for at least an hour.

I think the frying and grilling is done to small buds, fast-grown and tender.

I have learned to trim mine quite viciously - chop off the bottoms and tops with a big knife, and trim the sharp leaf tips - if they have them - with scissors. It makes them more manageable, easier to handle, and more can fit in the pan. I boil their short stalks as well (cut off) because sometimes they are soft and tasty (sometimes hard and stringy....)

My plants, seed-sown replacements for those that died over the last two winters, are at long last producing plenty of buds.