And the spring vegetable themes continue! We love artichokes' earthy, nutty taste, which lends itself so well to a variety of other flavors -- whether they be bright (lemon, vinegar), rich (butter, sausage) or zippy (chilis, fresh herbs). Share your best way to prepare artichokes for a shot at the gold!
These are not your usual contests. We have a slightly nutty system but it works. Together, the Food52 community has created two cookbooks this way -- there’s no stopping us now. Read about it
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Usually we'd eat the leaves, but this recipe focuses on the best part of the vegetable: the heart.
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The inner leaves are tender enough to shred and eat raw in a salad if you don't want to throw them away. Just make sure to get rid of the prickers!
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Right before you get to the hairy choke itself, you'll come across these lovely pink leaves.
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Be careful paring down the sides of the heart where you've removed the leaves -- we don't want any artichoke-induced wounds!
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Use a peeler to trim the stem, which is not only edible but delicious!
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Rubbing the artichoke with a lemon as you trim helps keep it from turning brown.
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To get rid of the choke, use a spoon to pry away the hairy filaments.
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A 15-minute steam did the trick, rendering our artichoke hearts tender but not mushy.
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While the hearts steamed, we whipped up the dipping sauce.
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Lime zest and juice add even more acidity to creme fraiche.
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Some cumin and a sprinkling of salt, and that's it!
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Our frying station is ready.
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After dipping each heart in beaten egg and panko, you gently lay it in a pan with just a couple of tablespoons of olive oil.
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If the crust browns too quickly, make sure to adjust the heat.
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If you double or triple the recipe, still try to work in small batches -- the hearts will brown better.
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Amanda began trimming the stems but SippitySup actually has you cut them off so the fried artichokes lay flat. If you want you can fry the stems separately.
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Trimming artichokes can feel a little ruthless, but you want the artichokes to be tender from petal to stem.
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After trimming SippitySup has you flatten them slightly to open up their leaves -- do your best not to break them apart.
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For the first frying, the oil temperature should be 300, hot enough to cook them but not not enough to brown them.
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Merrill's handiwork.
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The first frying -- like a bubble bath.
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We let them drain for a few minutes while we increased the oil's heat to 360 degrees.
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into the oil again!
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Rustic, crisp and beautiful.
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Sprinkle them with Maldon sea salt, squeeze over some lemon, then eat them out of hand.
