- Hey everyone today, we're gonna talk about
how to cook an artichoke.
So fun fact, California actually grows
most of the artichokes that you find here
in the United States.
But what is an artichoke?
Well, it's actually a flower.
If the artichoke was allowed to like, come to full bloom,
it turns into this gorgeous, purple, kind of prickly
looking flower but you can't eat it once it's fully bloomed.
You only can eat'em when they're in this state.
So before we get into how to cook an artichoke
let's talk about how to buy an artichoke.
So a couple things that you wanna look for,
you want to choose artichokes
that actually have a decent stem on them.
The reason for this, having the longer stem means
that the heart, which is kind of right here
at the top of the stem, isn't dried out.
This prevents that from happening.
You also want to choose artichokes
that have leaves that are really, really nicely taught
and that have nice green color to them.
That's how you choose the perfect artichoke.
But how do you store artichokes?
Well, similar to buying them, it all comes down to the stem.
Like I mentioned, artichokes are a flower, right?
So for storing artichokes,
trim off just the edge of the stem.
And then if you can just stand it in a vase or a small jar
with some water that water will keep the artichoke hydrated
but mostly once they're harvested,
you wanna enjoy artichokes within two to three days.
So how do you prep an artichoke for cooking an artichoke?
Well, that depends on how you're actually gonna make it
whether you're gonna boil it, steam it or braze it
but there's a few general things to consider.
So typically you want to chop off the stem.
Cut off the stem so the artichoke
can actually sit flat.
Nextly chop off about a half inch
from the top of the artichoke.
And if you have an artichoke that's really, really tough.
Some of these leaves can almost be like armor
and sometimes there's thorns on top of the leaves
just take some culinary scissors and chop
off the top of those leaves, for prepping them.
And then you can boil it, steam it, braze it
and let's get into all that.
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Okay. So to boil artichokes, it's pretty simple.
The first thing that you wanna do is trim off the top
and the stem, as I mentioned, that stem needs to go away.
Cut off any remaining thorny tips
around the outside of the artichoke.
And then you're gonna add that artichoke to boiling water,
that's also been salted.
Cover the pan
and let the artichokes cook for about 20 minutes.
Carefully remove the artichokes from the boiling water
and then you're good to go.
You can serve them with some lemon juice, mayo
or whatever your favorite dip is for artichokes.
Steaming artichoke is not that much different
than boiling them.
So add a steaming basket to a pan
with about an inch of water.
Don't have it go above the steaming basket
and bring that to a boil.
Now to prep, the artichoke similar is boiling it.
You're gonna chop off the top of the artichoke
about a half inch chop off that stem.
You can even season the artichokes
when you're steaming them.
So that's an option.
Unlike boiling, you can top them off with a little bit
of olive oil, some lemon juice, some salt and pepper,
add them to the steaming basket and then cover the pan.
You'll wanna steam the artichokes for about
20 minutes, and then they should be great to enjoy.
If you're brazing artichokes similar
to steaming them and boiling them, cut off the top
of the choke, cut off that stem, remove any thorny leaves.
And then you're gonna further
cut the artichokes lengthwise into quarters.
You're then gonna add them to a skillet
with a little bit of oil or butter
and start to sear those quartered artichokes.
Cook the artichokes until they just start to brown
and then you're gonna add a little bit of vegetable broth.
Just so it comes up about halfway on the artichokes,
bring that to a low simmer and then cover that.
Cook the artichokes in the broth for about 20 minutes.
Checking on it every five minutes or so, just to make sure
that the broth doesn't burn away in the pan
and then you have lovely, delicious brazed artichokes.
And lastly, you can bake your artichokes similar,
just chop off the top of the choke, cut the stem off
so that artichokes will sit flat, add them to a baking dish.
You can add olive oil and lemon and salt and pepper
at this point to the artichokes.
Bake the artichokes covered
with aluminum foil at 425 degrees
for about 30 minutes until they're nice and tender.
So once you have your artichokes, how do you eat them?
Well, here's the thing.
So artichokes, if they're cooked perfectly
those leaves will just pull off easily.
The part that's sort of from the leaf, that's attached
to the artichoke, there's a little bit of meat there.
You can just scrape that off.
As you get closer to the center of the artichoke
the leaves get more tender
and you can actually eat more of the leaf.
Once you get to the actual kind of furry part
of the choke don't eat that.
The name sort of is implied, It can actually choke you.
So if remove the furry part and then underneath that
you'll find the heart of the artichoke
which should be nice and tender and enjoyable at that point.
So that's how you cook and eat an artichoke.
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