Friday Foodie Fix –Artichokes

Friday Foodie Fix

Friday Foodie Fix

For everything you ever wanted to know about our Secret Ingredient this week- artichokes, check out this post on The City Cook.  There you  will find out the history of artichokes, how to buy, cut, trim, and cook them and the challenge of pairing wine with them.  For a pictorial set of directions on how to cook and eat artichokes, head over to Simply Recipes.   To learn from folks with a passion for artichokes, check out the California Artichoke Advisory Board.

I’ve not eaten artichokes for very long and I’ve only cooked them once from fresh artichokes.  I would  usually add frozen or canned artichoke hearts.  I am working on using fresh whole ingredients in my recipes and I was a little nervous about working with something that was attacking me.  Be careful of the thorns.  They need to be cut off with your kitchen scissors.  I wanted to roast mine with garlic and olive oil.  I couldn’t just make steamed to start off with.  That sounded too easy.  I thought I should steam them a little so they would cook faster in the oven so I steamed for 10 minutes with lemons in the water.  Then I cut them into quarters making sure to take out the center that, for lack of more technical terms, was the hairy part.  It didn’t look like anything I’d ever eaten from an artichoke.

©Diane Ebiln

©Diane Eblin

Of course if I would have found the resources I gave above and used them, it would have made all of this a lot easier.    Needless to say, I just decided to play with my food and it turned out OK.  I will definitely start playing more with fresh artichokes.  For my Friday Foodie Fix recipe, check out my Mediterranean Tuna Pasta with Artichokes.  This is not like your mothers tuna noodle casserole.

Now it’s your turn to share your recipes with artichokes.  Leave as many as you want and remember to check back and see what has been added.   To review the rules please follow the tab up top.

Next week’s secret ingredient is ……………………………….Garlic!

Thought we would have an easy secret ingredient after all of these green veggies.  Next week I hope to get at least 30 links to garlic recipes, so share this with all the foodies you know.

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