Artichokes, Part 1

Attempting to preserve and bottle the artichokes, all 27 of them. Transpires that we have the wrong kind of choke – ours are globe, fat and hairy, when what we need are the small Italian purple ones. We carry on regardless.

Trim the lot down to hearts alone, all full of choke – probably actually should have harvested a couple of weeks ago. First ones go too far, leaving just the hearts, but second batch I leave a few of the leaves on and they are no worse for it.

Leave in lemon water and scrape several times with spoon to get rid of the browning. These are spiny buggers – fingers covered with hairy needles – and HOW much waste? Are they ever worth it? Takes a few hours to prep them all.

Simmer the hearts in equal parts white wine and white wine vinegar, plus salt, then leave wrapped in a cloth in the fridge for another day. We shall see.

Artichoke prep

Artichoke prep

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Cooking them up

Dinner – Chicken roasted with fennel and Mother’s carrots, new potatoes and bobby beans, followed by gooseberry crumble.

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