I love a good artichoke. I love the activity of eating one almost as much as the taste of it, too. I first made artichokes with Alison’s Wine-Roasted Artichokes recipe, which taught me all about how to cut and prep them – it’s sort of an art form. These grilled artichokes required slightly less preparation (no stripping the outer layer of leaves), but they did require more time by way of steaming. For more tender artichokes, Alison asks you to steam them before grilling, which adds about an hour to the ordeal.
To steam the artichokes, first cut the stem to a little less than an inch, and remove the top 1.5-2 inches of the bulb. Fill a medium pot with 2 inches of water, and place the artichokes stem-side down, with the bulbs poking well out of the water, so as not to water-log them. I highly recommend using 4 smaller artichokes as opposed to 2 large ones so that they stand more securely in the pot. Bring the water to a boil and then simmer for 50 to 60 minutes for large artichokes. For smaller artichokes, I found they were ready within 45 minutes, which you can test by seeing how easily an outer leaf comes off when tugging.
The book does not specify whether the pot should be covered. However, the only way to create effective steam is to cover a pot to trap the moisture. The picture in her book shows a lid being lifted from the pot, so I took that as my confirmation to utilize a lid.
While the artichokes steamed, I made the preserved lemon yogurt, which was just a combination of finely chopped preserved lemon, salt, pepper, and goat’s milk yogurt (or greek yogurt, sour cream or labne – you decide your destiny.) The yogurt serves as the artichoke dipping sauce. It also made a delicious sauce for dipping the roasted potatoes we had as an additional side at dinner.
I steamed the artichokes just before packing up my meal ingredients and heading to my in-law’s home where they own a grill. Prior to grilling, the artichokes should be halved lengthwise and slathered with olive oil, salt, and pepper. They start cut-side down over medium-high heat. After 4 minutes (we waited until 6 minutes), flip them over to get equal charring on the back side for another 4 minutes. Bon appetit, they’re ready to serve!
I must say, steaming the artichokes first made a giant difference in the tenderness of the leaves. They were easy to pull and eat, but not so soft that they fell limp when holding them.
I served this dish with Alison’s Grilled Branzino with Lemons All of the Ways – an excellent pairing if you ask me.
99 recipes cooked, 126 to go.
