Monday, January 7, 2013

Lunch At The Hawthornes. Artichokes A La Burrell.

Mr. Hawthorne and I were at the Teeter not too long ago
and they had baby artichokes, which I'd never seen before.
They were on the Rack of Rapidly Rotting food at 8 for $2.00 
so we bought two packs
and hurried to home and hearth
to whup these little buggers up before they bit the dust.

Fortuitously,
Mr. Hawthorne had recently seen an episode of Anne Burrell's
in which she made Braised Baby Artichokes.

Ingredients

  • 2 lemons
  • 2 dozen baby artichokes
  • Extra-virgin olive oil
  • 5 garlic cloves, smashed
  • Pinch crushed red pepper flakes
  • 2 anchovy fillets
  • 2 cups dry white wine
  • 1 bundle thyme
  • Kosher salt
  • Water
  • 1 bunch Italian parsley, leaves picked and finely chopped
  • Parmigiano-Reggiano shavings, for garnish

Directions

Fill a large bowl with water. Cut 2 lemons in half and squeeze both lemon halves into the water, then drop in the halves.
Trim the tough dark green skin from the stem of the artichoke if there is a stem, and remove the tough outer leaves until lovely gentle spring green is revealed, it should only be a couple of layers. Cut the artichokes in half lengthwise and toss into the lemon (acidulated) water. Artichokes will turn brown before your eyes, so it is important to have the acidulated water set up before 1 leaf is removed from the artichoke.
Coat a large straight-sided saute pan over medium heat, generously with olive oil and add the smashed garlic cloves and crushed red pepper. When the garlic cloves are golden brown and aromatic, remove them. They have fulfilled their garlic destiny. Add the anchovy fillets and let them melt into a saucy consistency before adding the prepared artichokes to the pan along with the lemon halves. Pour in the white wine, add the thyme bundle and season with salt, to taste. Bring to a boil and add enough water to cover the artichokes (shouldn't be much water). Cover the pan and simmer until the artichokes are very soft, about 10 to 15 minutes. Remove the lid and let the liquid reduce until it is less than halfway up the sides of the artichokes. Remove the thyme bundle. Taste to check for seasoning and readjust, if necessary, (you probably will). Finish by tossing in the chopped parsley. Transfer the artichokes to a serving bowl and serve topped with Parmigiano-Reggiano shavings.
Yay! What a side dish!


I trimmed the tops and bottoms of the artichokes,
removed the bottom leaves,
cut across the tops of the leaves,
and sliced in half vertically.
Immediately drop into acidulated water
to keep from browning.
Lemon juice.

Leave the lemons in there.


I heated peanut oil and butter
and sauteed the garlic.
Remove garlic.
You want to flavor the oil.
Be sure you don't burn the garlic - it gets bitter.

Do not be afraid of the anchovy.
When you cook anchovies,
they dissolve into a nutty flavor.
Not fishy at all.

Saute the drained artichokes and lemons for a bit.

I added in the wine.

Add in water to cover.

Add in the thyme bundle.
The variegated is a lemon thyme.

Cook away until tender.

Assault it with some Parmegiano-Reggiana attention.
I served this with melted butter and lemon
and a sprinkling of parsley.


There's no fuzzy choke to choke on.
You can eat the entire bottom.

What a nice meal!

4 comments:

  1. That looks amazing! How come YOU always find the great buys on the Teeter discount veggie bin? Whenever I'm in the Teeter, it's moldy grapes and brown slimy lettuce. I'm convinced you just camp there 'til they bring out the good stuff.

    ReplyDelete
  2. SweetPhyl, after rummaging through the bin of rapidly rotting rations, one must run home immediately to resuscitate whatever one has found. No stops along the way.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh, that's what I'm doing wrong...I usually have to stop at the liquor store to purchase the medication to drown my sorrows after paying the astronomical grocery bill, with no baby artichokes in the bags.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Always stop at the likker store first, SweetPhyl. Priorities!

    ReplyDelete