"It's the most wonderful time of the year..." I don't know how the rest of the song goes, but I do know that it's about artichoke season. To celebrate this rite of spring (and to visit her friends and family), my sister-in-law was in town over the weekend from the frozen tundra of Pennsylvania. And so I grilled up a heap. This is my favorite way to cook these luscious little flower buds.
I brought home ten smallish chokes, about the size of a woman's fist, from Mike the Croatian produce man that sometimes vends from a truck on Western near 9th street in San Pedro. I'm not sure where his produce comes from. I think he told me Morro Bay before he convinced me to buy a pineapple. (They do not grow pineapples in Morro Bay.) But after he sold me 10 fist-sized artichokes for a dollar, I decided I better not ask too many questions. Plus, there was a line of cheap produce fans rapidly developing behind me, and he called me sweet lady.
So I kept my mouth shut, returned with my plunder, and set to prepping artichokes (and pineapple). I pulled off the tough outer leaves, cut off the portion of stalk that looked particularly fibrous, and trimmed about an inch off the tops. I put the prepared artichokes in a pot with about 2 inches of boiling water, a smashed clove of garlic, a wedge of lemon, and a shake of salt. With the lid on, it took about 20 minutes for my young little beauties to become just tender, but the cooking time will depend entirely on the size and age of your artichokes and can take up to an hour.
While your artichokes are cooking, prepare the marinade. In a bowl, mix together enough lemon juice, olive oil, smashed garlic, and salt and pepper to toss with your chokes. This time around I threw in a splash of wine as well because there were a lot of artichokes to coat, and I didn't want to squeeze any more lemons. Once your artichokes are tender, take them out of the pot, cut them in half, and drop them in the marinade.
While the artichokes soak up some more flavor, prepare a dipping sauce. For grilled artichokes, a slightly spicy, smoky-sweet chipotle mayo is the perfect partner. Just mix about a teaspoon of adobo sauce and a squeeze of lemon into about 1/4 c. of vegenaise to make a perfect dip.
Once your artichokes have had some time to bask in their marinade (half an hour will do, as will 6) heat the grill to medium (I cheated with my grill pan and stove) and cook until you get those pretty, lightly charred marks, and they're warmed though (a few minutes on each side).
And to think, this is just the beginning. There's still time to plan your Casteroville family vacation for this year's artichoke festival. See you there?
