Author Notes: Spring in Texas means a lot of things, but one of the biggies is GET GRILLING (OK well we grill year round but about now we really move ops outdoors as much as possible) We made this last night and we both agreed – this is a very good artichoke. I could say somethig like – if you don’t have a grill do this in a griddle pan indoors but you know what? No! Get outside! Buy a mini grill if that’s all you have room for. Get some fresh air and sunshine! – aargersi —aargersi
Food52 Review: “Very Good Grilled Artichokes” isn’t a very good name for this dish — they should be called “Amazing Grilled Artichokes”. The preparation is simple, and reduces the cook time for those of us who have been (mistakenly) steaming all this time. Halving the artichoke and removing the inner leaves and fuzzies not only makes the end product easier to eat, they are also more appealing to the eye. The boiling cooks them in a garlic-lemon bath and the grilling — well, this step just takes the artichoke to a whole new level. The char from the grill makes the leaves tender and the meat easily removed. The cracked pepper on the subtle lemony, sweet, soft meat adds a sassiness that makes this artichoke a delightful light summer treat. – edamame2003 —edamame2003
Serves: 2
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 30 min
Ingredients
-
1
large artichoke – hopefully with some good stem still on it
-
1
big pot of heavily salted water
-
2
lemons
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3
cloves garlic
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olive oil
-
pepper
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a hot grill and some smoking chips – we used maple but pecan or any sort of fruitwood would be good, or some rosemary sprigs
Directions
- Get the water boiling. Add the garlic (just crush it a little and throw it in there – don’t even worry about removing the paper or anything) Squeeze 1 lemon in there and drop in the peel too.
- While the water is getting hot prep the choke. First cut the pointy tops off the leaves. Trim away the tough outer leaves – now, we LIKE eating the leaves so we leave some. If you don’t enjoy that part, chop ’em off. Peel the stem. Cut the choke in half and use a spoon to remove the fuzzy stuff and the inner leaves. Put the artichoke in the boiling water and boil until just tender, about 8-10 minutes.
- Meanwhile heat the grill to hot and throw the wood chips on.
- Drain the choke and drizzle it with a good amount of olive oil and grind some pepper over. Head out to the grill – put it on the grill cut side down – beware of olive-oil related flare ups. Grill for just a couple minutes until it starts to get some good marking, then flip and grill them leaf side down.
- To serve we uncermoniously plopped them on a cutting board, squeezed a bit more lemon on them, and sat on the back porch and ate them up – easy cleanup!!