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If you will
use the whole artichoke, just cut off the stem and trim the ends of the
outer leaves with scissors or remove them if they are too hard.
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You can also
remove the smaller leaves from around the base.
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If you just
want the heart (base), follow the above steps and then snap off all the
leaves.
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With a spoon,
remove the silky hair in the center of the artichoke heart. If you are not
going to eat the heart as a whole, you can cut it in half or quarters here
to facilitate the silky hair removal
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Rub the hearts
with a juicy lemon half.
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Trim the
bottoms of the hearts (bases) with a knife then drop the hearts in a bowl
of cold water with ½ cup lemon juice or mild vinegar. Work on artichokes
one at a time, then drop in the lemon water until you finish the rest.
Keep them all in the lemon water until cooking
Back To Top Boiling or cooking artichokes
(hearts or whole)
Boil artichokes in a deep pan
with water, pinch salt and 1-2 tbsp lemon juice over medium-high heat. If
they are fresh artichokes, boil uncovered for 20-25 minutes stirring
occasionally to rotate, if they are frozen, for 10-15 minutes.
Back To Top
Freezing
and defrosting artichokes (hearts or whole)
You have to boil artichokes
before freezing them. Boil in a deep pan with water, pinch salt and 2 drops
lemon juice over medium-high heat for 5-7 minutes. Leave to drain well until
there is no water left at all. Put in a plastic bag, remove excess air,
close well and place in the freezer.
To defrost artichokes, just leave them in their plastic bag in a dry place
until ice melts. If you get them out of the plastic bag, keep in a bowl with
water and 1-2 tbsp lemon juice so that they don’t turn black. If you will
boil them, you don’t have to defrost.
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