Sometimes I learn a kitchen trick and wonder why I ever did it differently. That’s certainly the case with freezing sliced bagels and toasting them straight from the freezer, and freezing overripe bananas for future baking. I recently learned a different way of preparing artichokes, and can’t imagine I’ll go back to the old way.
Growing up, we ate artichokes occasionally as a special treat, always prepared the same way: top of leaves and stem chopped off, spiky bits of remaining leaves trimmed, then boiled for 25-30 minutes. I had already modified that to steaming in recent years, I rarely boil vegetables anymore – and the stems are left longer to get to the bit of heart in them. (Sometimes I save the stems after cooking to make a single serving of artichoke dip.)
When I started grilling this season, I went looking for a grilled artichoke recipe. What I found quickly became my favorite way of preparing them; it eliminates stopping halfway through eating to clean out the fuzzy bits on the heart. After the prep that I’ve always done, I slice each artichoke in half, top to stem, dip each side in lemon juice to reduce browning, then loosen the artichoke fuzz with a knife before scooping it out. It gets another dip in lemon juice, then set in the steamer basket while I prepare the rest.
The artichokes can be eaten steamed, with a dipping sauce – mayonnaise or garlic butter are traditional options – but we’ve settled on grilling them while it’s warm out. I pour a marinade of olive oil, minced garlic, salt, and pepper over the artichokes before placing them sliced side down on the grill for 10 minutes or so. (This will vary based on the type of grill; as mentioned before, the cooking time on a Big Green Egg is shorter.) My grill can easily hold four artichokes. Inconveniently, my steamer only fits two, and that barely if they’re massive ones from Costco, so I steam two batches before grilling.